Marching Orders
in the Army of the Lord

Dear Friend,

The Operation Heal Our Patriot reunion is always a powerful testimony of how our Lord is working in the lives and marriages of wounded veterans.

This year, 700 couples joined us in Aurora, Colorado— our largest reunion ever. On the first night, Pastor Greg Laurie gave a powerful message, and dozens of individuals came forward to receive Jesus Christ as their Savior. On the following nights, even more committed their lives to Jesus and many dedicated themselves to Christian service.

Operation Heal Our Patriots is a year-round ministry that kicks off each summer when we bring wounded veterans and their spouses to Alaska for a week of Biblically focused classes and activities. Last summer, 180 couples were our guests, and 92 accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Praise God!

Every Friday we have baptisms in Lake Clark, and then before the couples fly home, they gather around a campfire to share how much the week has meant to them. As they pour out their hearts, many confess that they have been on the brink of divorce or suicide. Their testimonies inspired us to launch a family care program, with a team of chaplains who can offer the spiritual support these couples desperately need. Our promise is that we will follow them for life.

Many of these couples have taken leadership roles in ministry to their fellow wounded veterans, including Mike and Wendy Beaulieu. He served four years aboard Navy submarines and the rest of his 23-year career in Army artillery, with deployments to the Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. When he came home, he was haunted by posttraumatic stress and a traumatic brain injury.

"After Iraq and Afghanistan, marriage got really hard," Wendy said. Mike recalled, "I was a drain on the family. I abused them verbally. Suicide became a real possibility for me. If I committed suicide, it seemed my family would be better off."

The way Mike describes it, "If you could imagine a bucket that carries all your hope, mine was kicked over. No matter how much was poured into me, it would always leak out. We went to Alaska in 2014, and God fixed my bucket." Mike said being able to call the chaplains in our family care program "saved my life—three, maybe four times."

Mike and Wendy (who had been saved as a young girl and was baptized in Alaska) enrolled in our Fortify Your Marriage meetings and joined a Bible-believing church. "Ten years later, my identity and hope is in Christ," Mike said. "That's because of God's grace and His love for us."

Brad and Jesy Martinez testified how participating in Operation Heal Out Patriots renewed their marriage and helped get them involved in church. "We are all military families," he said. "We are service members. So we are designed and crafted to serve.

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Jed and Anna Morgan, talking with Army veteran Arthur Bonjour. Jed, a Marine, was wounded in Afghanistan. It's always an honor for us to host the Operation Heal Our Patriots reunion. So many lives continue to be touched and healed by the Lord.

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My son, Edward, a former Army Ranger, addressed his fellow veterans and their spouses, challenging the audience to surrender everything to God. "We all have the same calling—it's to serve and worship the Lord Jesus Christ."

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"A lot of people don't understand that we have orders. God actually ordained for us to have and follow orders." Brad quoted the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19. "Those are my marching orders now."

Johnny Montoay told how he was saved at one of our reunions, after God softened his heart. Next month, he will be ordained as a pastor, and his daughter feels called by God to become a missionary in Africa.

Please keep our veterans in your prayers—especially those who will be coming to Alaska this summer for the 13th season of Operation Heal Our Patriots.

ON THE GROUND: Operation Heal Our Patriots transforms lives and gives veterans and their spouses hope in Jesus Christ. This week-long marriage retreat in Alaska provides military couples with Biblical training and Godly counsel, but the ministry does not stop there—Operation Heal Our Patriots walks with these couples for life. Kristy Graham, host of On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse, witnessed many military couples surrender their lives to Christ at the recent Operation Heal Our Patriots reunion.

An Investment in the Gospel in Africa

For decades, Samaritan's Purse has been helping persecuted Christians in Sudan, where the authorities were infamous for bombing churches and killing pastors. The Lord made it possible for us to rebuild over 500 churches, and my Lebanese friend Sami Dagher established a Bible school in the Nuba Mountains to train a new generation of pastors. Lots has happened since then, as South Sudan has gained independence, the president of Sudan was deposed, and civil war has erupted in the capital of Khartoum.

The Bible school remains one of the few places in Sudan that pastors can get a solid scriptural education. In January, 57 pastors and church workers graduated. They preach in an Arabic dialect that God can use to reach people who otherwise might never hear the Gospel.

Everywhere God calls us to work, Samaritan's Purse is dedicated to sharing the Gospel and inviting people to trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Thank you for your generosity and prayers that make this work possible. May God bless you.

Sincerely,
Franklin Graham