Missionary explains why he chose Samaritan Ministries

Before it was time for him to head overseas for missions work, Nathan Holland worked at a restaurant so he could have health insurance.

Once the time came, though, he needed to find another way to take care of his health care needs.

Before moving to Portugal in advance of going to Angola, Nathan shopped around for health insurance for Americans who live overseas. Nothing worked out, though. There were complications arising from where you were when you got treatment—some wouldn’t pay for treatment on U.S. soil, others wouldn’t guarantee coverage of treatment in Angola—and he couldn’t seem to get straight answers from the insurance companies’ customer service representatives.

“I had heard of Samaritan Ministries several times from several former missionaries and ministers in Little Rock (Arkansas) who recommended it, so I gave them a call,” he says. “I was able to talk to someone who had once been a missionary himself. He really seemed to care about me and was excited to hear about what I was doing. He was not concerned about networks of doctors that don’t exist in Angola and he said that I am in the best position to make the right decision about which doctor I see, even if that means flying or evacuating to another country to get adequate health care.”

Nathan’s first need happened in the states, though. He had a bad reaction to malaria medication while visiting family.

“The emergency room checked me into the hospital and managed to rack up almost $30,000 worth of medical expenses,” he says. “They claimed they had to do everything they did to me, because I live in Africa. Because I was self-pay, they cut my bill down to about $10,000 and Samaritan Ministries members shared all of it for me. I have been very satisfied with Samaritan Ministries and often recommend it to others.”

Related Article

Word of Mouth: Missionary calls experience with Samaritan Ministries ‘tremendously encouraging’