You Brought Them from Hunger to Hope – Blessings Magazine – June 2021

blessings OPERATION BLESSING

JUNE 2021

Stories of how YOU help the hurting around the world.

You Brought Them from Hunger to Hope

THE MIRACLE HOUSE PAG E 6

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEART PA G E 1 0

YOU ARE BLESSING AMERICAN FAMILIES PAG E 1 9

Happenings

Catch up with the goings-on at Operation Blessing!

4 The Miracle House

You helped rebuild a grateful couple’s home after the storm

6 Clear Eyes, Full Heart How sight was restored to a young girl in Honduras

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Inside this this issue issue

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You Brought Them from Hunger to Hope

You provide the promise of food in a food-insecure world

New Hope for Father and Sons in Mexico

16

You provided a clean water system that made a huge difference

You Are Blessing American Families

19

Feeding struggling retirees in Virginia

Casting a Net of Love How OB partners support anti-malaria campaigns

22 operationblessing.org | 977 Centerville Turnpike, Virginia Beach, VA 23463 | (800) 730-2537 3

OPERATION BLESSING

HAPPENINGS PERU: Your microenterprise support in Peru helps craftsmen and merchants expand their businesses and increase their profits to better support their families.

VIRGINIA: Student volunteers from Regent University helped us prepare supplies to encourage children who are hurting after natural disasters strike.

UKRAINE: Operation Blessing friends worked together via crowdfunding campaigns to help sweet Timothy—and many others like him—receive life-changing surgeries. Visit ob.org/surgeries to get involved.

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KENYA: Many Maasai villagers have new hope for a brighter day, thanks to the agriculture and education opportunities you’ve blessed them with.

CAMBODIA: Villagers in Cambodia are so thankful for the water well that Operation Blessing friends like you provided for their village.

MEXICO: Over the past year, Mexicans have faced the disasters of both COVID-19 and hurricanes, but you’ve been there providing relief every step of the way.

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FLORIDA

The Miracle House YOU HELPED REBUILD A GRATEFUL COUPLE’S HOME AFTER THE STORM

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D

enis and Kathy had moved to retire in a new home in Panama City Beach. After Denis had multiple heart attacks, his doctors suggested that the salt air would be good for his health.

Just three months after their move, Hurricane Michael turned their dream into a nightmare.

In October 2018, Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle as a Category 5 storm.

It made history as one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to reach landfall in the United States. Communities all along the coast were left in ruins by the strong winds, torrential rain, and relentless storm surge.

“Hurricane Michael came out of nowhere,” Denis recalled. “In just a few short days, it was upon us.

We left. We weren’t going to take a chance with a storm that size.”

When they returned to their home after the storm, what they found was encouraging—or so they thought. “When we came back it appeared we were in pretty good shape,” Denis said.

“It was a couple of months later that the walls started

getting really soft. ... That’s when we knew we had a problem.”

Unbeknownst to Denis and Kathy, the storm had permeated their house with water. Soon, mold began to grow. “The house just started disintegrating around us,” Kathy remembered. “Big pieces of sheetrock actually caved in, and when it caved in we saw that it was black inside the wall.”

Denis and Kathy were forced to move into their garage. While they received some money from their insurance company to help with repairs, it wasn’t nearly enough to cover the catastrophic damage their home had suffered. With Denis's health issues and without the resources to pay for the repairs, Denis Continued on page 8

Continued on page 8

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and Kathy grew desperate. Time stretched on without a solution.

“I asked God to please help us,” Kathy said. “Please tell us what to do; show us which way to go.”

Then God sent YOU as an answer to their prayers! “We got a call from Operation Blessing, and they told us that they wanted to rebuild our house,” Kathy said.

“We just couldn’t believe it. I could hardly talk I was so excited!”

Thanks to you, Operation Blessing soon began work on Denis and Kathy’s home. The house, which had already been taken down to the studs, was

treated for mold before being rebuilt with new sheetrock, ceilings, trim, flooring, window framing, cabinets, and more.

