SAVING SAMARIA
Do you wonder how to follow Jesus in the middle of today’s cultural storm—when our world is divided, chaotic, and struggling to find hope?
Your storm may be close to home. Maybe your family, friendships, or community are being attacked, even torn apart by the pressures of our broken culture.
But there is good news. This path has been walked before.
For centuries, the Jewish people walked around the lost land of Samaria—a territory scarred by division, marked by compromise, ravaged by sin, and considered far beyond redemption.
But Jesus didn’t walk around Samaria. He walked straight through it, boldly living out seven powerful strategies—and reclaiming the heart of a shattered culture.
If Jesus’ strategies could redeem Samaria – and rewrite their story – that same saving power can rewrite the stories which break our hearts today.
Saving Samaria is an invitation. To walk the path Jesus walked. And to believe that even in our most divided places, healing and redemption are closer than we can imagine.
What is saving samaria?
Meet the authors
Kirk Walden is a writer, speaker, and ministry coach with over three decades of experience in the life-affirming community. His work spans political campaigns, public policy, and extensive collaboration with non-profit ministries, particularly in support of pregnancy help organizations across the United States and around the world. A trusted voice in the pregnancy help movement, Kirk speaks nationally and internationally, helping ministries raise more than $70 million and coaching hundreds of leaders in vision-casting, best practices, and fund development.
His writing can be found at kirkwalden.substack.com, where he reflects on faith and culture with humor and encouragement. He is also the author of The Wall: Building a Culture of Life in America (2013).
A former professional golfer and journalist with a degree from Auburn University, Kirk’s background also includes ten years of executive leadership at a pregnancy help medical clinic. As author of Saving Samaria, he brings a passion for equipping ordinary believers to live with courage, compassion, and hope.
Jenn Walden has more than 25 years of experience in education as both teacher and administrator. Her career spans high school and middle school classrooms in public, private, and homeschool settings, where she has developed programs for at-risk youth and supported a wide range of diverse populations. Over the years, Jenn has walked alongside more than 3,000 teenagers.
Beyond the classroom, Jenn serves with Kirk in supporting Christian nonprofits, with a particular passion for walking with women and reminding them of their value, dignity, and God-given hope.
At age 29, Jenn was diagnosed with a rare cancer, an experience that reshaped her perspective on faith, community, and the brevity of life. That journey continues to fuel her conviction that God uses every circumstance for his redemptive purpose. Jenn brings her heart as an educator, survivor, and mentor into Saving Samaria, and is excited to partner with Kirk in inviting readers to walk the same hopeful path of redemption and renewal she has experienced firsthand.
Kirk and Jenn live near Nashville, Tennessee, and delight in their growing family of five children and five grandchildren.
At home, they enjoy sharing morning coffee, slowing down around the dinner table each evening, binge-watching classic TV shows, and uniting around Auburn athletics, carried by Kirk’s unwavering devotion season after season. Whether serving in their community or gathering with friends, their heart is to live out the hope of the Gospel in daily life.