Mid-Year Report
How to Pack a Shoebox
Boy Finds a Best Friend in Jesus
Nico was diagnosed with a heart defect as an infant in Bolivia. By age 8, he was experiencing fatigue, a loss of appetite, and shortness of breath. That made it harder for him to concentrate on his homework or participate in physical education with his friends. “I always felt tired when I was at school,”…
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.…
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…
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…
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…
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…