HONDURAS — For more than a month now Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief and medical teams have been working in communities wrecked by devastation in and around San Pedro Sula, Honduras. The back-to-back Category 4 storms Eta and Iota made landfall in early November, triggering landslides and catastrophic flooding that displaced hundreds of thousands of families.

In addition to providing more than a thousand hygiene kits to residents and shelter materials for more than 170 hurting Honduran families, they’ve helped re-establish life-saving access to clean drinking water, providing some 200,000 liters so far through the installation of water treatment systems.

And their medical teams have also been hard at work through their Emergency Field Hospital (EFH) and mobile medical units. Since November 15 they’ve been helping to support the area’s crippled healthcare infrastructure, whose hospitals were left flooded or inaccessible by the storms.

Kelly Suter, RN, Samaritan’s Purse:

Samaritan’s Purse is here in Honduras providing both medical and non-medical care. The locals are very traumatized. They’ve been hit by back to back storms, first Hurricane Eta, and then shortly afterwards Hurricane Iota. Many of them have lost absolutely everything, their homes. Some of them lost loved ones.

There’s a lot of people living in shelters. So there’s a need for food, there’s a need for clothing, there’s a need for protection of innocent and vulnerable individuals. We’re providing tarps, hygiene kits, we have some water systems set up, sawyer filters, basically everything people would need to help rebuild their lives.

Adonai Munoz, Local Church Pastor:

All of the communities around here must buy water. Today we have the opportunity to serve the people here by providing free water for their families.

Susan Pineda, Samaritan’s Purse:

This disaster is not a typical disaster. 2020 has brought a pandemic as well, and people are not just hurting from a crisis that has left them hopeless but are now suffering from another disaster. And today, the greatest thing that people are searching for and need is the love of Christ. And I think that in and of itself makes this response so special and so important for us to be here.

Seth Harris, Samaritan’s Purse:

With all the flooding, the roads are out. The bridges are out. There’s water everywhere. So people are just stuck, and there’s no other way to get to them. Being able to work with the mobile medical teams, since they can’t come to us, it’s really amazing that we’re able to get to them.

Gwen Miller, PA, Samaritan’s Purse:

It’s a privilege to come, and we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And we get that opportunity.

Mark Agness, MD, Samaritan’s Purse:

Many of the patients that we’ve seen here in the first couple of days are truly shell shocked. And it’s a great opportunity for us to not only meet some of their physical needs, but also to meet a lot of their spiritual needs, to let them know that Jesus loves them beyond all measure.

Bethy, Patient:

Thank you because what you are doing is a labor that many people really need in this place. You are very much appreciated, and I know that God is going to help you finish this work.

Kelly Sites:

Please continue praying for the people of Honduras and our Disaster Assistance Response Team doing the work of Jesus here in this location.

Samaritan’s Purse is a nondenominational evangelical Christian organization providing spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. Since 1970, Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet the needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ. The organization serves the Church worldwide to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Samaritan’s Purse International Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) program is committed to meeting the critical needs of victims of war, poverty, famine, disease, and natural disaster. We stand ready to respond at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever disaster strikes. The DART specializes in providing water, food, shelter, and medical care while sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.

CONTACT: Kaitlyn Lahm, news@samaritan.org

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