OPERATION BLESS ING INTERNATIONALDECEMBER 2015

Blessingsoperationblessing.org

Silent Night

May angels on high keep watch over the little children

as refugee families flee to safe lands

{ P A G E 1 2 }

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The migration of refugees flooding into Europe is historic in magnitude,

newscasts tell us that millions are fleeing from ISIS, but most of us do not fully

understand what caused it all. We watch TV and see the suffering, but the

victims are faceless strangers from countries we are not familiar with. While the stories

cause pangs of sympathy — most of us move on with our own busy lives and problems.

I recently traveled to Germany, Hungary and the border of Croatia to see refugees

face to face and to hear their stories firsthand. The experience made it all very

personal for me — and, weeks later, still keeps me up at night.

Christian refugees from Syria told chilling stories about crossing nine borders,

paying large sums to strangers, taking a harrowing 17-hour ride in a rubber boat and

incidents of sexual attacks. One of the young men, a 27-year-old computer science

graduate, told me how his best friend was killed by a dropped bomb minutes after

completing his last final exam after five years at university. Many told about how their

families had pooled their resources and picked the strongest member, the one most

likely to survive the journey, to blaze the trail to safe ground.

I visited with people from many countries, each with a unique nightmarish story,

but all with the same recurring theme: They did not want to leave home — but the

horror of ISIS’s inhumanity drove them to flee.

We are so blessed to live in a land where we sleep safely in our own beds and are

free to work and worship as we please. As we gather around our Christmas trees this

year, let’s remember the words of Jesus and reach out to help the refugees: “Happy

are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.”

May God bless you,

A Message from THE PRESIDENTBill visits the border of Croatia to meet refugees fleeing to Europe and hear their stories firsthand.

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4 Food for a Growing Family When a family takes in two young boys in addition to their own four, Operation Blessing partners help make ends meet

6 Embracing Hope Operation Blessing partners provide life-changing opportunities for a struggling family in Ethiopia

7 2015 Giving Catalog Life-changing gift ideas for everyone your list!

11 Give Smart. Give Stock. When you make a year-end gift, consider giving appreciated stock for a double tax benefit.

14 Gifts for Natividad Sick and unable to care for her children, a seamstress receives the help she needs to transform her family's life

Inside this issue Cover PAGE 12

Silent Night May angels on high keep watch over the little children as refugee families flee to safe lands

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PAGE 14

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A Message from THE PRESIDENT

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Gary and Jessica did not hesitate to step in when they learned that their two young nephews were at risk of being turned over

to Child Protective Services because their parents were unable to care for them.

They took little LJ, 3, and Baby D, 7 months, into their home to care for them alongside their own four young boys.

“Having our two nephews as part of the house now has been amazing,” Jessica said. “Just knowing they’re safe, that they’re taken care of, and knowing they’re not going without, it makes me feel complete.”

Now with six growing boys in their home, Jessica left her job to take care of the children and run the household, but on one income, their

family began strug-gling to make ends meet and put food on the table.

When they were in need, Jessica turned to Joseph’s Storehouse, an Operation Blessing-supported food pantry in their area.

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TENNESSEE

Food for a Growing FamilyWhen a family takes in two young boys in addition to their

own four, Operation Blessing partners help

make ends meet

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She and Gary were amazed at the amount of quality food they received and the support and encouragement they felt from everyone there.

“I felt really good about being there, and they were so helpful — they gave us so much food,” Jessica said.

Jessica no longer needs to worry about where dinner will come from or if she’ll have enough food to fill those six hungry boys thanks to help from Operation Blessing and its partners.

“I would like to thank Operation Bless-ing so much for giving my family a chance to put another meal on the table!” said Jessica. ◆

Food for a Growing Family

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Embracing HopeOperation Blessing partners provide life-changing opportunities for a struggling family in Ethiopia

Five-year-old Kirubel watched as his mother Abeba begged on the

streets of Ethiopia. It was her only means of income that also allowed her to watch her young son after she was abandoned by her husband.

At night Abeba carried little Kirubel back to their home in the slums — a small, rented room without any furniture or even a blanket or pillow to sleep on. Exhausted from the day, the two would curl up on the floor to sleep, knowing they would begin again the next day.

Abeba was slowly losing hope that she would be able to provide for her son.

Then their lives were transformed when they started receiving support from Operation Blessing partner Embracing Hope Ethiopia (EHE). With schooling and childcare provided by EHE, thanks in part to the compassion of Operation Blessing partners, Abeba is able to find work while Kirubel receives nutritious food, education and more during the day.

