OPERATION BLESS ING INTERNATIONALMARCH 2015

Blessingsoperationblessing.org

A Faucet for Fernando

A young boy in Honduras no longer suffers from contaminated

water or the treacherous journey to retrieve it

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A Message from THE PRESIDENTBill visits a community-wide safe water project being built in Honduras.

This morning — and every morning — as I brush my teeth or pour a glass of

water to drink, I thank God that the water coming from the faucet is clear,

cold and absolutely safe. Life in America has many challenges but access to

safe water is not one of them!

In most of the countries I have visited lately, I wouldn't dare drink water from a

tap. I've stayed in modern hotels in the capital cities of many large countries where

signs warn guests not to drink the water. If the tap water in big hotels is bad, just

imagine what's available to poor families.

In most developing countries, raw sewage is regularly dumped into rivers, lakes

and ocean waters — as if it will simply disappear. Public water systems, which draw

water from the same places, are polluted. In rural settings, when it rains, latrines

overflow and contaminate shallow wells. Diarrheal diseases are endemic and killers

like cholera, typhoid and dysentery run rampant.

Of all the humanitarian efforts that OBI is focused on, providing safe water

eliminates more suffering and saves more lives than anything else we do. When

people have no choice but to drink contaminated water, they rarely gain enough

strength and intellectual energy to break the chains of poverty.

The good news is that communities are transformed when a deep well, safe

water aqueduct or disinfection system is installed. When waterborne disease is

eliminated, people have a much better chance of escaping the clutches of poverty.

The people we help often ask why we do what we do; it is then that our teams

are able to explain that we are followers of Jesus Christ. By funding our safe water

initiatives and other programs, you help countless people escape the darkness of

poverty and move into the light of God's love.

May God bless you,

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A Message from THE PRESIDENT 4 Beauty for Ashes After their home burned down, Maria and her family receive help and hope from Operation Blessing and their community

6 Clara’s Second Chance More than a year after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the Philippines, one woman is finally getting back to work

10 World Water Day Worldwide, about 1 billion people do not have access to safe, clean drinking water, but you are making a difference!

12 Lucy’s Smile

Once believed to be a cursed child in her Maasai culture, little Lucy has the blessing of a brand new smile

14 Overcoming Hardship and Hunger An Operation Blessing-supported food pantry brings hope to a struggling family

Inside this issue Cover PAGE 8

A Faucet for Fernando A young boy in Honduras no longer suffers from contaminated water or the treacherous journey to retrieve it

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PERU

Beauty for Ashes

While Maria and her family were away visiting relatives in another city, she received a phone call that changed their lives forever.

Their house had caught fire while they were away and, despite desperate attempts by some of their neighbors to put the fire out and rescue their belongings, it burned to the ground leaving noth-ing but ashes.

Maria and her husband were devastated, because even with both of them working, their combined income was only enough to meet their basic needs and take care of their nine-year-old son, Marco. Without the money to rebuild their home and with all of

After their home burned down, Maria and her family receive help and hope from Operation Blessing and their community

Maria and Marco stand in front of their new home.

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their belongings now destroyed, they took shelter in a nearby community center — not knowing what to do next.

“We lost every-thing we had and were left only with the clothing on our backs,” Maria told OBI staff. “I still can’t believe this happened to us. The hardest thing for us is to rebuild our house.”

When Operation Blessing learned of Maria’s situation, teams im-mediately began the work to build her family a new home. Others in the community and members of the local church also reached out to help Maria’s family in their time of need, giving them household items, including mattresses and a stove.

“I never thought they loved me that much,” Maria said, “and I never expected that you would come and build my family a house.”

So touched by the generosity from people she barely knew, Maria started attending church. Now Maria and her family have a beautiful new home and joy in their hearts.

“I thank God that nothing happened to us,” she said. “Now I know He took care of us, and we are all okay! Thank you so much, Operation Blessing.” ◆

Marco stands next to the ruins of their home after a fire consumed everything they owned.

Operation Blessing gives Maria the key to her new home.

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When Typhoon Haiyan decimated her village a year ago, everything Clara had worked for was gone — her home, her business and even her daughter’s wheelchair.

Cutting hair and working as a cosmetologist was all Clara had ever known, but without any supplies — not even scissors — she struggled to provide for her family, making shell necklaces while her husband sold fish door to door.

With a combined income of less than $25 a week, Clara and her husband could barely afford food for their seven children and didn’t know how they would save enough money to build a new home or even provide the proper medical care for their daughter who has cerebral palsy.

Operation Blessing teams were in Clara’s village providing boats to fishermen whose livelihoods had been destroyed by the typhoon and rebuilding the local school and health center when they learned of her situation. Soon, teams began construction on a new house for Clara’s family and even provided her daughter with a new wheelchair. Operation Blessing also purchased all of the supplies Clara needed to get her business up and running again.

So excited and grateful to have her business again, the first thing Clara did was give free haircuts to all of the elderly women in her village.

Thank you for bringing hope and help to suffering families in the Philippines and around the world! ◆

PHILIPPINES

Clara’s Second ChanceMore than a year after Typhoon Haiyan

devastated the Philippines, one woman is finally getting back to work

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Operation Blessing provided Clara with everything she needed to restart her business and even replaced her daughter’s lost wheelchair.

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Learn more at ob.org/ClubBless

Join Club Bless

Are you looking for a trustworthy and immediate way to share God’s blessings? Join Club Bless today and help bring much-needed food, medicine and other critical relief to someone

struggling against the burden of poverty with your monthly gift.

