Army Sergeant Brian Matters and his wife Rebecca left Alaska last year with hope. The week they spent there through Operation Heal Our Patriots helped lift a dark cloud from their lives. They even recommitted their marriage to God. Despite his years of faith in Jesus Christ, Brian had long struggled with doubt and hopelessness—especially…
Operation Christmas Child
Introducing Churches to Operation Christmas Child
Mary Johnson serves as the church relations coordinator for the Greater Petersburg, Virginia, Area Team. This group of volunteers is responsible for promoting and coordinating shoebox packing efforts in five counties just south of Richmond. “I think our key role for this area is our black churches,” Mary said. “Our job is to get in…
Our Ministry
Hispanic Ministries
Strengthening Hispanic Church Partnerships Empowering the Hispanic Church In 2021, President of Samaritan’s Purse Franklin Graham created Hispanic Ministries to further strengthen ministry partnerships with the Hispanic church. Hispanic Ministries equips, mobilizes, and partners with Hispanic churches to impact the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Samaritan's Purse has long supported the domestic and…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Operation Heal Our Patriots Encourages Both Spouse and Injured Warrior
Varalin never anticipated that the impact of her husband’s wartime brain injuries could be so devastating—that expressing any kind of emotion would become nearly impossible for him. “After 13 years of marriage, he still struggles to tell me how he’s feeling,” Varalin said. “He has to choose every day to feign emotion. He doesn’t laugh…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Thanking God for Lives Transformed in Alaska
All he knew was darkness. The horrors of war had followed him home, and Marine Staff Sergeant Tre Tremillo was suffocating beneath layers of despair and anger. Images of death haunted him. His heart ached for fellow Marines still hospitalized with battle-related injuries. He mourned friends who had committed suicide. “I found myself sitting at…
Animals, Agriculture & Livelihoods
Dairy Goats Improve Nutrition for Families
Sister Guylaine’s goats bleat loudly as she walks among them pointing out how many there are now. They started with 25 goats last year, a gift from Samaritan’s Purse, and now there are ten more. She is one of the sisters who serve the community through Little Sisters of Evangelization church in Babonde, a community…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Military Couples Start Fresh During Alaska Adventure
Mike Woodard’s muscular frame stands six-foot-four. During his time as a soldier in the U.S. Army, there’s no doubt the enemy should and would have feared him in close quarters. He served bravely in a 2011-12 combat tour to Afghanistan, though it came at great cost. He got blown up three times—once each by a…
Construction Projects
Building Churches in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Pastor Mbunya smiled heartily as he welcomed visitors out of the afternoon rain and into the new building in the village of Chykele where his congregation was now able to worship. They had endured decades of uncertainty about where they would gather each week as a church family. But now that question was finally answered.…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Providing Emergency Shelter in Eastern Ukraine
As war rages on, Eastern Ukraine continues to suffer. Relentless shelling has forced thousands to leave behind their houses and farms to find temporary shelter elsewhere. A Samaritan’s Purse partner named Nataliya is leading a team of Ukrainians to help their fellow citizens in the region. Over the past year, they have provided over 350…
Women's Programs
Mother’s Day Feature: A New Generation of Hope
It’s typically a long chain of tragic events that leads mothers and their malnourished babies to the pediatric ICU at ELWA Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. When they arrive, that’s when Dr. Michael Bryant first sees them and hope begins to grow. Dr. Bryant examines the poorly cut umbilical cord on a patient named Favor, who…
