Samaritan's Purse

I have been with Samaritan’s Purse for some years now, so I have a fair enough understanding of what goes on within the organization at HQ Boone, the Christmas child facilities, the international Dart teams and out on the North American field. Over all, I like and appreciate what they do at a grand scale. I want to continue my involvement with them, so myself as the writer will remain anonymous. My reasons for this written expose is that the highest levels in management will take notice and begin changing the management culture of nepotism and favoritism by holding management accountable for these behaviors at home and abroad. Nepotism is not going to leave the organization any time soon since the Graham family have complete control over the corporations mentioned in this paper. What I am seeking to change is favoritism. Favoritism is when certain people are chosen over others leading to a keenly felt imbalance in the workplace. Healthy members in management don’t need to surround themselves with chosen people to mask their own feelings of insecurity. It is the unhealthy ones who do this. And those who do this are not called to task over their behavior by senior management. If senior management cared to, they could deal with the root issues and eliminate such fawning behavior. The clean cut Graham image is crucial to their success. This is helped along beautifully by the Public Relations department. Media is the lifeblood of the organization and top notch teams dedicated to producing the images and video that they want the world to see are usually at hand when something important is happening. What is not seen in the edited media is the serious amount of toxic behavior within the organization. I will shed light on the organizations below where I have seen Favoritism; Boone Headquarters Boone is the Headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse. The highest values here at corporate headquarters is loyalty and obedience. If you are not favored, and have private thoughts that conflict with these values in the remotest way, it would be best to keep those tightly to yourself. Dress conservatively. Do not arrive at the office late. Do not take long bathroom breaks. Carry out your duties as best you can. Do not stand out. The GOOD OL' BOY NETWORK absolutely prevails throughout the fabric of Samaritan’s Purse worldwide. This permeates from the highest levels and drips down the steps of the basement from there. This network creates a highly inflexible social structure and occasionally abusive environment within SP. GOBN have their favorites that they call upon. Those people are bullet proof. Since the highest levels partake of the G.O.B.N. the other managers below them very often do so as well. I have known middle management to run off disfavored people by making life very uncomfortable for them until they left. It has been noted by myself that quite a few managers and employees curry favor by the strategic location of Graham family authored books in easy view in the workplace. I have never seen a suggestion box in Boone. North American Ministries NAM does great work and has to be the one of the best ran departments of the entire organization. The driver mechanics put in a lot of overtime which means they are home less than their non-sp counterparts. This leads to far reaching fatigue out on the field and the inevitable loss of experienced people. This fatigue leads to driver mechanics leaving the job which puts strain on the remaining drivers thus the cycle continues gradually downward. HR is controlled with an iron fist, so hiring a successful candidate for the driver mechanic position continues to be exceedingly difficult . NAM has been short handed on drivers for the entire time that I have known them. Program managers that I have known are wonderful leaders, yet this is not the case with all of them. More than a few volunteers have been turned from the organization because of callousness shown by a few PM’s on the field. No suggestion boxes found in North Wilkes. Disaster relief workers and sub contractors Sub contractors and disaster relief workers are paid positions within Samaritan’s Purse. The best of these hand pick their teams and use these teams each and every time they are called out to a national disaster. There are huge egos involved among them and it would be very wise to quickly understand what these leaders want you to feel about them. Follow this advice and you will succeed. Lately I found myself in Asheville helping many different kinds of people. It has to be a very unfortunate thing that many of the projects I had been sent to were done on wealthy homes which could have easily afforded to pay for the services instead of availing themselves of Samaritans Purse. I have been involved with home owner conversations concerning their closeness to the Billy Graham Association or with Samaritans Purse and it rises above my private suspicions that these wealthy beneficiaries were able to receive services from Samaritan’s Purse simply because they are donors to either to the Billy Graham organization or Samaritan’s Purse itself. . I sat at the dinner table in the Cove and overheard the sister of Franklin Graham mention that Samaritan’s Purse crews were out to her house to cut away annoying branches and fallen debris. Billy Graham’s house in Swannoea was also taken care of. Although Samaritan’s Purse took care of many poor home owners, it was my experience that more of the calls that I was involved in were with the wealthier people of the greater Asheville area. You can be sure that none of the media coverage involved wealthy homes, but only those of the lower classes. