BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVE, THEIR SON IS ALIVE PAGE 6 WHEN THE WATERS ROSE, SO DID YOUR COMPASSION PAGE 14
At a Glance
Flowing Water Finally Means Freedom
How you rescued generations in Honduras
Because of Your Love, Their Son Is Alive
When medical needs meet the power of your giving
Portraits of Promise
For the vulnerable in Croatia, you made beauty from brokenness
More than Food
How you set one Virginia family free from the chains of hunger
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. –Isaiah 61:1
FLOWING WATER FINALLY means freedom
How you rescued generations in Honduras
Ten-year-old Reina lives in the Honduran village of Agua Buena, which means “good water.” But in remote Agua Buena, water is scarce—and what little is available, isn’t safe to drink. The only water tank for the village was too small, and crumbling.
“Some days water comes through a small pipe to our house,” Reina said. “Other days it does not, because the tank is empty. The water always tastes bad and has a terrible smell.” Even when they did have water, it was dangerous. “My children got very sick from the water,” said Reina’s mother, Leticia. “Reina seemed to suffer the most. I cried with my daughter when she cried. It felt like something was being torn out of my heart.”
But Reina believes she received a message about things changing— for the better. “An angel visited me. I know it is hard to believe, but I saw him!” she said. “The angel told me to trust in God, and I really listened to him. Then he said this bad pain and sickness would never happen to me again!”
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Mommy, I can’t stand it anymore. going to die. “
Compassionate friends like you made that message come true. Thanks to your generosity, we built a new, much larger water tank—large enough to support the needs of Agua Buena for the next 20 years!
We added a system to treat the water and pipes to run it to the homes. On top of that, our team installed toilets and handwashing sinks for each family. Now, everyone in Agua Buena has plenty of clean water.
“We are grateful to the people from Operation Blessing and to everyone who paid for us to have this water project in our community,” Leticia said. “God bless the donors who support us here in the community.”
The town of Agua Buena is now living up to its name again— and children like Reina couldn’t be more appreciative.
10-year-old Reina experiences the joy of clean water!
LET’S CHANGE THESE WATER STATISTICS FOR MORE CHILDREN
like Reina
About 771 million people cannot access even basic drinking water services.
1 IN 10 PEOPLE
1.75 IN 10 PEOPLE
Drought impacts more than 1.4 billion people each year.
Almost 1.5 billion people don’t have a decent toilet of their own.
2 IN 10 PEOPLE
2.5 IN 10 PEOPLE
More than 2 billion people live in water-stressed countries.
About half of the world’s population experiences severe water scarcity for at least part of the year.
5 IN 10 PEOPLE
Because of Your Love, Their Son Is Alive
WHEN MEDICAL NEEDS MEET THE POWER OF YOUR GIVING
When little Mohammed was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate, his first cries were greeted with love by his parents, but also with a quiet fear. From the beginning, he struggled to feed properly, and Mohammed became malnourished and vulnerable to constant respiratory infections. By the time he was barely 5 months old, his tiny body had already endured far too many hospital visits. Along with the emotional toll their baby’s suffering had on Mohammed’s parents, the hospital visits dwindled the family’s already scarce resources.
Abdulahi and his wife have
Mohammed before and after surgery
always done everything possible to provide for their struggling family but only manage to scrape by. Abdulahi sold vegetables in the local market while his wife worked as a tailor. Together, they earned the equivalent of less than $25 a month. This was barely enough to cover their children’s basic needs, let alone afford the surgery Mohammed needed.
“I’ve had to explain my son’s condition over and over,” Abdulahi said. “I didn’t even understand it myself. But I prayed that someone would help us.”
Thanks to the generosity of friends like you, that help finally
arrived. Your support ensured that little Mohammed received the life-changing surgery he needed, and at no expense to the family. With his cleft lip and palate corrected, you helped give this little boy a new chance at life. Now Mohammed can eat, his weight is improving, he can smile beautifully, and the constant respiratory infections have nearly disappeared. For parents who were living in constant fear for their son’s survival, you have brought an incredible sense of relief and demonstrated the love of Christ.
“I am happy for the show of love,” Abdulahi said. “It is because of your love that my son is alive today.” And Mohammed is just one of many stories of healing taking place across the globe. Around the world, generous Operation Blessing partners are funding surgeries that change lives and often save them.
I prayed that someone would help us. ... It is because of your love that my son is alive today.”
–Abdulahi,
Mohammed’s Father
PROMISE PORTRAITS
OF
For the vulnerable in Croatia, you made beauty from brokenness
Two are better than one. …
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow.
–Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Just a few years ago, Goran and Valerija had no way of knowing that the rocky path life would take them on would eventually lead them to one another, thanks to friends like you.
Both Goran and Valerija experienced more adversity than any child should face in a lifetime. For Goran, he endured both the trauma of being separated from his parents when they could no longer care for him and then mistreatment from his new parents.
“They attacked me for every little thing, like breathing too loud,” said Goran of his adoptive family. “I had to wash everything
in the house and clean the floors.”
The emotional and physical abuse he suffered at home and from his peers left him scarred and void of hope in humanity and life itself.
