Food, Friends, And Hope

POLAND – “The war has begun.” Imagine waking up early one morning to see this message on your phone, knowing everything in your world is about to change in ways you can’t even imagine. You would quickly realize you were not safe in Ukraine. That’s what happened to Olena and her family on February 24, 2022.

The days following the reports of a Russian invasion were peppered with a dizzying barrage of gunfire, explosions, and tough decisions. Olena and her twin 3-year-old daughters slept in their basement for safety the whole week after she got the news, knowing their sleep would be interrupted again and again by air raid sirens.

During the day, they would wait for sirens to cease and then rush to do simple activities like take baths and cook. Olena recalls, “The sounds were very scary and really frightened us.” It wasn’t long before friends and family urged them to leave the country.

Olena knew her girls were not safe in Ukraine, so she yielded, taking a journey into the fearful unknown. They boarded a bus to Poland and headed off into the darkness. Olena, Mira, and Margarita endured the harrowing 15-hour trip in cramped quarters without light to avoid Russian detection.

Love For Ukrainians in Poland

But when the bus finally stopped, they found hope. Thanks in part to your support, Olena and her girls were welcomed with open arms by Operation Blessing partners offering shelter. Because of you, they knew they’d found a safe place to lay their heads. Olena shared, “Everyone took care of us, making sure we had everything we needed—for the children and for me—making sure we were comfortable.”

You reached out in compassion to provide for the needs of many suffering Ukrainian families during this time. When Olena and her girls were hungry, Operation Blessing met their need, holding a food distribution event for the whole refugee community. Having full bellies made the future look brighter.

Mothers like Olena struggled with more than basic necessities, though. They knew their children were suffering emotionally and needed something constructive to do. Olena described the difficulty: “Right now, we as moms are very busy with work and different issues, and for kids there are not so many activities.”

So Operation Blessing family members like you took care of that, as well. Our teams held birthday celebrations along with other fun, encouraging activities that lifted the little ones’ spirits. As you can see by their faces, Mira and Margarita have experienced joy thanks to your kindness. Olena offers her gratitude. “We are very, very thankful to you for such support—for your love and care for us and our children.”

Celebrating 100 Supply Trucks to Ukraine

Ukraine – Today we’re celebrating 100 supply trucks to Ukraine! Because of your generosity, we have reached this very special milestone in blessing the people of this war-torn nation.

Since the war started, friends like you have enabled us to bring thousands of tons of food and hygiene supplies to needy communities inside Ukraine. You’ve also helped us provide fuel to heat homes in the frigid winter and love and care to Ukrainian refugees in Poland as well.

Celebrating Your Love!

As we celebrate sending 100 supply trucks into Ukraine, we would like to thank you on behalf of every person and family who received the food and relief that you so kindly provided.

Thank you for your love and your ongoing support of the work of Operation Blessing, particularly during the winter months.

Your gifts are helping families prepare hot meals during the cold Ukrainian winter. Merry Christmas! To make a gift and help more families, visit www.ob.org/crisis today!

Refreshed And Full Of Hope

HONDURAS – When Antoni’s stomach started to burn, he knew something was wrong. Only moments after he drank a little water, waves of nausea and pain struck him. He grew so sick his family had to rush him to the only clinic available—more than an hour’s drive from their home.

The worst part was, the emergency visit cost nearly half of Antoni’s father’s wages for an entire month. Antoni survived, but he wasn’t unharmed. His father said, “The doctor told me that Antoni had developed parasites because of the type of water that he has been drinking.”

And there was no guarantee this wouldn’t happen again, because Antoni’s family didn’t have another source of clean water in Honduras. You see, little 9-year-old Antoni lives with his family in a remote mountain village in Honduras where water access had always been scarce, and what they could find wasn’t safe. His father explained, “The water we have consumed has never been clean. The hoses don’t have any filters. We see insects and dirt in the cloudy water.” He and others in his village knew this was a problem, but they didn’t have the means to solve it on their own.

So somehow, they kept on going, even though they had to continue using the same contaminated water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Antoni shared one particularly frightening moment: “One day we went with my dad to check the spring where the hoses come from. When we arrived, there was a dead animal in it. We removed it with some sticks. It really smelled bad. Dad said we had to wait for a while before we drank the water.” On days like that one, it was hard for Antoni’s family to hope circumstances would improve.

