Mongolian Children Take Stronger Hearts Home

Samaritan's Purse
Thursday, 9 August 2001

Local Community and Samaritan's Purse Give Children a Second Chance at Life

Five weeks ago, two Mongolian mothers arrived in Greenville hoping for a miracle. On Tuesday, August 14, they will return to their homeland with just what they were hoping for—their healthy children.

The 10-month-olds, Chimedtseren Ankhbayar and Tsogoo Sarantsogt, received life-saving heart surgery at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville by specialists with the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and in private practice. They leave Greenville on Tuesday, August 14 at 3 p.m. on U.S. Air flight #5189.

After careful screening, the children, their mothers, and an interpreter were brought from Mongolia to Greenville 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 Greenville. Both children had congenital heart defects that if left untreated would have been life threatening.

Two local families, members of Oakmont Baptist and Christ Presbyterian Church, hosted the Mongolians. Their churches helped by providing food, transportation to and from the hospital, and a family away from home for the children, their mothers, and the interpreter during the five weeks. Ankhbayar and Sarantsogt were the first children brought to Greenville as part of the Samaritan's Purse 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