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Share God’s Blessings: ∏

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A Faucet for Fernando

High in the mountains of Honduras, 12-year-old Fernando and his mother would make the treacherous hike over two miles from their small village up a mountain every morning before school to

reach the only water source they had.They would each

bring back two contain-ers of water, but the amount they were able to carry was small com-pared to their family’s needs. The water had to be carefully rationed, and they could only drink a few cups a day.

The rocky trail would become dangerous after it rained, making it even more difficult for Fernando and his mother. One morning the path became so slick that Fernando lost his balance and fell, landing on a sharp rock.

HONDURAS

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A young boy in Honduras no longer suffers from contaminated water or the

treacherous journey to retrieve it

Fernando often felt sick from the contaminated water he had to drink.

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A Faucet for Fernando“I couldn’t move,” Fernando

told OBI staff. “I thought I had broken my leg and could only cry because of the pain.”

But this wasn’t the first time water from the mountainside had caused Fernando pain.

His mother tried to filter the water they drank by pouring it through a cloth — but that was only sufficient to remove the dirt they

could see. Unbeknownst to them, the water was contaminated with bacteria from the herds of local pigs that shared the water source.

Fernando, like many of the other children in his village, missed too many classes because the contaminated water made them sick.

When Operation Blessing came to Fernando’s community and saw the desperate need for safe water, teams immediately began working on an innovative solution that would pipe water directly to each home in the village.

A water disinfection system that kills bacteria, viruses and parasites was also installed, making their water safe to drink and greatly reducing the threat of waterborne illness. Now, Fernando, his

mother and their neighbors don’t have to make the risky climb to get water every morning — they have access to all the safe water they need from their very own faucets.

“I feel happy because the large jets of water coming out of the fau-cet look clean,” he said. “I feel happy because I no longer have to walk to get water. Thank you very much, Operation Blessing!” ◆

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Operation Blessing began building a new water system for Fernando’s community.

Pipes deliver safe water to each house in the community.

Fernando and other children now have access to safe drinking water all the time!

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KENYA

When little Lucy was born to a poor family in a Maasai village, her family struggled to understand what they believed to be a curse — their little girl was born with a

cleft lip and palate.“The Maasai believe children are born with a deformity as

Once believed to be a cursed child in her Maasai culture, little Lucy has the

blessing of a brand new smile

Lucy’s SmileLucy and her mother, Joyce, pictured with the surgeon who corrected her cleft.

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result of a curse,” OBI staff said. “They are to be strangled to death at birth if the delivery is at home or hidden from the public. Lucy was lucky because she was born in a hospital.”

Afraid of a curse, Lucy’s father abandoned his family. Her young mother, Joyce, fled with her newborn baby to her parents’ house in a nearby village. Because of the severity of the cleft, Lucy failed to nurse properly and struggled to swallow. Joyce worried about Lucy’s future in their culture.

When Lucy was three months old, an Operation Blessing-trained Community Health Worker discovered the baby and brought hope to her mother: the cleft could be repaired.

Operation Blessing provided the surgery little Lucy needed free of charge to her family. Now Lucy has a beautiful new smile. And when he learned that his young daughter had received corrective surgery, her father even returned home to his family — no longer afraid the little girl was cursed.

“Thank you to Operation Blessing which has changed the life of my child,” her mother said, “when she grows up she will go to school like other kids. I am happy now, for my husband will come back home.”

Even better, Joyce has promised to share with other Maasai mothers the good news that clefts are not a curse, helping change the cultural belief so children like Lucy can get the treatment they need and be accepted in the community. ◆

Little Lucy was born with a cleft lip and palate.

Lucy has a brand new smile and a new chance for a

happy, healthy life.

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TENNESSEE

OvercOming HardsHip and HungerAn Operation Blessing-

supported food pantry brings hope to a struggling family

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Shemika and her husband Earl had always had enough income to pro-vide for their four kids, but when Earl suffered a workplace accident and couldn’t work for six months, finances became tight.The same month Earl was scheduled to have surgery to repair his

Achilles tendon, Shemika was hit by a drunk driver and the injuries she sustained forced her to go on disability. To make matters even more chal-lenging, their two-year-old son, Bryson, was diagnosed with autism and required special care.

Shemika and Earl began to worry about how they would take care of their children and put food on the table. Then they learned about an Operation Blessing-supported food pantry in their area, and there they received enough food to help feed their family during the lean times and even received diapers, which helped their budget stretch further.

“With the hardships we have faced, the help we have gotten has been a godsend,” Shemika said. “It’s helped my husband and I so much and the kids enjoy the food we get, which is really important to me.”

With Earl now back to work, their family is able to get back on their feet, and Shemika even hopes to volunteer at the pantry when she is well enough. ◆

OvercOming HardsHip and Hunger

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”With the hardships we have faced, the help we have gotten (from Operation Blessing)

has been a godsend.” ––– Shemika –––

Shemika receives food and essen-tial supplies like diapers to help her through hard times.

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Copyright © 2015 by Operation Blessing International, P.O. Box 2636, Virginia Beach, VA 23450. For more information, call (800) 730-2537 or visit our website at operationblessing.org

Six-year-old Salman and his younger sisters were orphaned overnight when his parents, persecuted for their Christian faith, were martyred by an angry mob in Pakistan.

To bring hope to children suffering such a tragic loss, Operation Blessing supplied much-needed warm clothing, blankets and food supplies for their family.

Will you continue to provide critical relief for children and families in need with your gift today? Visit operationblessing.org to get started!

Be a blessing for orphaned children