As reports continue to roll in from the shattered Midwest about the December tornado victims, our heartbreak continues to grow. You might have heard that officials now fear as many as a hundred people might have died from this string of devastating storms.
Homes, businesses, communities, and lives have been torn apart. Victims of these deadly tornadoes desperately need help from friends like you.
Help for December Tornado Victims
Because of the ongoing support of our generous partners, Operation Blessing is already reaching out to the affected areas. With help from friends like you, we are sending an initial shipment of disaster relief kits, water, trash bags, food, and other disaster relief supplies.
And please continue to pray for the victims of this tragedy and for all those affected. We’re so grateful to have you as a vital part of our team. God bless you.
UPDATE 12/13/21 – With help from compassionate supporters like you, Operation Blessing is already sending relief and assessing damages following the string of devastating tornadoes in the Midwest. Continue to check back for more details, and please continue to pray for the victims and communities affected by these tragic storm.
MIDWEST – Last night a series of deadly tornadoes ripped through the Midwest. Will you join us in praying for all of those impacted by these devastating storms?
Tornadoes in Midwest Cause Devastation
According to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, no less than 24 twisters were reported across five states including Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. At least 50 fatalities have been reported by officials in Arkansas and Illinois. There have also been at least 50 reported deaths in southwestern Kentucky, including mass casualties at an Amazon warehouse facility.
Meanwhile, the death toll is expected to continue to rise. One tornado’s path—extending from Arkansas to Kentucky—if verified, is potentially the longest traveled of any since 1925. Currently, more than 300,000 power outages are being reported across eight different states.
Operation Blessing’s disaster response team is currently assessing the situation to determine how we may be able to provide compassion, comfort, and relief.
Please Pray for Tornado Victims
Please pray for the victims of this tragedy and all affected. There are surely many broken hearts today as these families deal with injury, destruction, and lost loved ones. Thank you for being part of our Operation Blessing family that provides light during these dark situations.
PERU – James, age 5, and his brother Jampier, age 3, go to great lengths to get an education—literally traveling a long way to get to school in Peru each day. Unfortunately, the conditions of the local schoolhouse they travel to had long left much to be desired.
Each morning their dad, Angel, would pile them onto a small motorbike and begin the long drive to school. While that might seem surprising from our American perspective, this is simply life in the remote highlands of Peru. Angel said, “It’s complicated to live in the countryside.”
Then, after that long and often-cold journey, James and Jampier would reach a cramped and borrowed classroom space that didn’t truly meet the children’s educational needs. For the rest of the day, Angel and his wife would farm the land—like most people in the village of Charamaya.
Angel’s family, along with their neighbors, dreamed that someday the area might have a better school for young children like James and Jampier.
A New School In Peru
When our team in Peru heard about the situation, they thought this would be the perfect opportunity for a new school project! Thanks to friends like you, they worked with the community to build a special new octagonal classroom building on the land of the existing school. This shape would offer the little kids plenty of space to learn and play while still keeping them safe and warm in the chilly highlands.
But our supporters didn’t stop there. They sent them a strong, character-based curriculum. They provided a kitchen so the kids can enjoy nutritious meals comfortably in their new building. And they gave them a bathroom to facilitate and teach good hygiene.
Angel said, “We are thankful to Operation Blessing for all of this building process. It is beautiful. Now our kids will learn today and, in the future, become leaders. God bless you!”
Now, when James and Jampier head to school, they’re met by a warm, cheerful building that’s conducive to learning and growing. Their classroom is as merry and bright as their sweet young hearts.
PHILIPPINES – When a massive storm struck their hut of a home in the Philippines, Maribel was focused on keeping her children safe from danger.
As the typhoon continued to pummel the small community, the roof of their house caved in. Maribel’s husband heroically helped his family escape the crumbling structure. They made it out alive, but he did not.
The home was left in shambles. Her family now desperate and homeless as disaster victims in the Philippines. So Maribel and her children were forced to stay in shelters and relatives’ homes. Just when Maribel thought it couldn’t get worse, fallout from COVID-19 complicated matters. Her hope for rebuilding suddenly came to a halt.
