The eighth annual High Country Warrior Ride, held May 18, raised significant financial support for Operation Heal Our Patriots, the Samaritan’s Purse ministry to military couples with a spouse wounded in combat operations after 9/11. Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham and his son, Edward, a 16-year Army veteran serving with the 75th Ranger Battalion, led…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Hurting Military Marriages Find Healing in God’s Love
Chad and Ellen Peacock were childhood sweethearts—growing up with close families and annual beach vacations together. The summer that Chad was set to leave for Marine boot camp, he asked Ellen to wait for him, planning to marry her when he returned. The couple wrote 277 letters back and forth while Chad was away and…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Army Veteran and His Wife Now Follow Christ on Same Path
Note: The 2019 summer season of Operation Heal Our Patriots ended on Sept. 13, and we thank the Lord for all He did in the lives of so many couples, including the Paynes. For more on this spring/summer, see the update at the conclusion of this article. Army Specialist Tony Payne returned to his Evansville,…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Remember Me
Retired Army Sergeant First Class Ronnie Busbin and his wife Beth of Cunningham, Tennessee, participated in the first week of the Operation Heal Patriots summer season in Alaska this year. Ronnie deployed to Iraq in 2004 and Afghanistan in 2006 and 2011-12. He suffers from multiple traumatic brain injuries received while performing his duties as…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Waterside Conversion Leads to Lake Clark Baptism
As Trish Dawson felt Lake Clark’s frigid waters wash over her, she almost forgot the shocking cold in an adrenaline rush of happiness. “I was just so happy—overwhelmed,” Trish shared, eyes shining at the memory of her baptism. Just moments before, on the beach at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, Trish had prayed with her husband and…
Discipleship, Education & Training
Alaska Fridays Are a Celebration!
Each week at Samaritan Lodge Alaska, Fridays are a day of celebration. Operation Heal Our Patriots staff and volunteers thank God as they watch baptisms, hear military couples renew their vows, and listen to testimonies of saving grace during a fireside farewell. Of course, the rest of the week is pretty special too. There’s a…
Children's Ministries
God’s Provision Leads Mother to Christ
There’s no experience more heart-wrenching than seeing the health of your child decline, said Yudith, a Bolivian mother. Her daughter, Nihan, was diagnosed shortly after birth with a hole in her heart. But instead of closing on its own as sometimes happens, the hole got bigger, and she had a heart murmur. By the time…
Crisis & Disaster Response
Restoring Lives from Violence in Tigray
Years of war devastated the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia from 2020-22. Families were shattered and their futures were left uncertain. Samrawit was one of the countless women struggling against the odds to keep themselves and their children alive. It wasn’t always like this. She can remember many years of peace. She and her husband…
New Hearts in Mongolia
Odgerel is a healthy 3-year-old who likes to run and play on the monkey bars. It’s hard to imagine that two years ago she was fighting for her life. Her mother, Tsatsaa, first noticed something was wrong when she was 8 months old and her skin had a blue discoloration. Odgerel was almost 1 1/2…
Health & Medical Ministries
The Journey to Healing
Maria Nelly can’t remember a time when she didn’t have to summon all her energy just to take a breath. Each beat of the Bolivian girl’s heart was a struggle. With each passing year, the 7-year-old’s health grew worse as she labored to breathe, was constantly tired, and often felt ill. Her family didn’t know…
