Our Story
Good Samaritan Ministries was founded in 1979 by a woman named Bettie Mitchell. To fully understand our story, it's important to understand her story. Below you'll find an account of her life. A collection of her experiences, the good and the bad, that led her to build this global ministry.
Bettie lived a life that demonstrated her deep value for people and their stories. She developed the gift of truly listening and deeply caring for others. In her books she describes her many encounters over the years, taking the time to convey and honor the smallest details about a person. She believed that one of the most powerful acts of love was to give someone your undivided attention. To be fully present and bear witness to their life – willingly embracing both their uniqueness and their suffering.
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So now we bear witness to Bettie’s life. Her story is a powerful, mighty thing. We have preserved it here not only to honor her legacy, but to pass these things on to the next generation of Samaritans.
Index
Meet Bettie Mitchell
GSM Founder
"My life is divided into two parts: Part one was the sad part, the part where I struggled to find out why I was on earth, who I was, and what my purpose was. I would describe Part one as receiving the pain to which my life would be dedicated, and part two as learning how to handle that pain in a way that many people would benefit from it and receive healing”
Part one: Receiving Pain for Purpose
Bettie's early life was marked by trauma, fear, and confusion. ​Born into a home that was dominated by fear and mental illness, her relationship with her mother was complex and painful. Bettie adored her mother, who was both a source of deep fear and affection. Her mother’s mental illness and frequent medical issues, coupled with bouts of violence, created a tumultuous and abusive environment.​
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Like many of us, Bettie experienced deep wounds from the church on top of her family wounds. She spent the first half of her life searching for the love of God and failing to find it. ​She recounts many stories of neglect from those in the church, starting at her baptism at just 8 years old: ​​​​​​​​​​​
“I was terrified of the water. It was an awesome thing to me. The man baptizing me didn't seem to notice I was there with him. He didn't stoop down to speak with me. Did he know? Did he remember the little girl he baptized and ponder her life in his heart? I couldn't be certain for he never once spoke to me. He seemed to only speak to the crowd and tell them I was being baptized.”
The first time Bettie felt a call on her life was when she was 16. Sitting in an ordinary church service (as she had done many times before), she heard God speak to her; encouraging her to go forward and give her life to full-time Christian ministry. Though she was shocked, she came forward in trust; expecting love, guidance, and family acceptance from the leaders in her church. However, despite sharing this with the elders and receiving prayer to be dedicated to this work, she would never hear a single word from any of them after that point. There would be no one to support, love, or come alongside her on her journey and it would be many years before she would receive healing for these wounds.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​At 17, during her first year of college, she found herself in a marriage that she described as "sudden and permanent". Immediately after their 50 hour honeymoon, her new husband flew to Japan and didn't return for two years. When he returned home, it didn't take long for their first child to be on the way. Bettie settled into the challenges of her new life, but depression began to eat away inside of her. ​
She described her husbands rages and silences as worse than her mother's. If she wept, she was treated even more harshly. So for 10 years she slept very little and wept not at all. Completing her degree at 20 years old, and with a new child, Bettie began to teach in public school. Over the next 20 years, she would invest her time in understanding how to be a good teacher for the children in her care while the young girl inside of her seethed with unrest, frustration, and disappointment. ​Outwardly, she functioned as a Christian, a wife, a mother, friend, and a campfire leader. Inwardly, she knew no peace.
Nothing seemed to alleviate the pain until one day the pain exploded and she could go no further.
At 32 years old, Bettie found herself in a mental hospital. It was 1967:
"I looked around and everywhere I looked, I saw pain. I discovered that I had an enormous task ahead of me, not only to work in my own family for their healing, but as I looked around that mental hospital, there were hundreds of others who needed the same healing. So I made the drastic decision to be a Samaritan instead of a victim."
Looking around the mental hospital, she selected two women to help. For the next year, she dedicated much of her time to giving them and their families help and support. At the end of the two weeks, she left the hospital. At the end of another year, she left for Israel.
Part Two: Healing Through Purpose
With a new sense of purpose and desire to experience God's love, Bettie found herself in Israel with her mother. This would be the beginning of her healing journey. As their first day in Israel drew to a close, they went down to the Jordan river:
"It was nearly dark and the moon was full as we entered the Jordan, ending our first day in the Holy Land. Our guide (Sam), my mother, and I stopped by the Jordan to wash our feet and sing unto the Lord. After a lifetime of defeat, mental and physical illness, and spiritual depression, in our few moments of holy silence together by this river, God poured his love upon me. In that moment, I was healed. I became an entirely new creation."