“How can we survive if no one helps us?” Maribel worried. “I was afraid we wouldn’t have a house again. I was scared for my kids.”
For Marilou, Maribel’s oldest daughter, the loss of her father and her home also hit hard. “I lost all hope, because I can’t really build a house for my family,” the young girl said. “Only my dad was strong enough to build one for us.”
But your love was already traveling to Maribel’s family! Thanks to our generous partners, Operation Blessing teams first provided Maribel with food bags full of rice and other groceries to feed her family.
Two weeks later, they arrived again with more food supplies and a life-changing message: Operation Blessing partners were making it possible to build a new home for Maribel and her children.
“I remember telling my kids that we should pray,” Maribel said. “I thank the Lord for hearing our prayers! He sent us all the help we needed.”
In addition to a home, your kindness provided pigs for Maribel to raise and sell as income. You surrounded Maribel and her children when they felt completely alone.
Your love has galvanized this young widow and other disaster victims in the Philippines to carry on for their children. Thank you!
Experience Christmas In Japan With This FREE Origami Snowflake Project
It’s Christmas time in Japan! Follow along with Operation Blessing partners as we make a Japanese origami snowflake.
Similarly, you can find Christmas traditions all over the world. These holiday traditions come from just about every corner of the globe, from North America to the Far East. When it comes to Japan, origami is a great way to celebrate the holidays with their unique cultural art form.
Christmas In Japan And Origami Decorations
Origami is a tradition with origins in the Far East. The meticulous art of folding and manipulating paper to create designs has become a tradition in the “Land of the Rising Sun.” Bring to this elegant craft the joy of Christmas and you have a new way to celebrate the holiday. Come learn how to make origami snowflakes and create a beautiful ornament or holiday decoration.
Origami Snowflakes
Now it is time to immerse yourself in this holiday craft project. There are a couple of ways you can do this. One way is to follow along with this simple video. You can do this here at the Operation Blessing website or directly on the YouTube platform. One advantage of using the video is you can pause the screen as you complete different steps. This allows you to work at your own pace without the pressure of having to keep up.
If you click over to YouTube you can use the time stamp as well. The time stamp has all the steps in an easy clickable format. At any time you can click on any part of the time stamp and go to that part of the video. Before you know it you are making Origami snowflakes inspired by Christmas in Japan.
Time Stamp For Origami Snowflake Project
Here are the different steps broken out by when they occur in the video
00:00:09 First Steps: Paper
00:00:25 First Folds
00:00:37 Top Right Corner
00:00:49 Top Left Corner
00:00:55 Fold Triangle Corners
00:01:12 Folding Sides To Center
00:01:26 Folding Up And Left
00:01:37 Folding bottom Corners
00:01:47 Fold Over
00:01:53 Folding Backwards
00:01:57 Then Flip
00:01:59 Make A Tail
00:02:06 Fold Tail In Half
00:02:13 Repeat 5X
00:02:25 Insert Tail Into Pocket
00:02:31 Connect The Pieces
Works Cited
“History of Origami – How Origami Came About.” Origami-Instructions.com, 2019, www.origami-instructions.com/history-of-origami.html.
NIGERIA – Chief Daniel’s community of Karara in remote Nigeria depended on three water sources, none of them adequate, until friends like you came along with clean water solutions in Africa.
They had a shallow, unreliable well nearby with a hand pump that often broke down. Then there was an open, unclean well that disappeared during the dry season. And finally, a dirty stream lay a half mile away that, not surprisingly, also dried up at certain times of the year.
Not only did the people of Karara have a hard time finding water to drink, the lack of water affected their cooking, cleaning, health, hygiene, and farming, as well. Sometimes, they suffered from typhoid, malaria, and other mosquito and water-borne illnesses. This was simply life for over 100 residents in Chief Daniel’s community.
However, we’re happy to report that friends like you heard about their difficult situation and reached out to bless the village of Karara with clean water solutions!
A New Deep Water Well In Nigeria
Our water experts drilled a new deep-water well for these precious people. We tested the water—to ensure that it’s safe for the residents to drink—and provided resources to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and spreading disease. Then we trained a local team to maintain the well and gave them the tools they would need. Finally, we offered vital handwashing and hygiene training to the whole community.