As a result, Abeba has been able to save enough money to rent a decent house and even purchase bedding and other furniture for her and Kirubel.

Now in kindergarten, young Kirubel has dreams of one day being a teacher and providing for his mother. ◆

ETHIOPIA

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GIVING CATALOGHOLIDAY GIFTS THAT MATTER2015

BLESS-A-CHILDThrough education, feeding programs, life skills training, medical care and more, your gift will help reach orphans and vulnerable children around the world — giving them the hope of a better future and a new start.

Buy a school uniform for a child. $50

Sponsor a one-year scholarship. $250

Build a school library or furnish a school with desks, chairs and more. $3,000

Fund the complete renovation of a primary school. $10,000

LIFE-CHANGING

GIFT IDEAS FOR EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST

OPERATION BLESSING'S MOST POPULAR GIFTS

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In many places, drinking a sip of water can be extremely hazardous — even deadly.

In fact, a child dies every 20 seconds due to contaminated water consumption.*

To help tackle this international water crisis, Operation Blessing has a multifold approach that includes developing community water systems, installing chlorine generators, distributing water filters and creating catchment systems.

Provide a full year’s supply of chlorine to safely treat and disinfect a community’s water system. $30

Sponsor the manufacture and distribution of liquid chlorine to hospitals, schools and churches. $100

Build a shared access point with safe, chlorinated water for a small community. $500

Create a chlorinated water system with multiple access points near homes for a large community. $10,000

SAFE WATER

MAIL BACK the order form in the envelope provided

SHOP ONLINE today at OB.org/GiftsThatMatter

CALL TO ORDER at 1-800-730-2537 toll-free

3 EASY WAYS TO GIVE:

* UN-Water, 2013.

9999

AID THE PERSECUTED

Buy Hope Kits for two victims, with hygiene items, clothes, food and information to seek help. $50

Provide educational support and counseling for a trafficking survivor for a full year. $100

Most people think of slavery as something that ended centuries ago.Unfortunately, human trafficking not only exists, it’s thriving. But with your help, we can make a real difference to rescue and support the victims of modern-day slavery.

FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Supply essential resources like food, lodging, education, medicine and counseling for a trafficked child. $250

Supply a displaced family with food packages for two weeks. $35

Provide food, hygiene items, blankets and cooking supplies for a displaced family for two weeks. $100

Set up a small business for a persecuted family, such as a food cart, restaurant, farm or brick-making business. $300

All around the world, families struggle to survive where they are oppressed and persecuted for their faith. With your gift, we can provide help to children who have been orphaned and families who have been persecuted and displaced from their homes because of their faith.

View our full 2015

GIVING CATALOG at

OB.org/GiftsThatMatter

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Whether it’s helping desperate parents feed their hungry children, bringing emergency relief to those devastated by disaster or providing medical care and safe water to communities facing disease and drought, your blessing will have a significant impact on the lives of those who urgently need it.

$35 $75 $100 $500 $1,000

WHERE NEEDED MOST

MAKE AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT!

Our most popular gift!

Become a Club Bless member and share God’s blessings with those in the most need around the world. Your monthly gift will bring much needed food, medicine and other essential resources for children and families struggling against the burden of poverty. With your commitment of $25 or more, you’ll receive a beautiful handcrafted metal cross, created by artists in Haiti.

CLUB BLESS

CLUB BLESS GIVING OPTIONS:

President’s Circle $500 month|$6,000 year

Bless-The-Greatest-Need $250 month|$3,000 year

Bless-A-Village $100 month|$1,200 year

Bless-A-Family $50 month|$600 year

Bless-A-Life $25 month|$300 year

11© 2015 PlannedGiving.com. Not intended as legal or investment advice.

Contact your broker or Ronda Sherman, Executive Director of Philanthropy.

757-226-3499ronda.sherman@ob.org

When you make a year-end gift to Operation Blessing, consider giving appreciated stock instead of cash for a double tax benefit.

⊲ Take a charitable tax deduction at the full, fair market value.

⊲ Pay no capital gains tax on the appreciation.

In some cases your gift “costs” less than the tax deduction you gain.

Have you heard about the gift that gives you DOUBLE tax savings?

Does a gift of stock make sense for you?

© 2015 PlannedGiving.com. Not intended as legal or investment advice.

