By Jeff Louderback
Faith in God and embracing sustainable living from nature’s bounty that the Lord provides are ways of life for Samantha Rayburn.
Born and raised in the Appalachian foothills of southern Ohio, where she still resides, pivotal life experiences have shaped her mindset – and those experiences revolve around Godly faith and sharing her passion for treating infirmities with holistic methods.
A 40-year-old mother of two, Samantha is the founder of Hadassah’s Herbs for Health and Healing and the lead vocalist for the music ministry Joyful Noyz.
Long before those ventures, she was a little girl who grew up in rural Chillicothe.
“I’ve been intrigued by herbs ever since I was a little girl. I remember going to Old Man’s Cave in Hocking Hills, and my dad would point out the stinging nettle and tell me, “Don’t touch those or your legs will be itching all day long. Then, years later, I learned stinging nettle is a blood purifier. It’s remarkable that God has given us everything we need right in front of us, if we only look and learn,” she expressed.
Now that the calendar has turned to a new year, the heart of winter has arrived and cold and flu symptoms are more prevalent.
Hadassah’s Breath of Life tincture is an alternative to over-the-counter cold and flu medications that are accompanied with a lengthy list of precautions.
According to the over-the-counter packet inserts, treatment may not be right for you if you are pregnant, are nursing, or have heart problems, kidney problems, breathing problems, or a weakened immune system. The inserts in some of these medications even warn that people, especially children, can develop nervous system issues or abnormal behavior, confusion, and/or hallucinations. However, holistic alternatives are not commonly associated with side effects.
The Breath of Life tincture includes dandelion, echinacea, eucalyptus, mullein, red clover tops, and nettle.
“I was inspired to make what is now the Breath of Life tincture when my oldest son (who is now 18) caught whooping cough at the age of two. I sat up with him at night just so he could breathe, and he struggled between coughs to take a breath,” Samantha described.
“I felt helpless because I had to rely on the hospital to treat it, and at the time I also started learning about ingredients in and potential problems with vaccines, and how they can impact the body,” she said.
Samantha read an Amish magazine that published herbal remedies shared by readers.
“One woman’s herbal tincture recipe called for red clover tops, stinging nettle, and dandelion, which amazed me because I already knew how to find and harvest those weeds,” she explained.
Samantha studied what was in the herbal recipe and found that Red clover tops are antispasmodic, which helps calm coughing. Stinging nettle and dandelion root are blood purifiers, which help cleanse the blood of leftover organic material from sickness. This helped her to understand why these herbs were so important and effective in the recipe she found in the magazine.
Samantha lived in an old farmhouse on 100 acres which allowed her to be able to forage for the herbs she needed. Pregnant with her now youngest son, she spent months researching readily available herbs that she could collect in southern Ohio.
“Every little thing seemed to make me sick, so I devoted a lot of time learning about the herbs, where to find them, and how to harvest them, dry them, and store them for future use,” she said.
“I knew that I could make my own tinctures because I could collect those herbs from the forest. I researched other recipes to know about how much they used of each herb and based my recipes off that,” she added.
The Breath of Life tincture recipe has evolved over the years. Samantha added mullein because of its powerful properties as an expectorant.
“The mullein and the red clover tops work together to calm the cough while also breaking up the phlegm and mucus,” Samantha explained.
Over time, Samantha has added tinctures to boost the immune system, treat the flu, to reduce pain, and to treat asthma. She is currently working on creating an energy tincture. She also makes medicinal teas and capsules for metal and parasite detox.
She is committed to building Hadassah’s as a business that effectively helps others at an affordable price.
Her interest in herbal remedies grew even more when her youngest son had chronic ear infections. Then both of her sons contracted strep throat, and so did she and her husband at the time.
“I chose to treat my strep throat at home, but he wanted to take himself and the boys to the doctor. Well, I was better in a few days, and it took much longer for them to recover. Since then, I have not treated myself or my children with store-bought or doctor-prescribed antibiotics,” Samantha expressed.
Money was also a driving factor in Samantha’s decision to adopt holistic medical treatments.
“At the time, we didn’t have health insurance, and it was expensive then just to go to the doctor. It’s even more expensive now. For conditions that can be more effectively treated by the herbs and plants God has given us, it makes sense to do that instead of the expense of going to the doctor for pharmaceuticals that have a long list of side effects,” she articulated.