Her experience in the water of the Jordan was profound. Where man had failed her and left her hopelessly alone, God met with her in gentleness, love, and acceptance. With great care he repaired the wounds on her heart and this experience would set the course for the rest of her life.​
In 1976, on her fourth trip to Israel, the Lord spoke to her again​. While on the walls of Nineveh in Iraq, she saw the many children there and heard God say,
"These Children represent all of the children in the history of the world. Here are the children, but where are the teachers? Go, quit your teaching job. You are called to teach my Kingdom to them.”
Three days later in Erbil, Iraq, Bettie saw a child with a small empty sack rooting through the rubble. She was under three years old, searching through the garbage for something worth saving. God spoke to her again, saying:
​​​“This little girl represents those you will encounter who will be taught and healed. The lost and hurting are searching for something worth saving. Help them find what is valuable."
​After returning from Israel, Bettie set out to earn a masters degree in religion. At the same time, she felt God take her through a mighty transformation, stirring in her an awareness of her tendency to make judgements about others. For the next two years, she yielded every thought over to him and began to get curious about where these thoughts came from. She uncovered her own worldviews and belief systems and allowed God to heal them. Every step she took out of judgement was a leap forward into deep compassion for others.
"I found my judgmental brain had become quiet. Peace had descended upon my soul, and I was remarkably ready to listen to others without judgment or fear of my own insecurity. In this three year period, the Lord had taken me on a spiritual journey from a talking brain to a hearing heart.”
Through this profound season, God spread healing through many areas of Bettie's life. She saw remarkable growth in herself and her husband as they took the time to discover each other without judgement. They became close friends and partners; suffering together and being made whole together.
In 1977, Bettie began counseling in her home. She opened her house to the world, and the world came pouring in for help. For the next five years, her house became a center of teaching and counseling. There were no large classes or Bible Studies; just individuals who came, sat, and waited to see her. Each day they would come sit at her table and share pieces of their life story with her; then they would sort through the details together. She spent those five years sitting on a hard kitchen chair in a cramped spare bedroom experiencing the profound impact of simply bearing witness to another person’s suffering. By listening with care and compassion, she watched people (many for the first time) find the courage to face the pain of their lives and heal from it.
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Unlike many churches, whose focus is corporate and collective, Bettie discerned that to be a Samaritan she needed to recognize the needs of a single individual. To walk with that person through whatever grief and tragedy had profoundly touched their life and, through love and acceptance, offer them committed support until they were restored.
The Beginning of Good Samaritan Ministries
​In 1978 (just one year before the launch of Good Samaritan Ministries) Bettie was on another tour of the middle east. On a road between Jerusalem and Jericho, there is a place called The Inn of The Good Samaritan. While sitting in the parked bus outside of the inn, one of the tour group members came to her with a piece of pottery. It had a broken heart on it, and she told Bettie:
"I found this and the Lord told me to give it to you. Your ministry will be to the broken hearted”.
Not thinking much of it at the time, she tucked the piece away. She would later remember the encounter and recognize that the Lord was preparing the way for what he was intending to do through her. Likewise, in 1979 (the year that Good Samaritan Ministries was officially founded), Bettie received one final nudge of direction. When she was teaching at a Christian camp, she heard God suddenly speak to her -- unexpectedly and with authority:
"Teach the parable of the Good Samaritan"
​​​That night she dropped all other teaching plans and dedicated the fullness of her resources to teaching to this parable. She threw herself into understanding the heart behind the message: to care deeply for the one who others neglect and to pay the cost for their restoration. This became the mandate for this ministry. In October of 1979 over dinner with several friends, a board of directors was formed and Good Samaritan Ministries was established as an official non profit counseling ministry. ​​
Bettie continued to counsel out of her house under the covering of Good Samaritan Ministries, along with another full time counselor, Jean Nilson. The ministry quickly grew with many volunteers who would come into her home to clean and do administrative work, but the needs of the people who kept coming to her door quickly outgrew the space. Bettie was working 8-10 hour days with little rest in the evenings and weekends.​​​
​In 1982, by God's grace, Good Samaritan Ministries was invited to share office space with a local company. The donated space was small, with only three rooms, but the separation of home and ministry work was impactful for Bettie's self care. With two full time counselors, a full time volunteer staff, and an office space, the ministry continued to flourish. ​​
GSM International
In 1984, through her connections with Israel, Bettie was working to develop Good Samaritan Ministries West Bank, the first international center. There were many challenges that came with trying to facilitate a relational ministry in two separate parts of the world, but the needs were great and the people were willing. There were many visits back and forth to train and encourage the growing team in Israel. Bettie worked closely with Yassin Awad Awli Hamdan, a dear friend she had met on her tours to the middle east. Yassin who would later become the director of the West Bank GSM Center.
