Operation Christmas Child
Mariya and Her Art Supplies
Mariya and Her Art Supplies Mariya Snizhko dreamed of becoming an artist even as she grew up in a Christian home in Ukraine. Art was a way for her to express herself and escape the various challenges in her life, which included being bullied at school. Her parents couldn’t afford basic art supplies, so Mariya…
Operation Christmas Child
Elizabeth and a Stuffed Animal
Elizabeth and a Stuffed Animal An illustration of Jesus Christ with outstretched arms made a lasting impression on me. My two younger sisters and I were removed from our home in Latvia when I was 7. Someone at school had noticed that we weren’t being taken care of by our parents. It was because they…
Operation Christmas Child
Online Interest Form Church Data
Online Interest Form Thank you for your interest in blessing children around the world through Operation Christmas Child. After completing this form, you will be contacted by a representative from a local Operation Christmas Child office in your area
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Celebrate New Beginnings During Week One in Alaska
A hero’s welcome is not what military couples expected when they arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. Yet they stepped off the plane to a crowd of staff, volunteers, chaplains, and local residents waving American flags and waiting to greet them. Army Staff Sergeant Chad Kleist and his wife, Tamara, had known for a while that…
Guiding Couples to Christ in Alaska
Military couples have been coming to Samaritan Lodge Alaska now for more than a decade with Operation Heal Our Patriots, and each of the 17 weeks of the program provides once-in-a-lifetime wilderness experiences. Our Samaritan’s Purse guides play a vital role in giving these couples memorable excursions together. Longtime outdoorsman and guide Ralph Meloon says…
Letting Go of Anger and Finding Peace
The first time Marine Lance Corporal PJ Kehs was shot at, he was crossing a street in Fallujah, Iraq–and he fell. Just then, a tracer round zipped over, striking the man behind him. “Why did I fall? I didn’t trip over anything. I literally just went down,” he said. “I should have taken that bullet.”…
Through the Wilderness
Navy Corpsman Ben Hebert and his wife, Heidi, nearly called it quits. They trace the source of their troubles back to 2009 when Ben watched helplessly as a fellow Marine was killed in an ambush while on patrol in Afghanistan. That traumatic event changed him. Ben was plagued by sleeplessness at night and a short…
A New Peace
For a long time, Army Sergeant John Hosea’s only solace was mile after high-speed mile on motorcycle through the Nevada desert. Like many combat veterans, he missed the adrenaline and brotherhood of military service. Hundreds of miles on his Harley also quieted his mind from replaying the tragic events of June 9, 2012. Out on…
A Veteran Couple Finds Hope for Their Marriage in Alaska
Evan Benton joined the Army in 2010 with lofty expectations and planned to make the military a career. When he reported to boot camp as a teenager, he couldn’t have been more excited. “There aren’t too many places that let an 18-year-old kid shoot automatic weapons and play with explosives,” he said. Evan was deployed…
Our Ministry
Retired Marine Serves with Team Patriot in St. Louis
Their mission that day in St. Louis was to save a condemned home where mold had taken over. The owner and her 85-year-old mother were still residing inside, breathing noxious spores. “I really can’t believe they were living in that,” said Brad Chandler, who was serving as a volunteer with Team Patriot, a Samaritan’s Purse…