Denis said, “They built the whole thing back up. Everything that you see they did.”

After two years of living in their garage and a camper in the backyard, Kathy and Denis finally came home again. “I pray that God will open heaven and pour out His blessings on Operation Blessing … I just pray that God will bless you like He’s blessed us,” Kathy exclaimed.

“Just come look at my house because it’s a miracle house.”

“The house just started disintegrating around us.” ~Kathy

“I just pray that God will bless you like He's blessed us,” Kathy exclaimed.

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HONDURAS

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEART

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How You Restored Sight to a Young Girl in Honduras

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imberly loves to draw. At the age of 8, she spends her free time, crayon in hand, creating art at her kitchen table. So when she noticed blurriness and irritation in her right eye, Kimberly began to think something might be wrong.

“I thought there was something in my eye that was making it hard to see,” Kimberly said.

Her mother, Karla, noticed how bloodshot her daughter’s eye was.

Karla suspected conjunctivitis, but she could see no dirt or debris in Kimberly’s eye. Karla took Kimberly to the doctor, seeking answers for her worsening condition.

They received the devastating news that Kimberly had a cataract in her eye, and the only solution was an expensive surgery that Karla couldn’t afford. Kimberly’s father had abandoned their family several years prior, leaving Karla to struggle as a single mother.

“My daughter said, ‘Mom, I want to have the surgery because I want to see!’ That made me cry because she is my daughter,” Karla explained.

"When I did my housework, cooking and cleaning, I asked God with all my heart to heal her."

In just a few weeks’ time, Kimberly’s condition had grown worse. In fact, she could no longer see out of her right eye. Karla rushed Kimberly back to the doctor, only to learn that she now also had

a detached retina—which required immediate treatment. Kimberly now needed two procedures to restore her eyesight, neither of which Karla could afford.

All hope seemed lost. But Kimberly’s life was about to change.

Thanks to YOU, Kimberly’s doctor put Karla in contact with Operation Blessing in Honduras. Upon learning of her condition, the Operation Blessing staff told Karla that friends like you would help fund both surgeries for Kimberly, completely free of charge.

“When I heard that, I had faith that my daughter would see again!” Karla cried. “I know that God heard us and was opening a door for us.” Kimberly was quickly scheduled for surgery. And thanks to your generosity, both procedures worked, repairing her detached retina and removing the cataract from her eye!

Thank you for your heart to see suffering people like young Kimberly healed all over the world.

It is only because of friends like you that Kimberly can draw and play again, full of joy.

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WORLDWIDE

You Brought Them from Hunger to Hope

You provide the promise of food in a food-insecure world

S

ecurity is something most of us long for, especially for our families. But we rarely have to think in terms of being food insecure. For much of the world, and even as many as 10 percent of Americans, a secure and reliable source of food can be hard to come by.

Food insecurity can take several forms. For some, it could mean lacking certain basic nutrients, or parents skipping meals to offer more food to their young ones. For others, it could mean ongoing hunger or even malnourishment. That’s why, with your support, Operation Blessing fights to cut off food insecurity at the root by helping families to help themselves.

Agricultural opportunities, skills training, and small businesses make it possible for people to

earn more income to better feed themselves and their families— hopefully long into the future.

Agriculture

Mirna and Willy’s family in Mexico faced double tragedies last year between the COVID-19 pandemic and a tropical storm that ruined their harvest. This farming couple lives in a tiny home with their seven children between the ages of 4 and 16. When the storm hit, their home and the area around it flooded. After a scary few days, the water subsided, but Continued on page 14 13 13

Continued from page 13

they lost their chickens, crops, and fruit trees. Mirna grew desperate.

Since they reside in a remote area, it’s difficult to find any work. She asked, “My God, what will I feed my children?”