Into Africa
“When I started the work of Good Samaritan ministries in my house, I had no master plan of development. Development occurred in miraculous ways. Doors opened and the unexpected happened. You must believe me, I never thought of going to Africa. I had no intention to go to Africa, but beginning in 1986 Africa opened its door and asked Good Samaritan ministries to come in.”
In 1986, through a chance meeting at a Pancake House in Beaverton, Oregon, Bettie was connected with Tom Abungu, a bishop from Kenya. Their deep conversation led to a shared vision, and Bettie agreed to help with a project in Kenya. Three months later, Bettie received a call from Pastor James Opiyo, a Kenyan man who was stuck in San Francisco and trying to get to Beaverton to see her -- it turns out Tom had sent him to learn more about GSM. After getting safely to Beaverton, James spent over two months with Bettie learning about the ministry's principles and operations. On August 26, Bettie and James signed an agreement to bring GSM to Kenya.
​In 1987, after James' second visit to Oregon, they decided to begin building a ministry center in Uranga, Kenya. Gathering 30 pastors into his small house, James began to teach and train them. In a short time, there were too many to fit inside the house, so they moved outside under the trees. Around the same time, Bettie's Mother passed away; leaving her with a small inheritance. She decided the first thing she would do with that inheritance was build the first Good Samaritan ministries center in Africa.
That same year, a few local members of Good Samaritan Ministries introduced Bettie to Evarestus, a young Nigerian man who had been promised a school sponsorship in the U.S. that he never received. Stranded in America with nowhere to turn, Evarestus broke down in tears in Bettie’s office. With promises that the young man would not be left to fend for himself, the two quickly formed a close bond.
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Bettie, already planning a trip to Kenya, decided to first travel to Nigeria to meet Evarestus’ family. She wanted to honor his parents and understand their wishes for his future. While in Nigeria, Bettie connected with Pastor Faraday Iwuchukwu, a man broken for his country and hungry to bring change. After a deep and meaningful conversation, Bettie agreed to support the development of a Good Samaritan center in Nigeria.
Their time in Nigeria, marked a powerful and spiritual turning point. It became a symbol of new beginnings for the work in Africa -- Nigeria would prove to be fertile ground for the growth of Samaritans.​ Between these two encounters, both with James and Evarestus, it was clear that God was leading Bettie toward more work in the region. ​
​​From 1987 to 2006, Bettie made 10 trips to Africa. She visited 15 countries and appointed indigenous national directors to lead the development of the ministry in their respective countries. Good Samaritan ministries provided training and development opportunities in each country.
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She was profoundly moved by the spirit and resilience of the African people, becoming more convinced of God’s purpose for the continent. With a strong belief in empowerment, Bettie particularly focused on enlisting widows, orphans, and the disabled, believing in their ability to contribute meaningfully to the community.
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By November 1990, the ministry had grown so rapidly that it expanded into Uganda, opening new doors for GSM’s work in East Africa. From there the work has not slowed down. Good Samaritan Ministries now has well over 200 centers and is operating in 26 countries, with growing connections in other countries ready to be cultivated.
A Final Word
In 2021, at 87 years old, Bettie went home to be with Jesus. She finished strong, continuing to counsel others and train Samaritans through GSM until the end. Brothers and sisters in more than 55 countries mourned the loss of this teacher, counselor, and friend who was refreshingly raw, real, challenging, and courageous. Her impact in countless communities will be felt for many years to come.
Bettie Mitchell on GSM
"We must remember that this ministry is for the individuals. Unlike many churches, whose focus is corporate and collective, a Samaritan must recognize the needs of a single individual. To walk with that person through whatever grief and tragedy has profoundly touched their life and, through love and acceptance, offer them committed support until they can be restored. Christian religion cannot be based on loud words, but must be developed by actions of mercy visible among all the people.
No matter what people tell you what Good Samaritan ministries is about, it is about our personal attitude toward the people we see suffering. It is about our own prejudice, our own coins, our own conscience, and our own life. What is a Samaritan? It is not an organization. It is each unique, individual life. Good Samaritan Ministries is not about works and projects. It is about spirit and truth. It is about the life of one person making a difference in the lives of many. When you see someone that others would completely hate or ignore, it will be to that person that you go and help. This is the purpose, the intent, and the holy calling. Most of us are counselors, friends of the poor, the lame, and the weak; willingly paying enough for those that no one is willing to pay for at all. I’m not speaking of money, I'm speaking of time, mercy, and the things we can do with what we have.
I do not have big expectations or big plans. I have a little salt, a widow's mite, and a firm and gentle heart. I believe that what is small is truly what becomes large; and so, we have planted the mustard seed, the smallest of all possible seeds, to watch the bush grow."
Over The Years
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