Chad and Ellen Peacock were childhood sweethearts—growing up with close families and annual beach vacations together. The summer that Chad was set to leave for Marine boot camp, he asked Ellen to wait for him, planning to marry her when he returned. The couple wrote 277 letters back and forth while Chad was away and…
Discipleship, Education & Training
God Answers Prayers to Save a Military Couple’s Marriage
Sean and Brandy Karpf’s teenage romance began one summer as they both worked the late shift at their local McDonald’s. They spent until the early hours of the morning breaking down equipment, cleaning, and closing the store. Some fleeting high school crushes are quickly forgotten, but this one lasted three years and culminated in an…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Army Veteran and His Wife Now Follow Christ on Same Path
Note: The 2019 summer season of Operation Heal Our Patriots ended on Sept. 13, and we thank the Lord for all He did in the lives of so many couples, including the Paynes. For more on this spring/summer, see the update at the conclusion of this article. Army Specialist Tony Payne returned to his Evansville,…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Remember Me
Retired Army Sergeant First Class Ronnie Busbin and his wife Beth of Cunningham, Tennessee, participated in the first week of the Operation Heal Patriots summer season in Alaska this year. Ronnie deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2006 and 2011-12. He suffers from multiple traumatic brain injuries received while performing his duties as…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Alaska Fridays Are a Celebration!
Each week at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, Fridays are a day of celebration. Operation Heal Our Patriots staff and volunteers thank God as they watch baptisms, hear military couples renew their vows, and listen to testimonies of saving grace during a fireside farewell. Of course, the rest of the week is pretty special too. There’s a…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Waterside Conversion Leads to Lake Clark Baptism
As Trish Dawson felt Lake Clark’s frigid waters wash over her, she almost forgot the shocking cold in an adrenaline rush of happiness. “I was just so happy—overwhelmed,” Trish shared, eyes shining at the memory of her baptism. Just moments before, on the beach at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, Trish had prayed with her husband and…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Motorcyclists Ride to Support Combat-Wounded Veterans and Their Spouses
More than 200 motorcyclists gathered on Saturday, May 21, for the 11th annual High Country Warrior Ride to raise funds for Operation Heal Our Patriots, the Samaritan’s Purse project aimed at strengthening the marriages of veterans wounded in post-9/11 combat operations. Starting at our International Headquarters in Boone, North Carolina, 151 motorcycles traveled together some…
Children's Ministries
Finding a New Way Home
Baraka eyed the money as his aunt placed it inside her small satchel. He wanted to be able to find it later when no one was watching, and though she hid the satchel at home, Baraka found it quickly while she was tending to chores. He had become skilled at this since moving to the…
Discipleship, Education & Training
A Gift for Sunday Schools in the Philippines
Lloyd Abrenica works with the Samaritan’s Purse ministry team in the Philippines. He recently interviewed two women who completed children’s ministry training with Samaritan’s Purse. A Note from Lloyd: Children’s Ministry 101 training was used to show Sunday school teachers and leaders how to teach kids in their Sunday school ministries in their churches. The…
Crisis & Disaster Response
An Unsettling Frontier
Bahark had heard the sound of bulldozers before. When she heard that sound in Idomeni camp she knew it meant that she, her husband, and her daughter soon would be moving again. They had been smuggled into Greece on a rubber raft a few months ago and arrived in this northernmost Greek region only days…