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Samaritans Purse sent out a Wash crew to a river in Swannonea in order to filter and treat water out of a tributary that recently had dead cattle, dead people, other dead farm animals, deadly microphobes, raw sewage, gasoline, diesel, and motor oil from the many leaking service stations. The tiny WASH filtration plant was next to the river and the road running along side it. Every time we drove by the free water sign, there was no one there availing themselves of the treated water, and why should there be with crates of bottled water stacked all over the city? I am sure the WASH made for good media coverage. Operation Christmas Child The Christmas child is their biggest money maker. There are 8 or 9 large warehouses found across the country have been dedicated to processing and inspecting shoe boxes that are trucked in. The Christmas Child season is an excellent seasonal job opportunity and it is tempting to obtain full time employment with Christmas child. Unless the seasonal worker catches the attention of someone very high, there is little possibility that any full time position could ever materialize. Things work best if you approach this in mind. Another aspect to think about is that this seasonal position is a work position and not a ministry. Keep this firmly in mind as you go about your daily work. Keep your thoughts to yourself and be careful around the people you work among. Come in through the doors, clock in, do what is expected of you, and go home knowing this is temporary. For the most part, the seasonal folk are a great bunch of people to work with. No suggestion box to speak of in any of the facilities I have visited. The shoe boxes are filled with marginally valued trinkets from China and then sent onward to the recipient countries. I brought up the fact that the dolls in the shoe boxes were mostly white and that the children who received them were mostly brown and black. I received no comment in return. One very proven exception to finding real employment within SP is to have been a recipient of a shoe box as a child in Ethiopia or some other dramatically noticeable country. Once you are discovered by SP, a special PR unit will come and interview you on the floor of the facility where you currently are and send you on to further training in Houston to improve your testimonial skills. After that training, and a release signature given to them by you allowing them to use your image in film, they MAY offer you an a staff associate position in lieu of that testimony. Your story is then promoted to the masses and the untold millions keep pouring in. I find this highly unethical. Dart Teams The Dart teams are utilized by Samaritans Purse all over the world in their international ministries. The the most frequently called on teams are the hand picked favorites of influential team leaders. The others who are passed over are seldom called up for work. If you are lucky enough to be chosen from the Dart pool to go, it is certain that the work pace is furious out on the field. Favorites of the team leader usually nab the good positions in the field and the others do the more tedious work throughout the assignment. One favorite pet can be at the desk pushing a pencil and the others sorting blankets, tarps and supplies for 16 hours a day without rotation. Favoritism again rears its ugly head and causes quiet discontent throughout the ranks. This generates complaints which are ignored up and down the chain. Those who complain are noticed and stand a better chance of being passed over on the next activation. Burnout abroad is a significant issue. No suggestion boxes. International Ministry Samaritan’s purse International Ministry is very, very good at the logistical end. They are also very good at arriving and setting up stations and hospitals. Very good at networking, and exceptionally bad at leaving. They will set up in places like Mongolia and Haiti, find out what to do, send in the media teams, record what is being done for PR and when they deem themselves finished with their projects, will pack up their hospitals, drilling rigs, equipment, media cameras and suddenly leave with little warning to the local churches left behind holding the pieces. No cameras recording them leaving and no suggestion boxes. Samaritans’ Purse does commendable work. They are honest in their dealings with the world, and certainly the financial aspect of the organization has the highest levels of transparency from the outside looking in. If Samaritan’s Purse applied the same levels of integrity among its working members, people would be happier, women would see more upward mobility and This is possible to change in the work culture and ought to be done away with. This pervades the work culture and makes the majority of its workforce feel insignificant.