Years of war devastated the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia from 2020-22. Families were shattered and their futures were left uncertain. Samrawit was one of the countless women struggling against the odds to keep themselves and their children alive. It wasn’t always like this. She can remember many years of peace. She and her husband…
The Journey to Healing
Maria Nelly can’t remember a time when she didn’t have to summon all her energy just to take a breath. Each beat of the Bolivian girl’s heart was a struggle. With each passing year, the 7-year-old’s health grew worse as she labored to breathe, was constantly tired, and often felt ill. Her family didn’t know…
New Hearts in Mongolia
Odgerel is a healthy 3-year-old who likes to run and play on the monkey bars. It’s hard to imagine that two years ago she was fighting for her life. Her mother, Tsatsaa, first noticed something was wrong when she was 8 months old and her skin had a blue discoloration. Odgerel was almost 1 1/2…
Mongolian Mothers Return Home with a New Lease on Life
Erdene, who had cardiac surgery in February through our Children’s Heart Project, is back in school in Mongolia and telling all his classmates that he has a new heart. “Thank you, Jesus for healing me. I love you so much,” he prays. Erdene, 6, is now lively and active, which wasn’t possible for the first…
Operation Heal Our Patriots Strengthens Couples Over the Long Term
Aimmie Jenkins was surprised in Louisiana to see her war-injured husband, former Army Staff Sergeant Andrew Jenkins, mudding out homes; cutting up and carrying trees; and tarping damaged roofs. After more than a decade of watching him painfully and slowly recover from injuries he sustained in Iraq and Afghanistan, she was suddenly watching the man…
Operation Heal Our Patriots 2020 Begins: Couples Arrive in Alaska
Update (July 15): This is the story of the arrival of Week One patriot couples. For a full story on the first week’s activities, go to the wrap-up article here. — This year’s first group of patriot couples took off from Anchorage around 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, and arrived at Port Alsworth about…
“Now I Have a Heart for God”
Each time he pricked his feet on thorns or felt the jabs of kids who jeered at his bare feet, 13-year-old Kwale thought of the shoes his parents had promised: “When we have the money.” Even his teachers seemed to pick on him, assigning him dirty jobs like cleaning the toilets or telling him to…
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…
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,…