Operation Blessing Helps Provide A Source Of Clean Water In Honduras

Then they met Operation Blessing, and friends like you changed everything! Young Antoni said, “When Operation Blessing came, I felt relieved, because they were going to fix this water problem.” The clean water team immediately set to work evaluating the problem and potential solutions with the help of the locals.

First, they identified a new freshwater spring higher in the mountains for a spring water catchment system that would replace the dirty, exposed pools the community had been using. Then, together with community members, the team laid a pipe system, built a 5,000-gallon storage tank, and added purification. Water ran free and clean for the first time—right to residents’ homes.

Antoni was ecstatic. “The water that Operation Blessing gave us is very refreshing. There is a strong stream of water right in the house faucets! It feels as cold as if they had put ice in it,” he exclaimed. “Now my family and everyone in the community are happy because of the water that God sent us. Now everyone who drinks this water will not suffer!”

His father’s words perhaps express it best. “First of all, I want to thank God, and then thank the donors of the Operation Blessing project. For us this has been excellent; it is a blessing for this community and for each family. Thank you!”

Warming Homes and Hearts in Ukraine

Help the Hurting Now

UKRAINE – After months of living in constant fear for their lives, Ukrainian families like Oksana’s suddenly faced a new challenge—winter without heat.

Oksana shared, “The winters here are different…The temperature can be -4 degrees Fahrenheit or sometimes even -13. You can simply freeze. Our house was heated with a boiler, but it was destroyed when the war started.”

Since Russia began targeting power supply across Ukraine, civilians haven’t known from one day to the next whether they will have a source of heat the next day. They could wake up freezing because of shelling in the middle of the night. And many, like Oksana, had their heat sources destroyed by the war long before the current power supply issues.

But thanks to the generosity of friends like you warming homes and hearts in Ukraine, many of these families have hope. Thanks to our compassionate Operation Blessing partners, our teams in the Ukraine are installing wood-burning stoves to bring comfort and joy to those in great need.

“As the war continues, the needs are going to increase as the weather gets colder,” said Jeff Westling, Operation Blessing’s chief of staff in an interview with WTKR news network. “The need for heat is of primary concern for us right now. So we are providing wood-burning stoves, or wood-fueled stoves, to residences, especially in the areas that have been heavily attacked.”

Help the Hurting

From Ukraine to You: Thank You

This life-saving work is warming homes and hearts in Ukraine, providing the Ukrainian people with a reliable source of heat no matter what happens to the electrical grid. Together with our faithful supporters, Operation Blessing is upholding those who are suffering so they can endure the worst of the war.

And Ukrainians feel the love! Oksana shares, “If Operation Blessing had not brought us heating, we would have frozen here. If Operation Blessing had not brought us a stove and firewood, then I do not know how my children and I would have survived.”

She is beyond grateful. “Operation Blessing is doing a great thing by providing stoves and firewood for people. It is a big help. Thank you very much.”

Please consider getting involved in reaching out to hurting people in Ukraine and around the world.

Help Now

Your Love Traveled the World This Year!

Your love traveled the world to India and beyond

WORLDWIDE – This year at Operation Blessing, we had the privilege of witnessing the amazing things you accomplished for families around the world. Your love traveled across the globe providing gifts of hope and help for families in need.

In the United States, you provided families in need with food for their tables and helped victims of hurricanes and tornadoes get back on their feet. You gave clean water to Osocco, Peru, food to families in Kenya, disaster relief to Filipino families, life-giving medical care to Princika in India, and much, much more.

Your incredible outpouring of support also made it possible for Operation Blessing to respond to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Ukraine this year. Countless bags of food, supply kits, warm meals, hugs, and words of encouragement were poured out on Ukrainian families, thanks to you!

Thank you so much for your amazing generosity. Because of your partnership with Operation Blessing, your love traveled the world and families have been given gifts of hope. Visit ob.org/hope to help even more families in need!

You Help Bring Joy To The World!

PERU – Gladys lived with her family in Mañazo, a rural community nestled in the highlands of southern Peru. Her parents raised livestock while Gladys took care of the household chores.

At one time, expectant mothers in Mañazo had no access to prenatal care in Peru. Most women could not travel the 27 miles to the city of Puno or even afford the cost of an ultrasound. Often, complications were left undetected and untreated leaving women in terrible pain during pregnancy. Many even died during childbirth.

“I was afraid I would lose my baby because of my health,” said Gladys. “I couldn’t pay 70 soles to have an ultrasound performed.” But thanks to your compassion, Gladys didn’t have to face this pregnancy alone. Since Operation Blessing launched the prenatal counseling program in Mañazo earlier that year, our staff was able to be by her side from the first stages of her pregnancy.

