Franklin and Jane Graham welcomed ten military couples to Samaritan Lodge Alaska over the Fourth of July weekend, marking the sixth week of this year’s Operation Heal Our Patriots summer season. “July Fourth is when we celebrate freedom, and freedom is something that you have to defend, because there’s always people who want to take…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Love Restored, Hearts Made New
Nearly every day for several months of his deployment, Army Sergeant Jake Southern’s unit came under enemy fire or were blasted by a roadside bomb. “It was nonstop, every day. The violence was increasing,” Jake said of the wartime situation in Afghanistan during 2009. Back at home, his wife Susan was raising their baby boy…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Former Vice President Mike Pence Encourages Military Couples in Alaska
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…
Our Ministry
Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Concert 2019
Samaritan's Purse Christmas Concert 2019 Sold Out Christmas in Blowing Rock | Tickets: $20 Saturday, Dec. 14, 4pm & 7pm Samaritan's Purse Training Center, Blowing Rock,
Hope Begins Here
Not long before Army Sergeant Ian Hunt arrived with his wife Maria at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, Ian had gone through treatment after attempting to take his own life. He had believed the nightmare of his battlefield experiences and injuries had become more than he could bear. In 2012, on his third deployment, he was severely…
Preprinted Shoeboxes – Plastic (Pack of 12)
These sturdy, decorative Operation Christmas Child plastic shoeboxes are ready to be filled with gifts for children around the world and serve as a useful and valuable part of their gift—a treasured keepsake for years to come. Order in packs of 12. Specifically designed to fit well in our shipping cartons, these shoeboxes are 13…
Discipleship, Education & Training
New Friendships, Stronger Marriages Built Among Military Couples
Army Sergeant Larry Kaibetoney and his wife Chani touched down on the runway at Samaritan Lodge Alaska to a hero’s welcome—with a crowd, young and old, cheering and waving American flags. They might have expected such a welcome after Larry’s injury in Iraq more than a decade ago, but those hopes had never before materialized.…
Discipleship, Education & Training
“My Life Has Been Changed”
Army Sergeant Marco Solt expected to find improvised explosive devices (IED) during their route clearance mission in Iraq. That was his job as a combat engineer. They’d find the bombs and neutralize them. But this bomb found their vehicle first. In the confusing seconds after the explosion, he thought he’d lost his teeth. However, it…
Fresh Start in Alaska Based on a Rock-Solid Foundation
Marine Master Sergeant Al Aranda entered a Marine recruiting office as a young man trying to make a better life for himself and to become a good example to the family he might have one day. Now more than 21 years later, after two combat deployments and three years as a Marine Corps drill instructor,…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couple Finds a New Beginning in Christ
The first time Wayne Wilson learned how to drive, it was behind the wheel of a Humvee in Iraq. The 17-year-old had joined the Army to escape from an abusive home, going straight from high school into basic training. He graduated from Airborne School and was immediately deployed on his first combat tour in 2002.…