Whether you live in a rural area or even in cities or suburbs, there are many plants and weeds (herbs) that can be used for medicinal purposes as long as they are not sprayed with chemicals.
“We didn’t have a lot of money, but most of the ingredients for herbal remedies were already in the yard or in the forest. All it takes is identifying what they are, understanding what they treat, and learning how to collect them, prepare them and store them.”
A near-fatal car accident in 2021 motivated Samantha to dedicate more attention to building Hadassah’s.
The list of injuries she suffered was lengthy – including a broken femur and clavicle bone, 10 broken ribs, a punctured lung and a damaged spleen.
“I also had a laceration across my forehead, a concussion, and a fractured cheekbone. I bit my tongue almost completely in half, and I had teeth that were pulled way forward. I was told by a dentist that I would most likely lose them, which I fortunately didn’t,” Samantha recalled.
“Physicians at the hospital would not allow herbal treatments,” Samantha said, and she was placed on pain medications (morphine and oxycodone) that she knew would inhibit her body’s ability to heal. She recovered enough to avoid a nursing home stay and leave the hospital to live with her sister for a few months while healing.
“I used turmeric, ginger, frankincense and cinnamon (in place of cayenne pepper) to take myself completely off of the pain medications that they had me on,” Samantha explained. “I knew those pain medications are not healthy, and I was confident in what the herbs would do.”
“Those herbal treatments while recovering from the car accident gave me a testimony. I remember when I was in the hospital and learned what had happened, I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I was in a lot of pain, but that didn’t matter to me. I praised God and said, ‘Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be my own guinea pig,” she expressed with a laugh.
Knowledge cultivated from almost two decades of treating sick kids and healing herself led her to move forward with Hadassah’s, a name derived from the Bible.
“My favorite book of the Bible is Esther, and it is because it was about a woman who was put in some dire circumstances, married to a heathen king who was going to have her and all of her people killed,” Samantha explained.
“Queen Esther’s name was originally Hadassah, which was her Jewish name. Hadassah means peace, love, and prosperity. The name Esther means to be in hiding, and I didn’t want to be in hiding – in a box. Naming this Hadassah’s reflects my passion for helping people and educating people about the powerful benefits of treating conditions with herbs and plants that God has given us,” she continued.
Samantha believes adopting a lifestyle designed to live more self-sufficiently from farm-based locally sourced food, homegrown food, and medicine, is complementary to faith in God. It is also timely because of supply chain shortages, lockdowns, and chemicals in food among other reasons.
Herbs are frequently mentioned throughout the Bible.
Frankincense and Myrrh, Samantha noted, are the herbs given to Jesus as gifts from the kings. Frankincense is ideal for pain.
“I used it after my car accident along with the turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon to replace the pain medications they had me on in the hospital. Frankincense has properties that can also help the body decrease inflammation, alleviate respiratory issues, aid in digestion and gut health, promote healing, boost immunity, relieve stress, and result in better sleep. My body needed all of this as it healed itself and I slowly adjusted back into my usual routines,” Samantha described.
Myrrh is described in the book of Esther.
“Young women who were to be presented to the king so he could choose a bride were put through a series of purification processes. During the first six months, the women used myrrh. All throughout time, myrrh has been used for oral hygiene, making your breath fresh and preventing tooth decay. It is also beneficial as an astringent and draws out skin impurities. Myrrh has also been used internally to treat colds, asthma, indigestion, and sore throats. Too much Myrrh causes extreme diarrhea, which would help cleanse a person of parasites, too,” she added.
The new year marks an exciting time for Samantha’s new chapter continuing to build Hadassah’s and the Joyful Noyz music ministry. She is also the co-host of the recently debuted All In Ohio podcast and serves on the board of Strangers Helping Strangers (a local nonprofit that provides disaster response services and performs community projects).
Joyful Noyz has a rapidly growing number of scheduled appearances at various churches, and Hadassah’s will have booths at homesteading and sustainable living events and summits where Samantha will give workshops on making tinctures and treating conditions with herbal remedies.
“God led me to get back to the basics by focusing on herbs and sustainable living. Music is just another creative expression to worship the Lord,” she explained.
“We are called to praise God and show people God through how we live. I love being able to share my interests and gifts with others, and those happen to be herbal treatments and music. Both are big parts of my testimony and my faith, and I love to share them.”
To learn more about or order the Breath of Life Tincture, and to learn more about Hadassah’s Herbs for Health and Healing, visit the Facebook page.