On the Ground with Samaritan's Purse

For the past two years, Samaritan’s Purse has been actively providing aid to families caught in the midst of war in Gaza and Israel. Four months ago, Janet Huckabee and her husband, Mike, moved to Israel where he is serving as the U.S. Ambassador. This episode shares Janet’s heart for the work they do and how God has asked her to stretch beyond her physical limits and lean on her faith in this season. 

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Take a trip with On the Ground to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya, where medical and surgical teams are leading patients to Christ and showing them the love of Jesus. Hear from one surgeon who has served faithfully for more than 20 years and how she overcame immense personal trials that called her faith into question. 

Ten months ago, in Mountain City, Tennessee, Hurricane Helene turned Kim and Michael Mitchum’s lives upside down. Now, they have a fresh start as they move into their brand-new house. Follow the Mitchums’ journey as they witness volunteers and staff build their home from the ground up and hear directly from Kim and Michael’s hearts. 

None of the work that Samaritan’s Purse does on the frontlines could happen without the incredible people in our ministry who work in capacities that rarely receive the credit. Everyone has different strengths and skill sets, but we're all given specific gifts that God wants us to use to further His Kingdom. Here at Samaritan’s Purse, we're all called to share the Gospel whether it’s behind the scenes or on the frontlines. Meet the people who organize supplies for airlifts, support our hospitals, and coordinate logistics for transportation around the world.

Dr. Ed Carns has served in the far corners of the world with Samaritan’s Purse both with World Medical Mission and the Disaster Assistance Response Team. He shares his testimony of how God used people in his life to point him to Christ and encourage him in his faith. The stories he shares with Kristy Graham demonstrate how God pursues each person individually.

In August 2023, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century swept through Lahaina, a beautiful community on the island of Maui. Samaritan’s Purse was in Maui within 48 hours of the disaster, coming alongside people who had lost everything by sifting through ashes in search of treasured belongings. Two years later, we’re taking you back to Hawaii, where you will hear directly from families as receive their brand-new homes built by Samaritan’s Purse.

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Kristy sat down with Aileen Coleman, a long-time partner with Samaritan’s Purse and a giant in the faith, in 2019. Aileen was a missionary in Mafraq, Jordan for more than 60 years, and was one of the key people in the life of Samaritan's Purse President Franklin Graham. Aileen recently went to be with the Lord, and while we will miss her presence and influence, we cling to the example and legacy she leaves. This encouraging conversation will surely spur you on to share the Gospel, invest in your prayer life, and live sacrificially.

Kristy Graham takes listeners to Texas, where Samaritan’s Purse is responding after massive flooding left a trail of extensive damage across several counties. Hear from Andrew Metcalf, a program manager for U.S. Disaster Relief, and Edward Graham, the chief operating officer of Samaritan’s Purse, about what it has been like on the ground and how we can be praying for Texans.

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Ellie Graves has served as a volunteer with Operation Christmas Child for nearly 20 years. Her life of service is a true example of obedience to God, as she walks with Him in dependence and submission. Hear about Ellie’s remarkable journey with the Lord and how the power of prayer has been an anchor.

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Kristy Graham sits down with Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, to talk about how we can love our family, our friends, and our spouse well. Dr. Chapman’s books and teachings have helped transform marriages, and Samaritan's Purse uses his materials at Operation Heal Our Patriots in Alaska. Hear how you can make your apologies sincere, your love genuine, and your care Christlike for those experiencing tragedy. 

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Samaritan’s Purse is pouring into the next generation of Godly leaders. This week, Kristy Graham introduces you to a Samaritan’s Purse program you may not know about: the Leadership Development Pathway. Kendell Kauffeldt, who heads up this program, shares how the program develops and equips staff by studying Biblical leadership. Hear from recent graduates of the program about what they learned and how they follow Jesus’ example of leadership.

Mike and Michele Toberer founded a Christian nonprofit called Mission Mules, that provides disaster relief to otherwise inaccessible areas through a very unique mode of transportation: packing mules. Samaritan’s Purse and Mission Mules crossed paths after Hurricane Helene. We had the honor of serving alongside them in the mountains of North Carolina, working together to deliver supplies to those who had been cut off. Hear how God challenged Mike and Michele to launch this ministry and about their time serving in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

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Choosing joy in all circumstances is a daily battle that we all face. Pastor Chip Ingram sits down with Kristy Graham to talk about how he has been able to shift his perspective and, with God’s help, truly choose joy.

