As the year’s last two flights of veterans and spouses lifted off on Friday (Sept. 23), the 11th summer season of Operation Heal Our Patriots in Alaska came to an end, and we thank God for the wonderful, grace-filled testimonies these couples now have to share. Over the course of 17 weeks, 164 couples came…
A New Battle: From Fighting Wars to Fighting for Their Families
When the nine wounded military service members and their spouses arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska on May 26, they were strangers, but six days later, they left as friends—renewed, refocused, and with new tools to sustain their marriages. After starting their week with a special Memorial Day observance, the couples participated in a kayak lesson…
Discipleship, Education & Training
“Nerves of Steel” Pilot Tammie Jo Shults Encourages Military Couples over July 4 Week in Alaska
Accomplished Navy aviators and commercial airline pilots Tammie Jo Shults and her husband Dean, as well as their son Marshall, encouraged ten military couples at Samaritan Lodge Alaska over July 4 week. Special guests of Franklin Graham and Operation Heal Our Patriots, Tammie Jo and Dean joined wounded veterans and their spouses for excursions and…
Stepping Out in Faith in Alaska
Olga Patterson had already waded out with our chaplains into Lake Clark, shivering and smiling in the waist-deep, glacier-fed waters during a particularly cold season at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. It had only been a few weeks or so since the snow had stopped falling on the surrounding peaks. She probably couldn’t have picked colder water.…
Car Auction to Help Military Couples
North Carolina businessman and car collector George Shinn is auctioning off a 700-plus-horsepower Stryker Ford Mustang muscle car, custom painted with the stars and stripes. Shinn, a friend and supporter of Samaritan’s Purse, first announced the July 25-27 car auction during the 2024 Operation Heal Our Patriots reunion in Orlando earlier this year. “This weekend,…
Celebrating Freedom in Jesus Christ in Alaska
Wednesday, June 19, 2024. It’s a day that Ruth Szymansky will never forget. A few days prior, Ruth and her husband, Matt, a retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, arrived at Samaritan Lodge Alaska for Week 4 of the Operation Heal Our Patriots summer season. Ruth applied to the program after stumbling across a mention of…
Discipleship, Education & Training
2021 Marks Ten Years of Ministry to Military Couples
This summer marks the 10th season of Operation Heal Our Patriots, a program started by Samaritan’s Purse in 2012 to strengthen the marriages of America’s heroes. Wounded military veterans and their spouses come to Samaritan Lodge Alaska where they participate in Biblically based marriage enrichment classes and enjoy excursions into the pristine wilderness of Lake…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Begin New Chapter in Alaska
Terror, violence, and death weren’t supposed to follow him home. Army Staff Sergeant Josh Abbatoye thought he’d left war on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout multiple deployments in a 17-year military career he’d survived eight traumatic brain injuries, five improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and a rocket-propelled grenade that left shrapnel stuck in his…
Wounded Veterans and Their Spouses Discover Hope in Christ
The metal bracelet on Army Sergeant Justin Gallagher’s wrist, light as it was, had weighed on him for years. It was “like an anchor,” he said, because he had returned home from Iraq and three of his friends had not. Just before Christmas 2006, during operations in Fallujah, Iraq, a bomb detonated near two of…
Edward Graham Volunteers in Louisiana with Team Patriot
Edward Graham traveled this week to southwest Louisiana to encourage Samaritan’s Purse teams as they come alongside hurting homeowners. Many communities in the Bayou State are still struggling to recover after powerful hurricanes pummeled the area in recent months. Hurricane Delta slammed ashore as a Category 2 storm in early October and hit just a…
