PERU – Before COVID, Gisella supported her family by creating and selling products in a tourist town in Peru. But when the pandemic struck, international travel disappeared. As tourism came to a halt, there were suddenly no visitors to purchase Gisella’s products. As a result, her business suffered severely. Like so many other hardworking single mothers crushed by the pandemic, Gisella struggled to provide for her family.
To add to the tremendous difficulties she faced, a storm tore the roof off of her home. All her belongings—including her crafting materials—were damaged. Now her ability to earn a livelihood was completely gone.
COVID Outreach and Small Business Support
Thanks to the generous gifts of friends like you, Operation Blessing was able to reach out to communities impacted by the pandemic, including Gisella’s. You provided COVIDoutreach and small business support. You ensured Gisella had new supplies and business training to jumpstart her business even stronger than before.
You also showed your love and support when Operation Blessing built Gisella’s family a new home! Now, Gisella has what she needs to continue to provide for her family. To make your gift of support for families like Gisella’s today, visit ob.org/give.
KENYA – For years, residents in the village of Gongo, like young Ashley and Anna, lived without access to a clean water source. The lack of this precious resource made life especially difficult.
Villagers did what they could to survive. Many had to either drink water from dirty wells or walk over three miles to fetch river water. Sadly, both water sources were untreated and contaminated. Walking to the dirty river often left little time for other daily tasks and even caused children to miss school. The struggling Gongo community needed help—and fast. Thankfully, partners like you sent hope.
A Clean Water Source For A Kenya Village
When Operation Blessing learned of the suffering in Gongo Village, we took action. Our team visited the area to understand residents’ needs and put a plan of action in place to help provide a clean water source in Kenya. Because of the compassion of friends like you, we were able to drill a new well that would provide fresh water for the entire community.
Village members excited about the project put in hard work by digging trenches for the necessary piping. The new system provides safe water—filtered and treated for bacteria and other contaminants—for villagers to drink.
Additionally, our supporters provided two hand- washing stations along with sanitation and hygiene training to help keep the community healthy and thriving.
In honor of this new blessing, an inauguration ceremony was held in the community, where more than 200 people gathered to celebrate. They gave thanks for the water project as the only one of its kind in the area.
Thank you for your heart to bring increased health and happiness to communities like Gongo. You are making a huge difference around the world for kids like Ashley and Anna. God bless you.
UKRAINE – It might be hard to imagine a source of joy for Ukraine refugees in the midst of war and tragedy. But you make it possible!
Marina is one of millions of people displaced by the recent conflict in Ukraine. Like so many, she and her husband have had to face the heart-rending choice of leaving their beloved country behind to protect their children.
However, this Christian family is committed to reaching out in compassion to their fellow Ukrainians during their darkest hours. And they carried that passion to Poland. Generous partners like you made it possible for them to both feed their children and give food to hungry refugees they met along the way.
PROVIDING JOY
Operation Blessing and our partner organizations are uniquely positioned to distribute vital food and aid to fleeing Ukrainians. We also continue sending truckloads of aid to those who remain in the war torn country. Your love greeted refugees like Marina at the border with warm food, essential supplies, and a place to lay their heads. You have provided true joy for Ukraine refugees during this difficult time.
You have offered critical support to families like Marina’s for months now, and with your help, we can continue to extend a lifeline to them.
We are asking our faithful supporters to continue reaching out with kindness and compassion to Ukrainian refugees so they can find what they need the very most at this traumatic time—hope.
Their needs will last long after the war is over as people begin rebuilding their lives either inside or outside of their homeland. It means the world to Ukrainians to see that there are people out there committed to helping them for the long run.Will you extend a helping hand to them today? And please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
COSTA RICA – One lesson we’ve learned over the years is that giving a hand up makes an even bigger impact than giving a hand out. As the popular saying goes, “Give a person a fish, and they will eat for a day. Teach someone to fish…” Well, you get the point.
Along our journeys we’ve found many talented and hardworking people who just need a helping hand in order to change their lives—some training, a few supplies, a bit of encouragement and support. This was the case with Graciela from Costa Rica.
As a single mother and sole provider for her 15-year-old son, Juan, Graciela needed a way to earn a living and keep him focused on school.
Working But Still Facing Food Insecurity In Costa Rica
Graciela cleaned houses for a time—until her doctor advised her to stop due to chronic pain she suffered. Then she tried baking from her home. Despite her talent, without the right tools and supplies she simply couldn’t earn enough. She was left feeling anxious and hopeless.