This program in Mañazo is just one of several prenatal programs in Peru you provided to serve the rural communities surrounding Puno. Gladys would need all the love and support she could get in order to face the journey ahead.

Prenatal Care In Peru

During her pregnancy Gladys faced two separate health challenges. First she developed a female infection. Later, she suffered intense pain and discovered she had gallstones. The obstetrician and staff at the prenatal counseling program were by her side every step of the way throughout her challenging pregnancy. They monitored the baby’s health during both treatments through several ultrasounds. To Gladys’s relief, her baby remained healthy.

“I couldn’t see how my baby was,” said Gladys. “Operation Blessing helped me. After seeing that my baby was okay, I felt relieved.” Through the new prenatal counseling program, you also provided a safe place for Gladys and other women to receive the prenatal care in Peru they needed.

Staff offered workshops to equip expectant mothers with techniques on how to carry their babies safely to term. Women like Gladys learned about childbirth and the warning signs to look for throughout their pregnancies. “I didn’t know how to control my contractions, but after these workshops I learned how to breathe,” said Gladys.

“Thanks to the workshops that were given to us, I knew how to act when I had pain during my pregnancy. That’s what helped me the most.” Today, Gladys is overjoyed to hold her precious healthy baby girl, Yuletzi, thanks in large part to the prenatal counseling program and to you.

Will You Be Someone’s Miracle This Holiday Season?

be someones miracle this holiday in ukraine

Give Now

Join Operation Blessing and become someone’s miracle this holiday season! You can come alongside Operation Blessing as we seek to break the cycle of suffering all over the world. Your support provides miracles to countless families through initiatives including: aiding displaced Ukrainian families, installing water systems in Mexico, providing life-changing surgeries in India, helping victims of Hurricane Ian in Florida, and much more.

One of the hardest realities of 2022 has been the tragedy of the Ukraine Crisis. The invasion by the Russian military under the orders of Vladimir Putin have plunged this once peaceful Eastern European nation into chaos.

The scars of the war are everywhere. Decimated buildings, smashed roads, as well as damaged vehicles line roads and villages. Homes are abandoned as explosions and the threat of deadly violence make them uninhabitable.

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee into neighboring countries. Many find themselves in Poland. Their lives are now at a complete stand still and their futures remain unclear. They do not know when they can return home. And even when they can, they have no idea what they will face in Ukraine. While they have lost homes and possessions there is still one thing they cannot afford to lose, which is hope.

Be Someone’s Miracle This Holiday In Ukraine

You can help be their hope. Your support can provide displaced Ukrainian refugees with the supplies they need to survive. More than just provisions, you are giving them something else. You are showing them that people care. You are living the gospel message through your actions. You are helping them to keep holding on to hope! Please continue to be a light for so many people living in sadness this holiday season. Visit https://www.ob.org/mc/holidaygiving/ to make your holiday gift today!

Give Hope This Christmas

The Gift Of Healing

NAIROBI – Before he was even two, sweet little Mohammed was often the center of attention— the wrong kind of attention. His facial deformity made him different, a difference that most children couldn’t understand. Desperately in need of surgery for his cleft lip and palate in Nairobi, Mohammed’s life was not easy. “Eating some types of food and drinking water was a problem,” his mother said, but his parents couldn’t afford the operation that would help him.

Mohammed’s family lived in a slum community. As a contract laborer, his father earned the equivalent of about $50 per month, not nearly enough to pay for surgery and provide for the family. His mother stayed home to take care of the house and their three children.

Then, the family discovered the joyous news that Mohammed could get free surgeries through Operation Blessing’s Life-Changing Surgeries program. Together, compassionate friends just like you provided the funds this struggling family needed to fix his cleft lip and palate in Nairobi, and allow Mohammed a chance to live a healthy life.

He would be able to eat, drink, and speak without a problem. “It was difficult to understand clearly what Mohammed was saying before due to the deformity, but now after the surgery I can comprehend what he is saying,” said his mother. “My child is now fine. Thank you, Operation Blessing—I am very grateful for the support.”

Our Life-Changing Surgeries program doesn’t just change the lives of individual recipients, it changes the lives of entire families. When friends like you come together, we can give the gift of healing to so many who cannot afford it or who have no access to medical care.