Karen never thought she would ever have the opportunity to return to Myanmar, but the Lord had other plans. After the recent earthquake in Myanmar, Karen Daniels, an operating room nurse, returned to treat patients with the Disaster Assistance Response Team. Hear from Karen about the patients she met on this response and what God taught her along the way. You will also hear directly from some of our patients, who were treated at our Emergency Field Hospital. 

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Read more about the Samaritan’s Purse Emergency Field Hospital in Myanmar that treated more...

Recently some of our international staff visited our Samaritan's Purse headquarters and shared updates from their work around the world. Matt Nowery and Barry Jessen, two of our country directors, talked with Kristy Graham about how they are able persevere and continue to sow and water seeds for the Gospel in hard places.

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Josh Havens and Matt Fuqua, the two founding members of the Christian band, The Afters, sat down with Kristy Graham to talk about what it looks like to have a heart of worship, what it has been like traveling around the world with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, and what God is teaching them in this season. 

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For 17 weeks every summer, military veterans and their spouses are invited to Operation Heal Our Patriots for a week-long marriage retreat. Kristy Graham takes listeners behind-the-scenes to experience what these military couples do day by day, immersing them in what life is like at Samaritan Lodge Alaska. Hear how the Lord transforms marriages through Biblically based marriage classes, excursions in the beautiful Alaskan wilderness, and intentional conversations with chaplains, staff, and volunteers.

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Seeing family members killed right in front of him, spending months on the run, ending up in an orphanage—this was Alex’s life after the Rwandan genocide began. Yet, despite all this hardship, Alex can look back and see the miracles of God throughout his life. And when Alex received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox gift, a seed of hope was planted that would later bloom into a deep love for the Lord. Hear about the miracles of God in Alex’s story and how the power of forgiveness set him free.

Jim Dailey, vice president of communications at Samaritan’s Purse, spoke with Kristy Graham about how he has witnessed God’s sovereign, providential hand throughout his 25 years of working in the ministry. Jim shared about perseverance in times of trial, and what it has been like taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

In Tigray—a region of Ethiopia once ravaged by conflict—God is using Samaritan’s Purse to equip local churches to change lives, mend hearts, and restore hope in Jesus’ Name. Meeting the vulnerable where they are and addressing physical and spiritual needs, we are together pouring into the next generation—a generation whose childhood was stripped away. By creating safe havens, these kids are able to play, laugh, and learn about how there is a God who cares for them.

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The storm may be out of the news, but it's not out of God's sight. Kristy Graham takes listeners to her own backyard in western North Carolina, where Hurricane Helene hit in September of 2024. Months later, the storm is not over—people's lives are still turned upside down. Kristy talks with Kendell Kauffeldt, the response manager during this disaster response, and he shares stories of how Samaritan’s Purse has been able to meet unique needs. This has included the replacement of critical items lost during the storm, such as cars, work vehicles, campers for temporary housing, and even mule...

Samaritan’s Purse is helping the people of Myanmar in the wake of a deadly earthquake by providing clean water, shelter, and medical care at our Emergency Field Hospital. It is only by the Lord’s provision that our Disaster Assistance Response Team received access into Myanmar, showing once again, just how powerful prayer is. Hear directly from our staff who are on the ground in Myanmar, demonstrating God’s love.

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Kristy Graham sits down with her husband and Samaritan’s Purse Chief Operating Officer Edward Graham to hear updates of our work around the world, including the Myanmar earthquake response. Edward shares what is on the hearts of the organization’s leaders and how we can be praying for Samaritan’s Purse ministry of helping in Jesus’ Name after manmade and natural disasters.

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As a child, receiving a simple shoebox gift made Anabel realize the power of prayer and how much God loved her. Throughout her life, Anabel kept the Lord’s promises hidden in her heart. So when tragedy struck, He reminded her of the answer to her prayers in the form of a shoebox with a note that was written in love.

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No matter what you do, where you work or how you serve, God can use it for His Kingdom. This week Kristy Graham takes you behind the scenes and introduces you to some of our Samaritan’s Purse flight attendants, who fly all around the world on our DC-8 combi aircraft. These highly skilled and experienced members of our Mission Aviation Services staff share how, as believers, we can faithfully serve the Lord wherever He has called us.

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Scripture is alive and active, and no matter the circumstances we face in life, God’s Word can help lift our eyes beyond our current situation and towards our eternal hope in Jesus Christ. This week, we are taking you behind the scenes to Samaritan’s Purse staff devotions, where Randy Bishop talks about the history of the English Bible and how important it is that we not only read God’s Word, but crave it daily. Hear Kristy Graham and other members of the podcast team share Scripture that has impacted them in their walk with the Lord.