Juan shared with us how hard his mother works despite her pain. He explained sadly, “There is no food in the pantry. There is no food in the fridge. It is almost empty. If I look at the freezer, there is no meat—there is nothing.” They mostly survived on rice and often had to skip meals.
Then they found Operation Blessing! Thanks to friends like you, Graciela got the blessing she so badly needed. First, you gave Graciela the necessary tools for her baking business, including a professional mixer, a scale, cookware, utensils, containers, and other essential baking supplies. But you didn’t stop there.
A New Lease On Life In Costa Rica
Thanks to you, Graciela received personalized business and financial training that will help her succeed. In addition, you supported her with top-notch signs and promotional stickers to help her advertise her business. And over the next months, she will receive ongoing support as she learns and develops in her growing endeavor.
She said, “This business is something that helps me and that I can do from home.” Now she’s able to make and market her beautiful homemade bread called pan casero and other tasty baked goods efficiently and effectively. Graciela is so grateful to you for this chance. Thank you for giving her and Juan a new lease on life in Costa Rica!
POLAND – Imagine having to flee your home and travel to a place you’ve never been. The peace you once knew with the family you love is suddenly upended by the horrors of war. Now you must do everything you can to get to safety. What will you do? Where will you go? These are the questions Ania and her family had to face when they were forced to leave their hometown due to the war in Ukraine.
While so many are troubled by the war in Ukraine, children are especially affected. Their sense of safety and security is shaken, and fear and worry set in. As the war continues in Ukraine, more and more families are displaced and fleeing from the violence.
Shelter At A Refugee House In Poland
Thanks to the generosity of partners like you, Operation Blessing is able to meet families like Ania’s and offer them support. Through help from Operation Blessing and our partner Orphan’s Promise, refugees like Ania are given access to a clean safe shelter. Aid going to this refugee house in Poland is essential to people who have been displaced from their homes.
Thanks to your kindness, so many families with young children now have a warm place to stay, enjoy meals, and be encouraged. Your continued support also allows Operation Blessing to offer critical supplies and information for the journey ahead.
Please continue to pray for Ukrainian families and show your support to crisis victims today.
MEXICO – The people of Benito Juárez, a small community, had gone without access to clean water in Mexico for far too long. For 9-year-old Gilberto and his little brothers, lack of safe water was simply a way of life.
Although the town had a water system, it was poorly designed, did not treat the water for safety. It didn’t reach everyone in the community. In addition, the decades-old storage tank was cracked and leaking. Without the funds or technical knowledge to find a solution, the residents had only one other option. They had to drink water from a river—without any means of ensuring it was safe.
Community members like Gilberto would also use the river for bathing and laundry. This meant the women and children responsible for taking care of the household chores had to spend a lot of time walking to the river and back with heavy buckets of water.
When Operation Blessing learned of this community’s need for clean water, we quickly developed an action plan with our partners on the ground in Mexico. First, we visited the community to determine their exact needs and test its water source. It was indeed positive for harmful bacteria. Then they decided the best way forward.
The plan of action was to give Gilberto’s family and all the people of Benito Juárez a reliable, community-wide clean water system. And it became possible thanks a to special gifts from our generous friends like you. Now, because of our donors’ compassion, the 338 residents of Benito Juárez have access to clean water. It reaches right outside each of their 86 homes!
Access To Clean Water In Mexico
For the first part of this clean water project, a nearly 8,000-gallon water storage tank was built. And now spring water flows through a new conduction line to the tank. From the tank, the water is filtered and chlorinated to remove any contaminants and harmful bacteria. This makes it safe to drink. Then it continues to new faucets outside every home in the community, including Gilberto’s!
These faucets allow quick and easy access to clean water for every man, woman and child. A newly established and trained local water committee will oversee ongoing treatment of the water, ensuring it is safety!
Thanks to our friends like you, the community of Benito Juárez also participated in WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) training throughout the project. More than 100 men, women and children participated. These training sessions covered topics such as the prevention of waterborne illnesses, healthy hygiene habits, good water care practices at home and in the community, and hand washing. All of these tools will help keep this community healthy well into the future.
We’re so grateful that partners like you care about reaching out and giving the gift of hope and health through clean water to communities in need. God bless you for your kind hearts!
How could you explain war and violence to your young children? Could you find the right words to encourage them and keep them calm? Ukrainian mother, Olena, had to make the drastic decision to leave her hometown in order to keep her children safe. Olena’s story begins like so many other Ukrainian refugee mothers, who were forced to leave everything and flee to Poland.
It is really hard when you hear a bang, when the air sirens go off and your child asks, “Mom, what is it?”
