Wednesday, June 19, 2024. It’s a day that Ruth Szymansky will never forget. A few days prior, Ruth and her husband, Matt, a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska for Week 4 of the Operation Heal Our Patriots summer season. Ruth applied to the program after stumbling across a mention of…
Stepping Out in Faith in Alaska
Olga Patterson had already waded out with our chaplains into Lake Clark, shivering and smiling in the waist-deep, glacier-fed waters during a particularly cold season at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. It had only been a few weeks or so since the snow had stopped falling on the surrounding peaks. She probably couldn’t have picked colder water.…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Marriage Ministry Helps Marine Couple at Perfect Time
Samaritan’s Purse launched Operation Heal Our Patriots to minister to military service members wounded after 9/11. Our commitment to these couples starts with a week of Biblically based marriage classes and wilderness excursions in the pristine wilderness surrounding Lake Clark National Park. After they come home from what for many is a life-changing experience, Samaritan’s…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Start Fresh During Alaska Adventure
Mike Woodard’s muscular frame stands six-foot-four. During his time as a soldier in the U.S. Army, there’s no doubt the enemy should and would have feared him in close quarters. He served bravely in a 2011-12 combat tour to Afghanistan, though it came at great cost. He got blown up three times—once each by a…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Thanking God for Lives Transformed in Alaska
All he knew was darkness. The horrors of war had followed him home, and Marine Staff Sergeant Tre Tremillo was suffocating beneath layers of despair and anger. Images of death haunted him. His heart ached for fellow Marines still hospitalized with battle-related injuries. He mourned friends who had committed suicide. “I found myself sitting at…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Spouses Open Up About Trials, Triumphs, and God’s Redeeming Love
Sometimes the call came in the middle of the night, and her husband would be gone by morning. She often had no idea where, for how long, or when she would hear from him again. Courtney Keith began to fear an officer’s knock on her door—the signal that her husband had been killed on military…
A New Battle: From Fighting Wars to Fighting for Their Families
When the nine wounded military service members and their spouses arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska on May 26, they were strangers, but six days later, they left as friends—renewed, refocused, and with new tools to sustain their marriages. After starting their week with a special Memorial Day observance, the couples participated in a kayak lesson…
Discipleship, Education & Training
“Nerves of Steel” Pilot Tammie Jo Shults Encourages Military Couples over July 4 Week in Alaska
Accomplished Navy aviators and commercial airline pilots Tammie Jo Shults and her husband Dean, as well as their son Marshall, encouraged ten military couples at Samaritan Lodge Alaska over July 4 week. Special guests of Franklin Graham and Operation Heal Our Patriots, Tammie Jo and Dean joined wounded veterans and their spouses for excursions and…
Forgiveness and Forgiving
Army Sergeant James Sizemore and his wife, Krystle, were already best friends when they were married 10 years ago. James had already left the Army, but he struggled with post-traumatic stress after deploying during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Krystle encouraged him to seek help, and this allowed James to work on his mental health so the…
Celebrating a Season of Changed Lives
As the year’s last two flights of veterans and spouses lifted off on Friday (Sept. 23), the 11th summer season of Operation Heal Our Patriots in Alaska came to an end, and we thank God for the wonderful, grace-filled testimonies these couples now have to share. Over the course of 17 weeks, 164 couples came…