As you can see from their smiling faces, the people of Karara were thrilled to dedicate their new well and took great joy in the refreshing water. Chief Daniel said, “Glory, honor and praise be to the Most High God who made this day a reality in the life of the Karara community. Permit me to express our gratitude to you for counting us worthy to benefit from this great humanitarian service.”
And we thank YOU for giving life around the world through Operation Blessing’s clean water solutions in Africa!
HONDURAS – Meet Yoselin, a sweet 8-year-old girl from San Juan, Honduras. She is being raised by her grandmother, and the two enjoy doing almost everything together. What they don’t enjoy is the difficult and dangerous daily trek to fetch water.
But when Yoselin’s grandmother became too old to make the treacherous journey, Yoselin had to go alone. She said, “Walking there is dangerous. You fall because there are stones, and when it rains there is mud,” she told Operation Blessing staff. “Once a child tripped and hurt his head because he slipped and fell on a stone. I’m scared to go there alone, because what if something like this happened to me?”
Even so, Yoselin and all the other residents of San Juan had to walk through the mountains every day to access an improvised cistern that served as their water source. Making matters worse, the water they worked so hard to collect was not even clean. Yoselin and her grandmother would use a blanket to strain it. While this helped remove dirt and mud, it didn’t make the water safe to drink. “I got a bad stomachache and it wouldn’t go away,” Yoselin said.
After suffering so much pain, Yoselin feared drinking the water again, but she had no choice. “I didn’t even want to see that water. I was thirsty but I didn’t want to drink it. I was afraid I might get sick again,” Yoselin remembered.
The Need For Clean Water
Desperate for help and the blessing of clean water, community leaders in San Juan reached out to Operation Blessing. Our staff visited San Juan. After seeing the need, over 100 faithful Operation Blessing supporters like you enthusiastically stepped up to crowdfund a new water system for San Juan, raising the $20,000 required.
One day while at the store in town, Yoselin heard two men talking about the new water project. Overjoyed, Yoselin ran home to tell her grandmother the happy news. “I was moved by the news because I knew that now I was going to drink clean water,” she said.
Soon construction was underway with the help of community members and friends like you. The project began with a catchment system and dam up the mountain, along with nearly three and a half miles of pipeline. The system carried the water to a new 15,000-gallon storage tank where it is filtered and chlorinated. From there, another four-mile-long distribution network brings clean water to over 150 homes in the community—including Yoselin’s.
“I no longer had to drink dirty water,” she exclaimed. “Lord, thank You very much!”
Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who reach out to thirsty people with a blessing of clean water around the world.
Thank you for your generous support! We hope you enjoy your beautiful handmade ornament. Crafted by talented artisans, this amazing piece has made its way from Peru all the way to your Christmas tree. Your support blessed the very hands that made your ornament! Through your love, Operation Blessing held artisan training workshops in the community of Manacamiri. Here, many artisans learned new techniques and skills to help take their craftwork businesses to the next level. The workshops also led to community-wide reforestation efforts to replenish the supply of trees used to create hand-carved figurines and bowls. Because of your amazing support, the artisans of Manacamiri in Peru have been blessed immensely. Watch this video to learn even more about the artisan training workshops in Peru!
LOUISIANA – This year hurricanes battered the Gulf Coast once again. However, your faithful love and support is working hand in hand with our Hurricane Ida disaster volunteers to reach out to victims during these difficult times.
When Hurricane Ida struck Louisiana with winds nearing category 5 force, it wreaked havoc in towns like Houma, La. Roofs were torn off, trees strewn everywhere, houses soaked. Over a million people found themselves without power. Thankfully, few lost their lives in the storm. But the toll on the lives of individuals whose towns and homes were devastated was steep.
That’s when your love showed up to provide food, water, cleaning supplies, and volunteer help!
Elderly widow Dorothy survived the terror of the storm. She listened to the roof ripping off and watched water pouring through her ceiling. But you sent her hope and comfort through vital aid and Hurricane Ida disaster volunteer assistance to help restore her home. Incredibly grateful, Dorothy said, “In all this mess are blessings. Blessings in the people that are helping, and we appreciate it so much.”
