Auta’s skin is dark and taut with valleys of worry and determination etched into her forehead. She is 58, and her husband died three decades ago. She sits on a small rock outside her home in a village in Niger, West Africa, and holds a wiggly granddaughter as she speaks. Around her, she sees a…
Health & Medical Ministries
Mother, Daughter Receive Christ After Surgery
Khaliunaa didn’t just fear death, the thought of eternity filled her with dread. The Mongolian mother believed that no one could be good enough to go to Heaven and that eternal damnation was everyone’s fate. The prospect of her daughter, Tserendulam or “Dulma” for short, dying young from a heart defect diagnosed at birth sent…
Children's Ministries
Healing in Christ Alone
Victor loved the metal walker that his father, Richard, had crafted for him. It gave the 18-month-old the freedom and mobility that he otherwise wouldn’t have had to explore his thatched roof home and the surroundings of his Ugandan village. Richard had used what was available to piece the walker together, including bottle caps as…
Feeding Programs
Fleeing from Boko Haram
Editor’s Note: Names have been changed throughout this article to protect identities. In the Diffa region of southeastern Niger, there is little sound. Apart from the side-to-side rocking of the moving Land Cruiser and subtle shifting of sand in the wind, the sun beats down on a sparse landscape largely devoid of movement. Motorcycles are…
Health & Medical Ministries
Transforming Hearts and Lives for Eternity
Amarzaya assumed she would die young and not live to see her 20th birthday. Her days were filled with exhaustion and pain. She often had sleepless nights as she tried to regulate her struggled breathing. She didn’t feel symptoms of a heart defect in her early years. But by age 16, the Mongolian girl could…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Beekeeping Project Lifts Families in Kenya Out of Poverty
When Samaritan’s Purse staff met David, he was struggling to provide for his wife and two children in their poor village in Kenya. He worked hard as a farmer, but it wasn’t enough to keep the family out of poverty. “I had lost hope of educating my children,” David said, as he couldn’t afford their…
God Is Transforming Lives and Healing Marriages through Operation Heal Our Patriots
Retired Army Staff Sergeant John Hosea and his wife Sara know that every day and every breath are gifts from God. On June 9, 2012, John’s armored vehicle ran over a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. The resulting blast blew the truck 27 feet in the air, killing the driver instantly. John was severely wounded. That…
Media
Fact Sheet: Operation Heal Our Patriot
Operation Heal Our Patriots What Operation Heal Our Patriots is a project of Samaritan's Purse designed to strengthen the marriages of wounded and injured members of the U.S. military. The project includes a weeklong wilderness retreat at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, which provides physical and spiritual renewal to wounded veterans, active-duty service members and their spouses.…
Discipleship, Education & Training
The 2019 Operation Heal Our Patriots Summer Season Started Memorial Day Weekend
Sunday afternoon nine U.S. military couples arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska to be greeted on the local gravel runway by a long line of excited townspeople and staff waving American flags. One participant, Army Specialist Sean Goetz of Cedar City, Utah, said of the experience, “It’s just overwhelming—the patriotism. I’m speechless. I’m just privileged to…
Discipleship, Education & Training
The Operation Heal Our Patriots 15th Summer Season is Underway in Alaska
As we remembered fallen United States service members during Memorial Day weekend, we also welcomed the first group of military couples to Alaska for the Operation Heal Our Patriots 2026 summer season. Military service members and their spouses touched down at Samaritan Lodge Alaska on Sunday, May 24, greeted with a flag-waving welcome from chaplains,…