-Olena
Olena’s account begins like so many other Ukraine crisis victims who have been forced to leave. Before they left, Olena found herself suddenly thrown into the harsh realities of the conflict in Ukraine. She and her son were suddenly startled by the sounds of air raid sirens. Naturally Olena’s son asked her what they were. Like so many mothers inundated with shock, she did not know what to tell him. As Russian missiles destroyed a military base and five homes around them, they joined the millions now evicted from their country by circumstance.
Ukraine Crisis Victims Continue To Cross Border For Safety
Thanks to the gifts of generous friends like you, Operation Blessing met this family and so many others to offer them a moment of safety and rest in the warm relief tent. As unfortunate families cross the border for their safety, your kindness is there to greet them. Your support provides warm meals, essential supplies and hygiene products to aid these crisis victims in their journey ahead.
WORLDWIDE – Conflict in Ukraine, droughts in Africa, COVID-19 lockdowns, supply chain disruptions, inflation, political crises—all of these have led to increasing numbers of hungry people! Even before these calamities, the United Nations reported that one in nine people in the world lacked sufficient food and face food insecurity. And now, the hunger situation in our world has reached a new crisis point. Children like Grace from Latin America too often go to bed hungry.
Thankfully, as a supporter of Operation Blessing, you can feel confident that you’re fighting hunger worldwide and all throughout the year. For Grace, you provided her mother with a poultry business that helped feed her family during a difficult time. In each region and situation, you make it possible for Operation Blessing to bring the solution that will provide the greatest impact.
Because of this, not only are you helping hungry children, families, and communities with their urgent needs for food and nutrition, you are also assisting them in lasting ways—like you did for Grace’s family! She’s thankful that you helped sustain them during the COVID-19 crisis.
Here Are A Few Of The Ways You Are Fighting Hunger Worldwide
U.S. Hunger Strike Force
In the U.S., many working families are having a difficult time making ends meet, especially during these days of soaring prices. You bless them by making possible the distribution of millions of pounds of food to local food pantries and other partner organizations. Large corporations donate food, and with your help we send out our fleet of Hunger Strike Force semi-trucks to get that food into the hands of those who need it most.
Famine Relief
When famine and drought strike vulnerable areas like Kenya, many people are robbed not only of food for their tables but also of their income opportunities. But you are rushing immediate relief to the suffering and malnourished, ensuring that so many more children and families go to bed with full bellies.
Nutritional Feeding
Many children around the world lack the nutritious meals they need to grow and thrive. Through our nutritional feeding programs, you give school children in places like Kenya, Peru and Haiti the extra support they need. Not only do you supply supplements and nourishing school meals, but in parts of Latin America you also offer cooking classes to teach mothers how to prepare healthier meals for years to come.
Agricultural & Farming Programs
In parts of Latin America and Africa, Operation Blessing supporters supply villages and schools with agricultural training, irrigation systems, greenhouses, chicken coops, and small farm animals. These solutions offer struggling families and individuals a chance to grow food for their families long into the future—and even sell the surplus to better provide for necessities like medical expenses and education.
Business & Livelihood Support
One of the best ways to provide hunger relief long into the future is by offering a hand up rather than a hand out. Through skills training and small business support, you are changing lives for generations to come. Whether it’s a handicraft business in Latin America, a small store in Africa, cosmetology training in Honduras, sewing classes in India, or one of the many other opportunities available, you are helping families earn more income to consistently feed their children and send them to school.
Disaster & Crisis Relief
When crisis and natural disaster strike, basic needs like food, hygiene supplies, and clean water often go unmet. But you send support to disaster victims in dire need. In the U.S., our volunteer teams have been packing boxes of supplies to prepare for upcoming disasters. We’ve recently distributed hunger relief after earthquakes in Indonesia and typhoons in the Philippines. Meanwhile, we’ve been sending truckloads of food into war-torn Ukraine.
UKRAINE – Recently all eyes have been on Ukraine, yet—thanks to friends like you— Operation Blessing has been at work in Ukraine for decades. Although this current war in the region created turmoil like never before, there has been conflict on the border with Russia for years. Life for many Ukrainian people has not been easy. That’s why Operation Blessing has been there, providing suffering Ukrainians with life-changing surgeries.
Svitlana’s life in Ukraine slowly started to become dim as she gradually lost more and more of her vision. The then-66-year-old wife and grandmother had been diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes, and without help she was in danger of going completely blind.
