Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, joined Franklin and Jane Graham to support wounded veterans and their spouses at Samaritan Lodge Alaska this past week. “To be some small part of simply saying thank you, thanking them for their service, but also encouraging them to grow in their faith, to strengthen their…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Former Vice President Mike Pence Encourages Military Couples in Alaska
Operation Christmas Child
Elena’s Story: Offering Praise in Poland
“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…
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…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Remembering 9/11, Strengthening Military Marriages
As the world marks the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Samaritan’s Purse continues to strengthen the marriages of wounded military veterans and spouses who’ve sacrificed so much to defend the freedoms our nation enjoys. The September 11 attacks are what led many to armed service, which included combat deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and…
Franklin Graham
Newsletter August 2024
Franklin Graham Update | August Franklin Graham Update | August A Lighthouse for the Gospel on an Island in the Bering Sea Dear Friend, Nunivak Island is the second largest island in the Bering Sea, about 30 miles off the Alaskan mainland. It is a remote, tundra-covered volcanic rock, home to thousands of reindeer, over 500 musk ox, and less than 200 Cup'ig people. Mekoryuk,…
Our Ministry
Warrior Ride
11th Annual High Country Warrior Ride Saturday, May 21, 2022 – Rain or Shine! Register Now Come show your support of Operation Heal Our Patriots with a scenic ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Escorted by local law enforcement and the Boone chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, the 80-mile ride is a privately organized fundraiser to send…
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…