More than 11 million Sudanese people have been internally displaced by violence from ongoing civil war. Amid this turmoil, many people are feeling hopeless. In one particular city where the medical infrastructure is overwhelmed, Samaritan's Purse set up an Emergency Field Hospital to offer help in Jesus’ Name. Kristy Graham sat down with Shannon Hamilton, who served as the team lead for this disaster response team in Sudan.

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Read stories of brave moms in Sudan who have been helped by Samaritan’s Purse.

Learn more about how Samaritan’s Purse is bringi...

Nothing is ever truly ours—even our loved ones belong to the Lord. Hear an incredible story of a family's faith through loss. Kristy Graham speaks with Dr. Seth and Rebecca Mallay, who share their daughter’s testimony and talk about how we should hold things loosely as believers.

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In a remote area of Uganda, a little boy named Deo was living on borrowed time. At just 3 years old, he was suffering from a critical heart condition, and he needed surgery that wasn’t available in his home country. Samaritan’s Purse knew it would take a miracle from God to save this boy’s life. 

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In a remote area of Uganda, a little boy named Deo was living on borrowed time. At just 3 years old, he was suffering from a critical heart condition, and he needed surgery that wasn’t available in his home country. Samaritan’s Purse knew it would take a miracle from God to save this boy’s life. 

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Even in pain and tragedy, God can make beauty out of ashes. Kristy Graham speaks with her father-in-law and president of Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham, about his recent trip to the Los Angeles area, where he met people affected by the devastating wildfires. You will hear directly from firefighters, who battled the flames, and a homeowner, who gave his life to the Lord after he lost everything in the wildfire.

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Hear a testimony of God’s faithfulness in a storm, as Kristy Graham talks with a family of five who lost their home in Hurricane Helene. Even though they watched everything they had worked for wash away, the Bowens chose to trust God. 

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Every year, Samaritan’s Purse builds a church in remote Alaska as part of our efforts to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Hear from Corey and Kristin, who work on this project year-round, about the challenges and joys that they encounter while serving as well as how you can pray for these church builds and the people in these isolated areas. 

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Travel to Quito, Ecuador, where you will hear what it was like for Wheaton College students and staff to take part in Operation Christmas Child outreach events and a graduation ceremony for The Greatest Journey. You will hear directly from the hearts of these students who grew up packing shoeboxes, and recently, got to witness firsthand what God is doing through this Samaritan’s Purse project around the world. 

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Sam Hawes has served with Samaritan's Purse for more than 10 years both in the field and at international headquarters. During that time, God has been faithful to teach Sam about obedience during many changing seasons. Sam shares about surrendering to the Lord, and striving to glorify Him in everything we do. Sam also speaks about unique programming happening in Liberia that he got the privilege to witness firsthand.

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God answers prayers, and the Bible tells us that we can pray about anything and everything, bringing our requests to Him. He hears us and He knows us. Kristy Graham talks with staff from across the ministry about how they have seen the faithfulness of God and witnessed prayers answered. We rejoice about what God has done in and through Samaritan’s Purse in 2024. 

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In her Christmas devotion, Kristy Graham encourages listeners to take time this season to treasure and ponder God’s Word. Kristy shares what the Lord taught her recently and how God can use the same Scriptures to reveal something new in each season. She talks about how both Mary and Simeon’s faithfulness in Luke 2 is an encouragement to her, demonstrating unwavering trust in God’s plan. 

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How have you felt loved and seen by God? When Veronica received a gift-filled Operation Christmas Child shoebox, the bitterness and anger she had built up inside faded away, and instead, God’s love filled her with joy. Later, Veronica shared about this sacrificial love that changed her heart by teaching The Greatest Journey and packing shoebox gifts for other children. Veronica’s life continues to send out ripples of Gospel influence that help many people learn that they are seen, known, and loved by God. 

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Learn more about Operation Christmas Child.
Build...

God's power is made perfect in our weakness. We often try to do everything in our own strength, and we quickly get to the end of ourselves. Kristy Graham sat down with Jessica Zerkle, a licensed counselor, to talk about compassion fatigue, burnout, and how she addresses suffering in the world in her own profession and as a follower of Christ. 

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Kristy Graham recently visited Spruce Pine First Baptist Church, a North Carolina church hit hard by Hurricane Helene. Ever since the day after the storm, Pastor Rocky Branch and his congregation have been providing warm meals, housing, and relief supplies to people in their community. Despite the devastation and heartache, people within the church body are stepping up and packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, looking beyond themselves and fixing their eyes on Jesus.

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