“The war started suddenly,” Elena, a fine arts teacher in Ukraine, said. “I prayed every day, ‘Lord, I trust in You. Give me strength, patience, and humility for this day.’” Soon, she and her daughter fled to Poland to escape the increasing violence. They arrived close to Easter and moved into a hotel that was…
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…
Faith Restored
The two Army medics were ready to quit their marriage and had a hard time remembering why they’d bothered applying to go to Alaska with Samaritan’s Purse. Just a couple weeks before Army Sergeant First Class Jason Smith and Army Specialist Amy Smith were scheduled to leave for Operation Heal Our Patriots, they delivered the…
Operation Christmas Child
From Oklahoma with Love
Doris Row started packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes on her ranch in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, in 1995 after her 13-year-old son died at Christmastime the year before. She was determined not to live in grief, but to do something good to help overcome it. She chose to begin packing shoebox gifts for children in need around…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Thanking God for Military Couples Saved in Alaska
On the eve of the 17th anniversary of 9/11, ten U.S. military couples gathered by the glacial waters of Lake Clark to spend a restorative week (Sept. 2-8) in the Alaskan bush for the penultimate session of Operation Heal Our Patriots 2018. And much like the nearly 140 couples that had already come to Samaritan…
Celebrating God’s Work in Our Military Couples
Army Specialist Shawna Watkins and Army Sergeant Jesse Watkins started dating after serving on combat deployments in Afghanistan. They’d been on the same mission together in 2011 when their convoy was struck by an improvised explosive device, and Shawna was sent flying from atop her vehicle’s gun turret. Next thing she knew she was in…
Operation Christmas Child
Age Is No Obstacle for Shoebox Packing
Leila Mae Cummings’ favorite activity is to pack Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts. This 98-year-old resident of Greensboro, North Carolina, packed hundreds of them this year because she has a heart for children and hard work. “Growing up on the farm, I can’t ever remember a time when I didn’t have a job to do,”…
Operation Christmas Child
Local Christians Use Shoebox Gifts to Help Plant Churches in Remote Mongolia
Highways leading out of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city, continue east for many miles as far as the city of Chinggis. From there, the roads diminish to mere gravel paths that stretch across the vast pasturelands of Khenti Province. It’s from Chinggis, where transportation begins to get more difficult, that six churches are praying—paving the way—for…
Our Ministry
Social Media
Connect with us on Social Media Facebook: Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child World Medical Mission Operation Heal Our Patriots Children's Heart Project U.S. Disaster Relief Twitter: Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child Instagram: Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child LinkedIn: Samaritan's Purse Pinterest: Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child
Our Ministry
Pushing Themselves to the Limit—For a Good Cause
Matt and Jessica Cook stood satisfied at the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro staring out at a carpet of clouds hovering nearly two miles below them. The father-daughter duo from Cuba, Missouri, had reached Africa’s highest peak—19,341 feet above sea level—after an almost weeklong test of strength and endurance. With a love for Samaritan’s Purse and…