Although Valerija was born into a loving family, she has cerebral palsy, which led to insufferable torment when she reached grade school. To cope with the pain, Valerija resorted to self-harm. “By the age of 17, I had reached the edge,” said Valerija. “I cut myself, overdosed on pills, and attempted to hang myself on more than one occasion.”
After years of suffering, heartache and pain, Goran and Valerija had each given up on life—and God.
But then God brought them both to our Orphan’s Promise House of Opportunities. There, thanks to support from friends like you, they were given ample love and encouragement.
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“I have never seen in my life, in all my youth, that kind of love towards me,” said Goran. “I received that love and I saw that I was really accepted from the people who didn’t know me, who saw me that day.”
“ “ I have never seen in my life, in all my youth, that kind of love towards me.
Because of the kindness of our generous partners, Goran and Valerija are living meaningful and fulfilling lives today.
“God gave me a good job where people are not rude, where people are like brothers,” said Goran.
Despite the challenges of Valerija's condition and her history in school, she recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree, which wouldn’t have been possible without supporters like you.
Through our Orphan’s Promise program, Goran and Valerija learned important life skills such as managing finances and being independent. They also found community and friends, renewed
their love for the Lord, found love with each other as well—and got married! “We joke sometimes that we are two lame people,” said Valerija. “He says he’s lame in the head, and I’m lame in the legs. He is my legs; I am his brain.”
Our House of Opportunities director said, “No matter how many times I have listened to their testimony, I am still fascinated by what God did—
out of something that was broken, without hope, without meaning, without purpose.”
The young couple is thankful that the program brought them together, and now their desire is to glorify God through their marriage and future children. Thank you for helping provide a beacon of hope to them when they needed it most. You are helping at-risk children to grow into thriving young adults.
MORE THAN FOOD
How you set one Virginia family free from the chains of hunger
Family means the world to Tamara. “I would do anything for my babies and my husband,” she said. That includes going to great lengths to ensure that they have enough food to eat.
Even though Tamara and her husband work hard at a hotel chain to provide for their two sons, rising grocery prices have put a strain on their finances. They didn’t qualify for state assistance, so Tamara had to look elsewhere for help. That’s when your love met her in a tangible way—and provided more than she ever expected.
“You all give us a blessing! ”
Tamara first visited the food pantry at Freedom Church, an Operation Blessing distribution partner, during the pandemic. Even more recently, high gas and food prices have put a strain on their finances. Tamara shared, “Right now, the hours are not the best, but hey, I’m there, and I still need the income.” But it just wasn’t enough.”
Thankfully, your support gave Tamara the extra help—and the groceries—she needed to put enough food on the table for her family. “Everything that you give us, we eat,” Tamara said. “It stretches when times are tough.”
Your love goes the extra mile every time Tamara visits the pantry. “You all give us a blessing with prayer,” she told us. “Somebody else cares for us. It’s just an uplifting spirit. Receiving groceries at the same time—you can’t go wrong with that. Two big blessings.”
Your compassion provides much-needed relief to so many hungry neighbors, like Tamara, who are struggling right here in the U.S. For those faced with the difficult choice of buying groceries or paying the electric bill, your compassion is a lifeline—one less burden they have to carry each month.
Tamara’s heart is filled with gratitude for all you have done for her family. “Thank you. It definitely makes a difference in my house.”
When the Waters Rose, SO DID YOUR COMPASSION
Providing care in the wake of disaster
For Nena, life in the Philippines had always been marked by the trial of rainy seasons. She’d weathered many, each one bringing its own share of flooding. But nothing prepared her for the onslaught of Typhoon Kristine.
Intense rains slammed into the Philippines, resulting in widespread flooding and landslides. The typhoon brought several days of rain, affecting over 2 million families, sending 250,000 people fleeing to evacuation centers and taking more than 140 lives.
In her 63 years, Nena had never seen anything like it. “The water was only up to here at first,” she said, gesturing to her knees. “But then by ten o’clock, it had risen to chest level.” She and her family rushed to safety, escaping through the roof of their home as the water level slowly rose. But after the storm, more challenges were on the horizon: sunken houses, mold, mildew, and debris.
As the waters receded, new threats emerged—injury, illness, infection, and a lack of medical care. On top of that, much of the town’s medicine supply was soaked in the floodwaters. Nena suffered from a bad cough, but between the effects of the storm and her very meager income, medical treatment was out of reach.
If not for you, I wouldn’t have access to medicine because there’s nowhere I can buy it.”
–Nena,
typhoon survivor
THAT’S WHEN FRIENDS LIKE YOU STEPPED IN.
Thanks to your compassionate giving, Operation Blessing’s mobile medical clinic arrived, offering free medical checkups, medicines, EKG services, blood tests, and even reading glasses to hundreds of people—including Nena. She said gratefully, “Thank you so much, Operation Blessing!”
With your support, Nena received the aid she needed at just the right time. But even more, your love reminded her that she’s not alone—that someone somewhere cared.
The help you gave wasn’t just medicine or supplies—it was hope in the midst of tragedy.
