A decade of touring the globe will give you plenty of stories to share. But for platinum-selling band Kutless, meeting countless members of the armed forces along the way left them wanting to give something more.
Recently the band teamed with Samaritan’s Purse to create the Kutless Military Mission Project. The partnership is forged through Operation Heal Our Patriots (OHOP), a project of the Christian humanitarian organization that ministers to service members of all U.S. military branches.
“We’ve met and interacted with service members stationed everywhere, from Alaska to Germany,” says frontman Jon Micah Sumrall. “Hearing their struggles and stories of sacrifice has both inspired and encouraged us. We hope that our music continues to be a blessing and an encouragement to all of our country’s service members, but we desired to do more to try and help and impact those who have sacrificed so much for all of us. That is why we created the Kutless Military Mission Project.”
The project is a twofold ministry, with the band giving free concert tickets to active and retired military members and their spouses while donating a portion of all merchandise proceeds to OHOP.
More than 48,000 U.S. service members have been wounded or injured as a result of combat actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere since the band released its first EP in 2001.
“On behalf of Operation Heal Our Patriots, the staff of Samaritan Lodge Alaska and the hundreds of injured veteran families we minister to, I extend our heartfelt appreciation to Kutless for their selfless dedication to this great project,” says James R. Fisher, a retired chaplain who served more than 30 years in the U.S. military and now serves as OHOP’s chaplain. “Their support, both through their music and their service, has a direct impact on veterans hearing the gospel and finding healing through Jesus our Lord.”
