The first week of the 2022 Operation Heal Our Patriots summer season (May 29-June 3) got off to a quick start and ended powerfully. On the very first night that military couples arrived at Samaritan Lodge, Marine Staff Sergeant Martin Lucero and his wife, Courtney, received Christ after 90 minutes of counsel with one of…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Celebrating God at Work During Operation Heal Our Patriots Week One
Discipleship, Education & Training
Operation Heal Our Patriots Starts 12th Summer Season in Alaska
Memorial Day weekend marked the start of the Operation Heal Our Patriots 2023 summer season. Eleven military couples, from eight states and Puerto Rico, arrived on Sunday, May 28, at Samaritan Lodge Alaska where they were greeted by a flag-waving, enthusiastic crowd that included staff, volunteers, and local town residents. The patriots and their spouses…
Hope, Healing, and Restoration During Week One of Operation Heal Our Patriots
Tammy Unruh didn’t want to come to Alaska. She had no interest in attending Operation Heal Our Patriots to work on her crumbling nine-year marriage to Mike, a retired sergeant who served in the army for 20 years. She didn’t think their relationship could be fixed. Even the thought of going fishing, hiking, or bear…
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…
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…
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…
Health & Medical Ministries
Kids Are Missionaries Too
Three-year-old Josh* could not contain his excitement when he found out he was going on his first mission trip. “We are going to El Salvador,” he announced at his church in British Columbia, Canada. “Daddy is going to work on teeth and we’re going to tell people about Jesus!” The Eliason family—Garth and LeeAnne, Josh,…
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…
