Bringing Hope In: DRC Ebola Response | Bonus Episode | On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse

Today's episode is a special bonus from the On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse podcast, hosted by Kristy Graham.

What does it look like to trust God when He calls you into some of the world's most difficult and dangerous places? In this powerful episode, Kristy experiences firsthand what Samaritan's Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team members endure as they prepare to serve during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Bev Kauffeldt, who has served on the last two Ebola responses, led Kristy through the training.

Kristy got into the many layers of personal protection equipment to experience the process our DART members go through in the field. This inspired Kristy as she experienced the discomfort our teams willingly step into as they fight this dangerous outbreak. It also helped her know how to pray for our teams more specifically.

At the training, Bev talked with Kristy about a passage of Scripture that has been on her heart:

“This verse—I shared it with the team today because it's so perfect. In Acts 20:24, Paul says my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others of the good news about the wonderful grace of God.”

— Bev Kauffeldt, paraphrasing Acts 20:24

As believers, we must have a posture of humility. Someone who speaks into this posture in this Ebola response is Dustin Martin, a water, sanitation and hygiene technical advisor who supports Samaritan's Purse field offices around the world. Dustin will likely go to the DRC soon. He shared how he is preparing both physically and spiritually to be deployed and why he desires to go serve in this dangerous situation.

“I want to be able to go to the ends of the earth for people that I haven't even met before because that's what Christ did for me. He took on humility. He took on human form when He had no need to. And if He did that for me, there's just no appropriate response but to do that for others.”

— Dustin Martin

Once Kristy was out of the personal protective equipment, she met Kate Allen, an emergency doctor, who the Lord has called and sent to many DART responses, including Ukraine and Iraq.

They spoke about putting on the armor of God, trusting that the Lord goes before us. We are not promised safety, but God does promise that He is with us always.

“God doesn't say you're going to be absolutely fine … but He does promise that He goes with us. And He promises that He goes ahead. And He promises He hems us in from behind. So, we go with His Spirit, and we go knowing that He has a plan, and that He has already paid the ultimate price.”

— Kate Allen

If you'd like to keep up to date with more stories from On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse, please visit SamaritansPurse.org

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