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Greta Van Susteren’s Newsmax program recently brought a vivid, boots-on-the-ground look at Samaritan’s Purse’s emergency field hospital in Black River, Jamaica, as Edward Graham walked the cameras through the operation treating victims of Hurricane Melissa. The segment showed Americans what faith-driven aid looks like in a crisis—fast, competent, and focused on saving lives rather than scoring political points. Viewers saw first-hand that when catastrophe strikes, private citizens and churches still lead the charge where governments too often lag.
Samaritan’s Purse airlifted and opened a more-than-30-bed Emergency Field Hospital to replace the destroyed local hospital, complete with an operating room, intensive care unit, emergency room, obstetric ward, laboratory, pharmacy, and blood bank. The modular unit is designed to be self-sufficient in disaster zones, allowing medical teams to perform surgeries, deliver babies, and stabilize critical patients under the harshest conditions. That kind of capability, rapidly assembled and deployed from a Christian relief outfit, is the practical charity America should be proud to support.
Hurricane Melissa slammed into Jamaica on October 28, making landfall as a Category 5 monster that ripped apart infrastructure, homes, and the island’s fragile hospital network near the point of impact. Black River and other coastal communities were flattened, leaving thousands exposed to disease, injury, and the cold bureaucracy of slow-moving international aid. The devastation underlines a simple truth: storms don’t respect red tape, and disaster response must be built on readiness and resolve.
Since the field hospital opened, Samaritan’s Purse teams and mobile clinics have treated well over a thousand patients and performed dozens of lifesaving surgeries, filling a gap left by destroyed medical facilities and overwhelmed local responders. Mobile medical missions and helicopter runs have reached isolated areas with broken bones, infected wounds, and desperate need—work that doesn’t make headlines but saves lives. Those numbers are a sober reminder that boots-on-the-ground relief is the best measure of compassion, not press releases or political grandstanding.
The organization also airlifted roughly 100 tons of relief—shelter tarps, household water filters, solar lights, hygiene kits, and community water systems—to keep survivors alive while longer-term rebuilding gets underway. Samaritan’s Purse has coordinated multiple flights and on-the-ground logistics to reach cut-off communities, demonstrating how private initiative and volunteer grit can outpace cumbersome state machinery. Americans should take pride in institutions that turn donations into immediate, measurable relief instead of waiting for a permission slip.
There’s a lesson here for those who still believe the state must be the primary responder to every crisis: faith-based charities and volunteer networks move faster, cost less, and keep the dignity of the people they serve at the center of every mission. Samaritan’s Purse didn’t wait for committee approval or political cover; they answered a call and deployed professionals who know how to operate under pressure. That independence and moral clarity deserve praise, support, and replication, not suspicion.
Make no mistake—this is conservative policy in action: local initiative, private charity, and community responsibility stepping up where centralized systems stumble. We can admire and emulate the humility and courage of doctors, nurses, pilots, and volunteers who went to Jamaica to heal and help without fanfare. If Americans want to see real results, they should back organizations that actually put people first and get the job done.
Hardworking citizens who believe in charity, family, and faith can be proud that fellow Americans are answering the world’s call in its hour of need. Support, prayer, and practical generosity will get more people through the winter and into stable footing than another headline about government studies. Let this be a reminder: when disaster strikes, let liberty, faith, and neighborly responsibility lead the way.