As her eyesight became worse, Svitlana still did her best to care for her disabled elderly father, as well as her husband. The care her father required left little time or money to seek treatment for her eyes. But her impaired vision soon affected her ability to live her life. She went to a specialized clinic where doctors recommended she undergo immediate lens replacement surgery in Ukraine.
While Svitlana was desperate to save her vision, she and her husband lived on very small pensions. Paying for the surgery on their own was simply not possible. Sadly, Svitlana’s vision continued to get worse. Eventually, she could no longer complete household chores, enjoy photos of her precious grandchildren, or even see what she was buying at the market.
“Until 2018, I could clearly see my children growing up, then grandchildren, and then beautiful and cute great-grandchildren were born,” Svitlana told Operation Blessing staff. “There is nothing sweeter in this world than great-grandchildren, but I could not see their faces!”
The circumstances seemed hopeless. But that’s when Operation Blessing donors like you stepped in to make a difference. Coming together, you helped raise the funds that Svitlana needed to receive her surgery.
New Vision After Lens Replacement Surgery
After the procedure, Svitlana regained her sight—something she could not have imagined just months before! This wonderful change made it possible for her to care for herself and her family and to see the faces of her beloved great-grandchildren again.
She is very grateful for the compassion you showed in helping her find healing. “When I had the operation and I opened my eyes, I saw the doctor with my own eyes. Clearly, with the contours and all the colors,” Svitlana exclaimed. “I immediately started crying tears of happiness. I couldn’t believe that the operation was really restoring my sight! Thank Operation Blessing for not passing by my need.”
Svitlana’s story and others like hers are just some of the ongoing efforts of Operation Blessing in Ukraine. Beyond just medical procedures like lens replacement surgery in Ukraine, you are doing so much more. You are sending relief and hope to those displaced by conflict, including so many Ukrainian refugees fleeing to find safety beyond the Polish border.
Helping Ukraine In So Many Ways
Your generosity has made it possible to welcome refugees with hot meals, blankets, and hygiene supplies, along with sending aid like fresh produce, canned meats, and more into Ukraine. And you’ve continued to bless even more hurting people during the conflict with life-changing surgeries whenever hospitals were available!
Thank you for caring for victims of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. Together, we are making a real difference in their lives. Your continued support is an answer to heartfelt prayer fort those fighting to survive.
After an EF4 tornado struck Kathy’s town of Russellville, Kentucky, her home was left with serious damage. The storm hit as part of a string of deadly tornadoes that ravaged Kentucky and surrounding areas in December. Due to the building’s damaged ceilings and walls, as well as debris in her yard, single mother Kathy and her family needed help—and fast.
When Kathy learned that Operation Blessing teams were working in Russellville, she reached out for help with fixing the holes in her ceiling that had been created by the storm. Thanks to friends like you, not only did she receive the assistance she needed to repair her roof, but volunteers also helped clean up her yard and install new sheetrock and insulation inside her home!
“I credit God for getting us through the storm aftermath and helping us get it all cleaned up,” said Kathy. “Like today—for Operation Blessing coming in and helping us redo walls and windows and all they’re helping us with. I credit God for all that.”
For Operation Blessing coming in and helping us redo walls and windows and all they’re helping us with, I credit God for all that.
-Kathy
The aid came as a true blessing for Kathy, who lives on a limited disability income. She shared that it was already difficult enough providing for her teenage twin girls and her niece, but with the added weight of home repairs, she didn’t know how she would make it. That’s when you stepped in to make a difference.
Recovery For Kentucky Tornado Victims
Because of you, volunteers worked on the sheetrock on her ceilings and walls, laid down new flooring in her laundry room, and installed new windows—all steps on the road to recovery for Kathy and her family.
For Kathy, the facelift to her laundry room proved especially exciting. Until then, she had been limited in how often she could do something as simple as wash clothes, often having to wait for the electrical sockets to dry from rain leaking through the roof. She’s extremely thankful to God and Operation Blessing partners for reaching out to her and her family when they needed it most.
“Operation Blessing being here is really a blessing,” said Kathy. “It means so much to me. They will never know how much it means to me.”
Thank you for your heart to help victims of disaster in the U.S. and around the world. The work you make possible through Operation Blessing brings relief and hope for Kentucky tornado victims in their darkest times. May God bless you for your kindness and compassion!
Villagers did what they could to survive. Many had to either drink water from dirty wells or walk over three miles to fetch river water. Sadly, both water sources were untreated and contaminated. Walking to the dirty river often left little time for other daily tasks and even caused children to miss school. The struggling Gongo community needed help—and fast. Thankfully, partners like you sent hope.