Then you came to the rescue of this precious family! Because you care, Operation Blessing in Mexico was able to deliver more than 150 pounds of native seeds so Mirna, Willy, and their kids could replant their future and restart their business. But you didn’t stop there! You also gave this family over 100 pounds of groceries like beans, rice, lentils, and more to help see them through to their next harvest.

They were just one of many families in their village to receive these blessings. The staff will also return to the village to follow up and offer more support, resources, and workshops for Mirna, Willy, and the others in her community.

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Skills Training

Krishna in India is another parent who can feed her children, thanks to you! This single mother of two wept as she told us, “I owed my landlord four months’ rent, and I had to take care of the electricity bill and food expenses.

No one wanted to help us. I had lost all my hope to survive.”

No one wanted to help us. I had lost all my hope to survive. — Krishna Then Krishna found hope through an Operation Blessing mask-making opportunity. There she received training and was even given a professional sewing machine. “I am very happy that I found some help to earn money,” said Krishna. “Now, I can take care of my children.”

Microenterprise Support

In Peru, Dora and Mamerto use their traditional ceramicmaking skills to earn a living.

During the pandemic, they had to shut their business down because there was no way to deliver their products.

Desperate to feed their two boys, Mamerto tried fishing for food, but due to the lockdown guards shooed him home and threatened to take his nets.

When the quarantine ended, sales started picking up, but the couple was so far behind financially that they had no funds to restock their supplies and continue earning money to support their kids.

Then you made a huge difference for this family! Not only did you give them the needed supplies to keep their business going, you also provided training that should enable them to increase their profits moving forward. Dora said, “Now with all this, I can work much better.”

And Much More

These are just a few of the many people around the world that you bless by providing new opportunities to keep their families fed. You’re not just giving them a handout, you’re also giving them a hand up for the future—and helping to make food insecurity a thing of the past. Thank you so much for reaching out to people in need!

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NEW HOPE FOR FATHER AND SONS in

Mexico

FRIENDS LIKE YOU PROVIDED A CLEAN WATER SYSTEM THAT MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE

H

umberto lives in Chiapas, Mexico, with his five young sons. For many years, each day he and his family would journey over an hour by foot to find water.

They undertook a tiresome trip along a dangerous road.

Plants, dirt and rocks covered

MEXICO

the path, making the trek a difficult one. But without a water source nearby, Humberto and his beloved sons had no other options.

They had to find the water essential to their survival.

The family’s struggle began anew every morning.

Humberto and his sons each

carried containers along the trail to their only water source. They filled their containers before beginning the grueling journey home.

Humberto carried up to 10 gallons, while the boys would carry from one to five gallons each, depending on their size and strength.

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Humberto and his boys undertook a grueling trek for water each day before friends like you came along. Now they're smiling and enjoying clean water.

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Continued from page 17

When they finally arrived home, Humberto and his family had to boil the water they found before using it for everyday tasks like cleaning, cooking, washing and drinking.

Clean water is an essential resource that this family could not function without. The lack of a local water source and basic systems such as a pipeline

or indoor plumbing made their daily trek to find water a continuous, backbreaking cycle.

Operation Blessing is dedicated to providing lifechanging solutions to poor communities around the world in need of clean water. Because of YOUR faithful support, Operation Blessing was able to provide Humberto and his sons with a rainwater catchment system right in their backyard.

The device harvests, cleans and filters rainwater, giving the family a sustainable water source that is readily accessible and safe to drink!

Happy Father’s Day Our best wishes to all of you hardworking fathers out there who love your families with all your hearts. Thank you for raising up a new generation!

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VIRGINIA

YOU ARE BLESSING AMERICAN FAMILIES FEEDING STRUGGLING RETIREES IN VIRGINIA

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rieda and her husband, Sammy, both retired from their jobs after decades of hard work.

Although they now reside in southern Virginia, Frieda was previously employed as a restaurant manager and Sammy as an electrician in Washington, D.C. Since retiring, Frieda and Sammy’s budget has been tight. They live off of Social Security checks and often find themselves struggling to make ends

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Continued from page 19

meet. Frieda and Sammy often have to decide between paying bills or buying groceries.

