MICHIGAN – Eleni Zoyiopoulos is 81 years old and she left Greece many years ago to make her home in the United States. Eleni and her husband were restaurant servers and did whatever was needed in order to provide for themselves and their children. But after recent catastrophic flooding hit the greater Detroit area, nearly all of Eleni’s personal belongings were destroyed. “All these years I worked hard. Now, I lost everything,” she said. Watch this video below to hear from Eleni and how she continues holding onto faith. Samaritan’s Purse volunteers show to love of God to flood victims, and also share why they have come from across the country to help people they’ve never met.

Tony Williamson, Samaritan’s Purse:

There was a storm system that took out their substations for power, stopped the pumps from pumping water out of the streets and out of storm drains, and overflowed water into people’s homes, in their basements, along with sewer.

Eric Seaman, Samaritan’s Purse Volunteer:

The homeowners are overwhelmed when this happens. It’s hard to even think straight and to know how to approach it, and our hope is that we come in to give them direction, that we provide at least this part of the project, and that they can see a clear path moving forward.

Tony Williamson:

Volunteers come from all over the nation, seeking to just serve. It’s a phenomenal thing to see how God pulls people from all different backgrounds, all different walks of life. We don’t really have to even think about it. It’s just, “Are we going to go?” Yes, because Jesus would go.

Jaime Keoshian, Samaritan’s Purse Volunteer:

We ripped out carpets, did the shock-wave on the walls. Dirt was carried out. We mopped the floors. It looked great when we were done, and we’ll be presenting a Bible to them as well.

Andrew Conway, Pastor, Fairlane Alliance Church:

Samaritan’s Purse coming and helping in Jesus’ Name is a great witness to our community. This is a unique opportunity for us, as a church, to demonstrate God’s love. So this is meeting a very real need in the city.

Jaime Keoshian:

My hope would be that they see Christ through us, through the work that we do. Even though it’s a difficult time in their lives, they would see that the reason why we’re here is to help them and to show them Christ.

Eric Seaman:

When they just see people working together that love the Lord, it’s amazing how they have a whole different perspective.

Tony Williamson:

This community needs Jesus, just like every community in the United States and around the world. And so, when we get opportunities like this, we really should not pass them up. It’s all about serving in Jesus’ Name.

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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