Give smart. Give stock.

Learn more at: ob.org/donatestocks1111

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In ever increasing numbers, vulnerable fami-lies are fleeing

their communities and villages in Syria and throughout the Middle East as war and violence threaten their

Refugees wait in long lines to board a train in Hungary that will take them to Austria. From there, they will walk to Germany.

EUROPE

May angels on high keep watch over the little children as refugee

families flee to safe lands

SILENT NIGHT

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lives — searching desperately for safety, peace and joy.“When you have family and kids, you can’t live under that kind of

persecution, there were no other options for us — just leave or die in Syria,” said Natalia, a Syrian refugee, wife and mother.

For families like Natalia’s who are clinging to the hope that a better life is within reach, a difficult and dangerous journey lies ahead. They face seemingly endless weeks of grueling travel — on foot, by boat and by train, with only the belong-ings they can carry — just to find a safe place to raise their children.

“It’s a true migration of people in search of security and dignity; countless families in search of a better life,” said OBI’s vice president of international operations David Darg who spent time in Hungary and Germany alongside OBI president Bill Horan aiding these hurting families.

“I’ve seen some terrible things in my travels during the 13 years I’ve spent with Operation Blessing,” Horan said, “but I must say that I have never been struck with a more profound sense of sadness than watching the refugee families trudging along, in a seemingly endless parade of anguish,

only to be loaded onto yet another train.”

And as the temper-ature continues to drop and the weather begins to worsen, the threat of sickness rises through the makeshift camps that have formed, put-

ting the most vulnerable at risk. With your help, Operation Blessing has been providing critical relief to

many of these families, distributing food, flashlights, sleeping bags, ponchos, blankets and more to meet some of their most urgent needs.

Thanks to the compassion of Operation Blessing partners, teams are even reaching refugee families in Germany who have survived the journey, but need support and help as they settle in a new country. ◆

SILENT NIGHT

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Gifts for NatividadSick and unable to care for her family,

a seamstress receives life-changing help from Operation Blessing

Natividad’s name means “nativity” or “Christmas,” but the struggles she faced made life feel anything like Christmas day.

As a single mother trying to raise her two children, Moisés, 11, and Gracia, 9, in an impoverished region of Peru, Natividad expe-rienced many difficult moments where she wasn’t sure how she was going to provide for her family.

Natividad was a gifted seamstress and would find sewing jobs she could do at home to earn money. Then her sewing machine stopped working, and she had to find work cooking and cleaning in other people’s homes. The income those jobs provided simply wasn’t enough to meet their needs.

“There were many times when we had nothing to eat, so I had to ask for a job from one of our neighbors just to get food,” said Natividad.

PERU

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But much like the season she shares her name with, Natividad remained joyful and giving despite her circumstances — finding time to teach her children’s Sunday school class each and every week.

Then one day, she began experienc-ing pain in the lower part of her abdomen. Knowing her children would go hungry if she couldn’t work, Natividad continued on in spite of the pain.

However, it wasn’t long until the pain became so severe that Natividad couldn’t even walk and she even started bleeding. A friend took her to the hospital, but nei-ther of them could afford the prescriptions she needed to treat her condition.

When Operation Blessing learned of Natividad’s situation, a team stepped in to provide her with the necessary medicine and treatment she needed as well as food for her family during the time she was recovering and unable to work.

Having now regained her health, Natividad is more excited than ever to get back to work and take care of her family — especially after receiving a very special gift from OBI: a new sewing machine and all the supplies she would need to start her own sewing business.

“Now that I’m recovered, I feel it is a new opportunity for me. I’m back in Sunday school and I want to live for God and for my children,” said Natividad. “I have plans for my family and my business, and I am very grateful to Operation Blessing for all you have done for me.” ◆

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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

Year-End Gifts That Matter.

Three Easy Ways to Make Your Gift:

Hunger, sickness, poverty. These are what threaten the lives of vulnerable children and families every day around the world. Make a tax-deductible gift by midnight on December 31 and help

bring lifesaving relief such as food, safe water, medicine and more to those who need it most.

ONLINE: Give a secure gift by visiting operationblessing.org

PHONE: Call toll-free: 1.800.730.2537 Monday – Saturday 8 am – 11 pm EST or Sunday 8 am – 6 pm EST

MAIL: Send your gift postmarked by December 31 to: Operation Blessing, P.O. Box 2636, Virginia Beach, VA 23450