Then a neighbor told Frieda about Operation Blessing partner House of Blessing.

Frieda attended one of their food distributions and was overwhelmed by the amount of groceries and supplies that you help provide.

“The groceries help a lot,” Frieda said. “They supplement my grocery budget.”

House of Blessing is one 20

of dozens of food banks that partners with Operation Blessing’s Hunger Strike Force. Thanks to partners like you, Operation Blessing deploys trucks all over the country, loaded with pallets of non-perishable items.

In some areas, like Frieda's community, you are even helping to provide fresh foods.

Your gift is changing lives every single day by helping to supply food pantries and grocery distributions across America.

When Frieda visits House of Blessing, she receives groceries that include meat, milk, produce, and canned goods. Frieda especially appreciates the dairy items.

It is thanks to YOU that Operation Blessing can deliver these food supplies to House of Blessing and other pantries across the country!

Frieda and Sammy, like many of their neighbors, are tremendously grateful for your generosity. These groceries have helped them through the tightest months and times when they were uncertain of where their next meal would come from. Thank you for your heart to see American families, and those all over the world, provided with food for their tables.

WE ALL HOPE TO LEAVE A BETTER WORLD FOR OUR CHILDREN You can leave a legacy that will touch lives long into the future!

Become an elite member of Operation Blessing’s Lasting Legacy Society by adding a gift in your will or trust using the details below. And please be sure to let us know so we can officially add you to the society.

OB BENEFICIARY INFORMATION: Legal Name: Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation Tax ID: 54-1382657

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION AT: Operation Blessing Planned Giving 977 Centerville Turnpike Virginia Beach, VA 23463 Phone: 800-333-2373 Email: PlannedGiving@ob.org Website: ob.org/plannedgiving

KENYA

CASTING

a Net of love HOW OB PARTNERS ARE CONDUCTING ANTI-MALARIA CAMPAIGNS

C

hepkogir, young wife and a

they could find. Chepkogir hired

mother of four, lives deep in the

a motorcyclist to drive her

wilderness of Kongor in Kenya.

and her little one over rough

Hard to reach, her village lies far from

terrain far enough to find public

basic amenities like hospitals, paved

transportation. It took her a whole

roads, and public schools. This has

day of journeying just to reach the

created problems for Chepkogir in

government hospital.

the past. One day, tragedy struck her family when her baby fell ill with

Chepkogir never wants to endure

malaria. Chepkogir’s village is prone

such fear again. Yet she knows the

to malaria outbreaks due to the bushy

risk is high in Kongor.

terrain and warm weather.

However, thanks to

“That night my child had a

compassionate partners like you,

really bad fever and got really

she doesn’t have to face this risk

sick,” Chepkogir explained. “But

without resources. When Operation

there was nothing we could do

Blessing heard of the recent malaria

besides wait and pray.”

outbreak in Chepkogir’s village, your

In the morning, Chepkogir and her husband gathered all the money 22

Although the child survived,

gifts provided treated mosquito nets and mosquito repellant to curb

INDONESIA

infections and help stop the spread. Chepkogir and her neighbors are overjoyed by your kindness!

“I can’t say thank you enough!” Chepkogir said. “I am smiling because I know my children will sleep under the nets tonight, away from the mosquitos. I pray that God will bless you for coming this far!”

Thank you for your loving heart to see men, women and children all over the world receive resources and healthcare supplies. You show there is no distance your love won’t travel.

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Around

1 in 10 American households simply don’t have enough food! *

*USDA, "Household Food Security in the United States," 2019

A hungry child might live down the street from you, but you can make a difference! You have the power to help end hunger in America.

Visit: ob.org/hunger

operationblessing.org

977 Centerville Turnpike Virginia Beach, VA 23463 Copyright © 2021 by Operation Blessing

(800) 730-2537