Over the Past Five Years, Ministry Members Have Shared More than $7 Million for Young Members’ Cancer Needs

September 22, 2021

PEORIA, Ill. — During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, Samaritan Ministries International (samaritanministries.org) points out that many Samaritan members share with fellow members who are dealing with a child’s cancer diagnosis, giving spiritual encouragement and financial help with those needs.

“Samaritan Ministries members come alongside families struggling with childhood cancer treatments and diagnoses and connect them with fellow believers who can help share their burdens,” said Ted Pittenger, founder and chairman of the board of Samaritan.

“Again and again, our members have comforted other families with notes of sympathy and prayers for healing,” Pittenger said. “Jesus is the Great Healer in all matters, and we do our best to carry out His work.”

Cancer is consistently the top health care need that Samaritan members share. From 2016 to 2020, members shared $7,609,268 in cancer-related needs for members under 18.  

“Cancer at any stage of life can be devastating, but it’s especially soul wrenching when it happens to a child,” Pittenger said. “Our hearts go out to those children and their families as we observe Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.”

Over the years, Samaritan members have aided thousands of families and individuals by sharing their health care expenses as well as through prayers and encouraging cards and letters. Samaritan Ministries currently serves 85,407 households and 281,670 individuals.

One Samaritan member family from Tennessee recently expressed their gratitude for fellow members’ support as their 6-year-old son was finishing more than two years of treatment for leukemia.

“Thank you all for being part of our family’s support system as we walked this road with Gabe,” Jill recently wrote in the Samaritan Ministries Community Facebook Group. “Being a Samaritan member was a huge blessing to us during this process.

“We are so proud of Gabe and his joyful spirit even during some very challenging few years. Walking beside him as his mama really has been an honor. Thank God for sustaining us through these last two years and thank God for sweet Gabriel Robert’s life. We can’t wait to see what is in store for this child.”

Other Samaritan members experiencing cancer also wrote or called in to share their experiences:

Steve and Stacie from Kansas wrote:

“We had to walk a cancer journey and Samaritan and the supporting members were there for us every step of the way.”

Stephen and Amy from South Dakota shared:

“We are so thankful for all the loving and encouraging notes we received with so many of the shares. Amy is recovering well, and they believe the cancer they knew of has been removed. Again, we are so grateful to all the help we received and all the prayers.”

Wallace and Christina, who live in New Jersey, said:

“Thank you for everything you do for all of us as members. This ministry is such a blessing and my family has been blessed to be a part of it for a year now. God is so good! We are so happy to be a part of something that glorifies God. Health insurance does not do that. Because of a share for my husband, we were introduced to a member of our local community. Her son is battling cancer and we have been praying for each other. We appreciate everything Samaritan does and what it represents! All glory to God!”

Unlike health insurance, Samaritan Ministries has no limited enrollment period.  Health insurance requires signups to occur only during open enrollment periods unless one qualifies for a special enrollment period due to a “life event,” such as losing coverage, getting married, moving, or having a baby.

Samaritan Ministries health care sharingoffers several advantages:

• No network restrictions. When medical care is needed, Samaritan members choose the health care provider, hospital, and pharmacy that work best for them.
• The direct-sharing approach allows members to not only help fellow believers with their medical financial needs but to pray for and connect with them on a regular basis.  
• The monthly share has never exceeded $530 for a family of up to seven people or $555 for a family of eight or more. This contrasts with the average cost of health insurance in 2020, which was $623 per month for an individual and $1,779 for a family.  

Samaritan Ministries gives people of Biblical faith an effective, Bible-driven health care community in which approximately $30 million in medical needs is shared person to person every month. Over the past 26 years, Samaritan Ministries members have shared more than $3 billion in needs while also praying for and encouraging fellow members through personal notes, cards and letters.  

Learn more about Samaritan Ministries International here; visit the Samaritan website at www.samaritanministries.org, or follow the ministry on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.  

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To interview a representative from Samaritan Ministries International, contact Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.