Las Tres Huastecas region, along the Gulf Coast in Mexico, is hard to reach and isolated from much of the country. Many residents still speak the native language, Nahuatl, and worship indigenous idols. The few churches that preach the Gospel here are met with disdain and uncertainty. Earlier this year, however, at a small school…
Operation Christmas Child
Children in Botswana Learn About God’s Love Through Shoebox Gifts
For children living in Molepolole, Botswana, receiving gifts is rare, so when Anitah attended a church outreach event she wasn’t expecting the wonderful surprise that awaited her. She experienced God’s love when she received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift from a family on the other side of the world. The free gifts in her…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Celebrating True Freedom in Christ
We are grateful this Fourth of July for the many freedoms we enjoy in the United States of America. We praise God for the even greater freedom—true, lasting, eternal—that many military couples have experienced at Samaritan Lodge Alaska this summer through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Dozens of wounded military veterans and their spouses…
Operation Christmas Child
God Uses a Shoebox Gift to Transform a Family in the Philippines
Bryce Pablo received a shoebox gift as a 4-year-old. Three years later, he accepted Jesus Christ and led his family to follow the Lord as well! Bryce Pablo is one of more than 6 million children in the Philippines who have received a gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift. “When I opened my box, I…
Reconnecting in Alaska
Army Sergeant Omar Cortes served in the military for 15 years and was deployed twice to Iraq. He was medically retired in 2013 due to his combat injuries. After returning home to Puerto Rico, Omar and his wife Heidy started growing apart and desperately needed to reconnect—not only with one another but with God. Omar…
Operation Christmas Child
It Started with a Shoebox Gift: Children Share Christ with Their Friends in Botswana
Peniel, 11, wants to be a doctor when she’s older so she can help people who are suffering. “I want to help people because I don’t want anyone in the hospital to die like my grandpa did. In the hospital. My father cried forever.” Helping others was not high on Peniel’s priority list a couple…
Alaska Pilots Are a Lifeline in the Wilderness
A deafening buzz nearly every summer morning fills the air, echoing through the trees and mountains surrounding Port Alsworth, Alaska. There’s a good chance that one or two Samaritan’s Purse planes and pilots are responsible for breaking the wilderness silence. “As a young kid I grew up next to an Air Force base, and I…
Military Couples Find New Life in the Lord Jesus Christ
Over July 4 week we saw God at work in the lives and marriages of many military couples at Samaritan Lodge Alaska as they experienced the hope found only in the Gospel. We praise God that seven couples renewed their vows, seven individuals received Christ as Lord and Savior, and 12 men and women were…
Operation Christmas Child Espanol
Ends of the Earth (es)
Enviando el Evangelio hasta lo último de la Tierra Las cajas llenas de regalos de Operation Christmas Child llegan a algunas de las regiones más difíciles de alcanzar de la tierra. Estas áreas incluyen algunas que son hostiles para el Evangelio, lugares donde comunidades enteras aún no se han podido alcanzar y cientos de islas…
Operation Christmas Child
By Volunteering, She Became a Prayer Warrior
“Prayer is such a central piece of Operation Christmas Child. It supports all parts of the organization. It’s that underpinning to make sure everything else runs smoothly,” said Nancy Osborn, prayer coordinator for the Maine West team of year-round volunteers in the Portland area. A resident of Falmouth, Maine, Nancy works full-time as an inventory…
