Guam, the westernmost territory of the United States, is a rich blend of various cultures. Located in the north Pacific—about 1,500 miles east of the Philippines—Guam’s 168,000 citizens include the island’s native Chamorros, along with a melting-pot population from the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Australia, the mainland U.S., Europe, and various other Micronesian islands.…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Mark New Beginnings in Alaska
Mike Parsons served as a Marine from 2002-2006 and was first injured in 2003 during an IED blast in Iraq that left shrapnel in his leg, arm, and back. He continues to require surgeries for these physical wounds. But like many Marines and soldiers, airmen and sailors, Mike has struggled hardest with post-traumatic stress disorder…
Operation Christmas Child
Thinking Locally—and Globally—with Operation Christmas Child
Ben Smith knows the power of a good story and the difference it can make in people’s lives. Hearing stories about how Operation Christmas Child helped bring the Gospel to children around the world fueled his involvement in the Samaritan’s Purse project from the very beginning. As a child, he packed shoebox gifts with his…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Livelihoods Training Lifts Filipino Families Out of Poverty
Rowena grew up in a poor area of the Philippines and has endured much sorrow in her life. Her three brothers, mother, and two of her grandparents died when Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the country more than five years ago. That same year, her husband died of complications related to high blood pressure. “My life…
Teachers Offer Lesson in Service
Hours after an EF-4 tornado forged a path of destruction through Newnan, Georgia, families awoke to a town unrecognizable. The dawn light revealed damage that stretched for miles—reducing community blocks to piles of splinters and fallen trees. “It was kind of like walking into a war zone: houses gone, people just wandering the streets with…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Salvation Comes After the Flood
Eva was determined to make it home to her children and her mother, even if it meant boating down the flooded streets of their neighborhood in Savannah, Georgia. She and her husband, Gregory, had been in New York to attend the funeral of Gregory’s brother when neighbors began sending them updates about threatening floodwaters. They…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Restoring Lives After Trafficking
Alesha*, an 18-year-old secondary school student in Uganda, was preparing to graduate when a friend made her a tempting offer. She would pay for Alesha’s plane ticket to Thailand if she would accept a lucrative job to work at a grocery store there. Life in another country sounded exciting to Alesha, and it was a…
Operation Christmas Child
Churches Dedicated Among Unreached Himba of Namibia
Update (Sept. 8, 2021): Since this article was originally published in 2019, Samaritan’s Purse has built a second church building in the Himba community of Otutati. Dedicated on February 27, 2021, this facility is an additional outpost of hope to this unreached people group. The Gospel continues to spread among them through the oral resources…
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Clean Water Project Saves Lives in Niger
Despite living along the Niger River, local villagers had little access to clean water. Parents and their children generally drank from the same source where animals bathe and clothes are washed. Every week canoes carried patients sickened by waterborne illness to a medical center up river. Some patients died before completing the hours-long journey. Young…
Women's Programs
Nutrition Training Saves Lives in the Philippines
He cried relentlessly throughout the night, struggled with a persistent cough, and had no appetite. “We did not know why he would not stop crying,” said Nilma, the child’s mother. Nilma decided to ask for help from Mailyn, a community health worker trained by Samaritan’s Purse in the Philippines. Mailyn could tell that Ziyad, or…
