Service That Changes the Heart
Long before Angie Lange became a seasoned volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse at disaster sites across the country, she was drowning in alcoholism alone.
“In the depression I was in, I felt one night, plain as day, God said to me, ‘You either pick yourself up or go out to the cemetery and lie out and die.’ And it got my attention,” she said. “I’m living proof that God can do anything.”
It was through serving the hurting neighbors around her that Angie saw God’s purpose for her life as He introduced her to the hope of the Gospel and delivered her from depression, loneliness, and alcohol. Today, the Mississippi native is a regular face at disasters across the country—from hurricanes in Florida to fires in Hawaii—to serve others and share how God changed her life.
A Testimony of God’s Goodness
Urged by her mother and with no real excitement, Angie first decided to volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief teams after tornadoes hit near her small town of Southaven, Mississippi, in 2020. A one-day commitment turned into 10 days straight of serving the neighbors around her.
“There was just a joy in the air with the volunteers,” she said. “It was laughter. It was kindness toward the homeowners and toward each other. It was love that you could feel; it was almost like an aroma you could smell. I was drawn to the people I was surrounded by. That’s what kept me going back.”
But amid her refreshing experience of serving, Angie continued to battle alcoholism that was spiraling out of control.
“In my private life, I was dying from grief,” she admitted. When Samaritan’s Purse left, she went back to her same old routine. “Drinking every day, crying every day, and just not wanting to be here.”
That version of Angie is long gone.
Earlier this year, Angie celebrated five years of sobriety doing the very thing that God used to pull her out of the pit: serving.
In a recent episode of On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse, host Kristy Graham met Angie while in Mississippi earlier this year and heard stories from her about the six years she’s served with Samaritan’s Purse.
“I am absolutely a different person,” she told Graham as she reflected on her testimony. “I am living the dream and having the time of my life.”
Following a series of tornadoes in southern Mississippi in May, Samaritan’s Purse sent two Disaster Relief Units—tractor-trailers filled with supplies and equipment—to churches in Lamar and Lincoln counties. Hundreds of local and out-of-state volunteers swarmed to the region, donned the Samaritan’s Purse orange shirts, and went throughout the community helping families recover after the twisters. The volunteer teams picked up strewn debris, tarped damaged roofs, and cut up fallen trees—all the while sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Among the influx of volunteers, Angie now serves as a site leader and skid steer operator. In addition to her skills operating heavy machinery and getting work done, she also spends time ministering to volunteers whose stories look familiar to hers.
“I love that we, at Samaritan’s Purse, are providing this platform for people to serve. There are so many ways you can get involved,” she said. “Here’s a gal who just needed 10 days to be sober to have an opportunity to serve and hear the Gospel and respond.”
Angie has lost count of the number of times she has served with Samaritan’s Purse across the country after disasters—but she will never lose the power of her story and the passion to tell others how God can change their lives through serving others.
To learn more about how Samaritan’s Purse is responding around the world, visit SamaritansPurse.org/Explore
On the Ground with Samaritan’s Purse is also available on Spotify or listen directly at SamaritansPurse.org/Listen
Photo credit: ©Samaritan's Purse
Originally published October 15, 2026.
