Answered Prayers 2023

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on how grateful we are for the things in our life and the way that the Lord has answered prayers throughout the year. This week, host of On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse, Kristy Graham, recognizes how God has worked in and through Samaritan’s Purse in 2023 to make an impact.

Bethany Densham, program manager with the cleft lip and cataract surgical teams in the international projects department, recently shared during staff devotions about answered prayers. Bethany had the chance to lead a cleft lip team in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She shared how God ensured that everything fell into place at exactly the right time for the surgeries to take place, even after struggling to procure the correct equipment.

“Our God is the one fighting for us, and most importantly, prayer is a real powerful weapon, and the prayers that were prayed in this room each morning, they have a powerful impact in our work around the world.”—Bethany

David Thompson, senior director for Operation Christmas Child International, gets to hear countless stories of the impact that gift-filled shoeboxes make in kids’ lives all around the world. David shared a story from Sierra Leone where a young boy received a pair of shoes that he had dreamed about the night before.

“I prayed and went to collect the box. I opened it by faith and guess what I found inside? The very shoe I dreamt of was neatly laying inside the box.”—Sembu

After 100,000 Armenians fled the region of Nagorno-Karabakh due to conflict, Samaritan’s Purse responded. Kyle Talley, regional manager for the Middle East, served as the Armenia response manager. Kyle has seen God answer countless prayers over the past couple months, including filling specialized Disaster Assistance Response Team medical roles.

“It was incredible. We saw God provide beyond what we were expecting, beyond what we thought we could accomplish.” —Kyle

Hilary Bogus, who was a team lead in Maui after the deadly wildfires, witnessed an answered prayer when a homeowner’s ring was found in the ashes. Hilary expressed that on this day in particular, the team was growing weary, but as they prayed, they were able to persevere.

“The scream wasn't from our volunteers, but the scream was from Michelle, the resident, because we had found her grandmother's 2-carat diamond ring. And the joy that she just had, I mean, the whole team was wanting to jump.” —Hilary

Please pray for endurance for our leadership and staff serving all around the world. You can hear these stories of answered prayers and many more in this week’s episode. If you’d like to keep up to date with more stories on the ground, please visit SamaritansPurse.org.