Member messages: Your impact on other members

I lived the first half of my life in Soviet Russia, and the second half here, in the United States. This is now my home. And Samaritan Ministries is where I have found another Christian family to be a part of.

I come from a family of atheist doctors and used to work in show business in Moscow. Needless to say, I was not a believer. I need­­ed to move to the U.S. for my acceptance of Christ to happen four years ago. Since then, my biggest joy has been sharing about salvation with random people—and having been on both sides of the spectrum (“before Christ” and “in Christ”), I don’t mind rejection. I understand it. But I also know that the seeds I plant will grow because God Himself will water them. I’ve already seen evidence of that!

But while I’m very healthy overall—I play tennis daily, hike, and eat a healthy diet—a few months ago I went to an emergency room for severe bleeding and received a crucial blood transfusion. I was blessed with complete inner peace throughout the night of my first U.S. hospital stay, the kind of peace that only comes from Jesus.

You guessed right: I did not shy away from sharing my faith with the nurses and my doctor.

But you can only imagine how happy I felt when my bills were shared by Samaritan members! Everything went smoothly. I loved being prayed for and receiving cards from fellow Christians, whom I will meet in heaven someday. I’ve been sharing about this experience a lot with overwhelming gratitude. Praise God for His faithfulness! Endless thank you’s to Samaritan Ministries members!

I am now putting together the pieces of God’s wonderfully designed mosaic of my life, with Samaritan Ministries as one of the small, beautiful pieces.

Ella, Oregon

I (Matthew) own a tree-cutting service, and Samaritan Ministries has been a huge blessing for us. We have gone through a long five years of large needs with something different every year.

We hadn’t really thought about health care provision until maybe three years or so into marriage when some friends mentioned Samaritan to us. We thought about it, and we ended up joining in 2016. The timing was really God’s grace, because within a year I started having serious health problems with a Need in 2017 for colon cancer and another in 2021 for lung cancer.

The Samaritan community was always there for colon cancer, surgery, and the six months of chemotherapy that followed. Ten days after the surgery, our daughter, Esther, was born. In the mix of all this, Marina had to have an emergency appendectomy in December 2017. Our doctor was very good and worked with us, and we never had any issues receiving the funds we needed. For a hard situation, God really provided.

It’s been comforting not having to worry about the financial aspect of everything. Putting down money for a procedure knowing that the money is gone only for a short while, that it would be coming back, is a great comfort. And any questions we had were always resolved by a quick conversation with someone at Samaritan. Lots of hospitals offer an upfront cash discount, and I get enjoyment out of saving members money.

Marina likes to say it was the “best-worst time” because it all drew us closer to Christ. Without the trials, we don’t know where we would be. When you have a health issue, it pushes you to reach out to others and be blessed in that way.

Samaritan made things financially feasible so we could keep the business afloat and avoid all sorts of unknown stress. We might have easily been forced into a situation where Marina would need to get a job and I would have to quit my small business and find work elsewhere.

Running a tree-cutting service, I do the majority of the cutting. During my chemo treatment I could not use one arm. Someone we go to church with offered up his Fridays just as I started chemo. He was a stranger to us at the time and that’s how we ended up at that particular church. He helped us survive the situation. Amazingly, the business had almost no loss of income that year. It was a culmination of God providing the right help with the right customers.

Samaritan definitely gave us peace of mind. Balancing a lot of different things, I never had to worry about the financial side with Samaritan, so I could do what I believe is best for my health pursuing the care that is needed.

Marina and I got some really encouraging cards from people. There were quite a few who really put their hearts into the card, sharing their own stories and resources, some even with their phone numbers to offer help. It is so encouraging to see how the Holy Spirit can put something on someone’s heart and bless others in such a tremendous way. It’s not just a get-well wish. It’s a support community.

Matthew and Marina, Indiana

Samaritan Ministries has provided our family with a health care community that has allowed my husband, Ken, to spend more time with me and our children, who are 10 and 4!

Ken had been in an extremely toxic work environment for 15 years. He was traveling for work four to five days per week out of state. What kept him at his job were “the benefits,” the security, the health insurance.

We also had been trying to have another baby for two years without any success. All the while, we felt God pulling my husband away from his career of 15 years. We realized there was no amount of money that could make up for the time he was missing with his family.

That was when (January 2022) we found out about Samaritan Ministries. We felt this was the answer to our prayer. This organization gave my husband the courage and confidence to follow the conviction God put on his heart and finally walk away from his former job.

His last day of work was February 25, 2022. Then, we found out on March 14 that we were having another baby!

Thank you for this organization. This gave us the hope we needed. I know God blessed us with another miracle because of our obedience.

Ken and Amy, Louisiana