Rebuilding After The Storm

Tornado recovery support for midwest tornado victim

“I don’t feel good about this.” As a longtime Kentucky resident, Darlene was no stranger to the life-threatening force of tornadoes. But she sensed there was something different about the approaching storm. Even the local meteorologist said he’d never seen anything like it.

Darlene knew that her elderly mother, Betty Sue, preferred to wait out tornadoes in her own home eight miles away. But this time she didn’t resist evacuating. Instead, when Darlene arrived to pick her up, Betty Sue grabbed her medications and an overnight bag and got in her daughter’s car.

Together, they waited out the storm as best they could in Darlene’s basement with pillows over their heads. And when the storm knocked out their power, the backup battery kept the radio going with uplifting Gospel music.

“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been in!” Darlene told us. Despite that, “We told each other we loved each other, and Mama said, ‘It’s going to be all right. God’s going to protect us.’”

helping people recover from kentucky tornado

Devastation After the Storm Passed

When the storm had passed, Darlene got a phone call from a neighbor of her mother’s who was in tears. Frantic, he was calling to report that Betty Sue’s house was completely gone—he hadn’t been able to find her and feared she was dead. “There’s nothing left over here,” he told her.

The next day, they went back to Betty Sue’s house. Although the structure was indeed gone and its contents were scattered over several blocks, some of Betty Sue’s belongings had survived the tempest—including all seven of her Bibles and some irreplaceable family pictures—her most cherished possessions. Following the destruction, it was evident that it was time to begin thinking about rebuilding after the storm.

Soon after the tornado passed, thanks to caring friends like you, Operation Blessing was able to rush to the scene, reaching out to battered victims with disaster relief supplies and assistance. One of the main things our team on the ground noticed was that many people, like Betty Sue, desperately needed places to store their belongings as they waited for homes to be repaired or even rebuilt entirely.

Rebuilding After The Storm With A Storage Shed To House Belongings

And now, thanks to a sturdy storage shed that you helped provide, Betty Sue has a place to safely keep all of these items while her new home is being built on her daughter’s property.

Darlene said that after all they’ve been through, “We’re just thankful that we’re here and we’re alive.

“I just want to thank everyone for all your hard work and perseverance—blessing everyone,” she said. “The main thing is, you’ll pray with people, and that means a lot to my mother because I know prayer’s what will get her through this.” She also expressed thanks for all the donors who helped.

Once again, your compassionate support works hand-in-hand with our disaster relief teams and volunteers to aid and comfort victims during some of the most difficult times of their lives. Thank you for so richly blessing those in need

preserving memories after kentucky tornado

“Just want to thank everyone for all your hard work and perseverance—blessing everyone.”
— Darlene

You’re Keeping Bread on the Table In Ukraine!

UKRAINE – When Russia launched a brutal attack on Ukraine, families in Mariupol, Kiev, and many other Ukrainian cities suffered from the violence.

Those who didn’t evacuate were forced to live in basements for safety. Because of the danger, many food suppliers have refused to deliver to certain areas. This has led to empty store shelves and growing food scarcity for precious families still living in Ukraine.

But thanks to the support of friends like you, many of these families have hope. You made crisis relief possible by supporting a bakery deep within the hard-hit city of Kurakhove. Your dedication and love have been instrumental in keeping bread on the table in Ukraine.

The Social Bakery, run by Zhenya and her husband, is in a dangerous area. They daily face constant threats from artillery and falling shells. Because of the risks, most businesses have left the region. Now, The Social Bakery is one of the only sources of food for many hurting families who still live there.

Zhenya shared with us, “Every morning we visit the cities and villages to find out who needs our help. It’s mostly the elderly. Then we return to the bakery to see how much bread we can give that day and then let the villages know what we can do.”

Faithfully Keeping Bread on the Table in Ukraine

When the bakery was in danger of closing its doors due to a supply shortage, Operation Blessing stepped in to help. With help from our partners, the bakery was able to get the supplies they needed to keep food production in full swing! They were also able to support their dedicated staff who worked to make desperately-needed food for families in dire conditions.

Thanks the generosity of our donors, The Social Bakery was also equipped with a delivery van. This van makes it possible for Zhenya and her team to travel many more miles. It means they can reach more families with life-sustaining food!

The inspiring kindness of Operation Blessing friends like you has provided hundreds of families with daily bread and food bags to sustain them through this difficult time.

Thank you for showing love and support to Ukrainian families in their time of greatest need.