Mongolian Children Prepare to Head Home With a Second Chance at Life Thanks to Local Community and Samaritan's Purse

Samaritan's Purse
Thursday, 5 July 2001

Local Community and Franklin Graham's Relief Organization, Samaritan's Purse, Give Children a Second Chance at Life

Five weeks ago, two Mongolian mothers arrived in Las Vegas hoping for a miracle. On Thursday, July 12, they will return to their homeland with just what they were hoping for—their healthy children.

Six-year-old Usukhbayar Baasandorj and 4-year-old Naranjargal Oyun-Erdene received life-saving heart surgery at Sunrise Children's Hospital in Las Vegas. They were brought from Mongolia to Las Vegas courtesy of Samaritan's Purse. The international Christian relief organization led by Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham, handled and paid for all travel logistics, found a hospital and physicians willing to donate their services, and a local church and family to host the Mongolians during their 5-week stay in Las Vegas. Both children had congenital heart defects that if left untreated would have been life threatening.

Dale and Donna Lawrence, members of Trinity Life Center who have two grown children of their own, hosted the families during their 5-week stay in the Las Vegas area. They provided food, transportation to and from the hospital, and a family away from home for the children, their mothers, and the interpreter. Bassandorj and Oyun-Erdene were the first children Samaritan's Purse brought to Las Vegas as part of the organization's Children's Heart Project.

Since the program started in 1997 in response to a critical need in Bosnia, the Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project has brought more than 120 children to the United States for life-saving heart treatment. In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse provides state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and training for doctors overseas. The machines enable doctors in those countries to better diagnose defects, identify candidates for surgery, and ensure that the children are matched with the proper specialists in the U.S.

For more information, or to contact Samaritan's Purse, see their website at: www.samaritanspurse.org