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
Military Couples Begin New Chapter in Alaska
Terror, violence, and death weren’t supposed to follow him home. Army Staff Sergeant Josh Abbatoye thought he’d left war on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout multiple deployments in a 17-year military career he’d survived eight traumatic brain injuries, five improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and a rocket-propelled grenade that left shrapnel stuck in his…
Operation Christmas Child
Shoebox Heroes
Millions of people become shoebox heroes to children in need around the world by prayerfully packing an ordinary box with toys and other fun items to communicate God’s love in a way a boy or girl can understand. But some shoebox heroes go “above and beyond” to ensure that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed through Operation…
Wounded Veterans and Their Spouses Discover Hope in Christ
The metal bracelet on Army Sergeant Justin Gallagher’s wrist, light as it was, had weighed on him for years. It was “like an anchor,” he said, because he had returned home from Iraq and three of his friends had not. Just before Christmas 2006, during operations in Fallujah, Iraq, a bomb detonated near two of…
Operation Christmas Child
Build a Shoebox NYC
Build a ShoeboxNewYrkCity Join fellow New Yorkers to build shoeboxes online! Find a goal page on the list or create your own ! Create a Goal Page Total Shoeboxes Packed 1391 Build a Shoebox With: Packed Goal New York City 54 000 All Nations Apostolic Tabernacle 6 50 BCCC OCC Goal Page 104 120 Bethany Build…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples See Prayers Answered in Alaska
He was shivering so violently he could hardly stand still. The wind had suddenly picked up, the sun was nowhere in sight, and the air was noticeably chillier than it had been all week. Not even the crackling fire on the beach offered much warmth. But it didn’t matter. Army Sergeant First Class David Larson…
Edward Graham Volunteers in Louisiana with Team Patriot
Edward Graham traveled this week to southwest Louisiana to encourage Samaritan’s Purse teams as they come alongside hurting homeowners. Many communities in the Bayou State are still struggling to recover after powerful hurricanes pummeled the area in recent months. Hurricane Delta slammed ashore as a Category 2 storm in early October and hit just a…
Operation Christmas Child
Transformed for Ministry
The news was cancer and, with no remedy, Genaro began to worsen and slide into despair. But this was not the end of his story. With a wave of prayers behind him from his father and his rural community in Mexico, the Lord miraculously healed Genaro of his illness and called him into ministry with…
Operation Christmas Child
God Brings New Life to a Disabled Boy in Mongolia Through Operation Christmas Child
Teenaged Sampil is a different person after receiving an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift. Once generally homebound, he now travels freely about the city of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Instead of being lonely, he now plays on team sports and has many friends. He initially had finished his education at the primary school level, but after a…