Support And Help Through Hurricane Ida Disaster Volunteers
A recent retiree named Kenneth, heard about Operation Blessing’s disaster recovery team at a local distribution of free food and supplies. His property was heavily damaged, but our volunteers helped him gut the home and clean the yard. Together, they searched for whatever belongings could be salvaged. Kenneth teared up as he spoke about the support he received.
“It’s great to have people in this world who help people who are in need,” he said. “I think the Lord heard my prayers, and he answered with these great people… What they did today—it’s a miracle.”
Those are just a few beautiful examples of how your compassion worked hand in hand with the many volunteers who gave of their time to help hurricane victims. Volunteers like David.
David, a father of 7 and contractor from Florida, learned about our volunteer work through Facebook. He rounded up three of his sons, Remington (21), Maverick (19), and Malachi (11), and they headed to Houma to help. As a family, they believe that life is about investing in people and giving back to the community. According to David, “Jesus just said to love unconditionally, and that’s why we’re here.”
A Family Volunteers Together
As a father, David felt so blessed by this opportunity to not only help others, but to model servanthood to his sons as well. He said it’s about “training up that new generation, a new army.” Together, they worked hard, cutting up fallen trees and removing debris from yards.
“Being here with Operation Blessing—with their volunteers and their staff—has just been a highlight,” David said.
And he had a special message for you. “I know some of you can’t come into the field, but you can sow a seed with Operation Blessing. You can give your financial support so people that can come… and be the hands and feet because of your donations. When you give to Operation Blessing, you truly are giving to an organization who is loving unconditionally.”
Thank you for partnering with Operation Blessing and our dedicated volunteers to bless the hurting in Louisiana!
KENYA – The smiles on Violet and her grandmother’s faces say it all! When we arrived at her grandmother’s house, even before she greeted us, her grandmother lifted up her hands towards heaven and said an emotional prayer right there in the middle of the floor. Her precious granddaughter and other girls can stay in school. What a great way to honor the upcoming International Day of the Girl!
Violet’s grandmother kept giving thanks to God over and over. She knows too well just what it means for Violet to receive a supply of feminine hygiene products to last her a whole year. Her grandmother also knows that is one burden off her feeble shoulders.
For a whole year, young Violet will not have to worry about missing class because she lacks hygiene supplies, thanks to Operation Blessing’s recent distribution in her area. Nor will her elderly grandmother have to worry about finding the funds to provide them.
15-year-old Violet is doing well in primary school, but nonetheless, without help from friends like you, her future could have been in jeopardy.
When her father died two years ago, her mother was forced to move to the city to look for work so she could support Violet and her four siblings who now live with their grandmother. Her mother earns a meagre wage that can’t supply for all of the family’s needs. She sends all the help she can to Violet’s grandmother, and they supplement the income by growing vegetables at home, but sometimes there’s simply not enough to buy Violet hygiene supplies when she needs them. Sadly, these important supplies are bottom of the list—almost a luxury for this struggling family.
When they can’t afford feminine hygiene supplies, Violet has to miss class and stay home. It also means everyone in the class knows why she misses school. This ends up affecting her class performance and her self-esteem.
“Sometimes I am forced to miss school and stay at home,” she said. “I feel so bad because my classmates continue to learn, and I have to play catch up. But I have no choice,” she said sadly.
Her grandmother added, “Even when she stays at home, she has to use old rags, and that’s not good for her. It makes me so sad.”
Blessings for Kenyan Schoolgirls
However, because friends like you provided supplies to Violet and many other girls in her area, these girls will no longer miss school due each month, giving them a better chance at success and a brighter future.
“I just want to say a big thank you to Operation Blessing for this gift. I feel like it’s Christmas already! Now I have enough pads for a whole year! Thank you and may God bless you all!” beams Violet.
For less than $10, you can supply a Kenyan girl with enough feminine hygiene products to keep her in school for a whole year too. As International Day of the Girl approaches, let’s work together to put an end to this very solvable problem at ob.org/helpgirls
