Still Sending Help and Hope to Hurricane Michael Victims

OB friends are still sending help and hope to this Hurricane Michael victim in Florida.

FLORIDA – Ten months after Hurricane Michael struck the Florida panhandle, Mexico Beach is still a shadow of its former self. As you drive down the deserted streets of the once-sought-after resort town, empty lot after empty lot remind you that, less than a year ago, the category 5 storm came ashore and relentlessly swept away homes along the coast.

Many families are still struggling in the aftermath of this destructive storm. But thanks to your support, Operation Blessing volunteers have returned to the area and recently began work on the Peterson’s house in Mexico Beach.

Tragedy in Mexico Beach, Florida

The Peterson’s lived just a few blocks from the gulf. They would have stayed for the hurricane. But thankfully, their grandson begged them to evacuate, and they agreed.

They returned a few days later with a generator and supplies to a scene of total devastation. The house stunk like an outhouse. The roof had collapsed, and their possessions were destroyed. Marie said, “Everyone was walking around in a daze, like, who do you help first.”

In many ways, the following months have been a continuation of that nightmare. With heavy hearts, they dragged all their ruined belongings to a dumpster. They eventually stripped the house to get rid of the mold that set in from all the water damage. Although they’ve enjoyed visits with their grandchildren, much of their time has been spent without heat, air conditioning, walls, flooring and furniture.

The couple’s insurance company helped them replace the roof and siding of their home, but the inside has been gutted down to the studs for the last ten months. Marie said, “These are just material things, but it’s the stress of having to cope with it.”

In addition to the other tragedies they’ve faced, Marie suffers with Parkinson’s disease, and Herman has dealt with heat stroke while attempting repairs. After so many long months, they were running out of hope of ever having their house back to normal.

Operation Blessing Makes a Difference for Hurricane Victims

Then they had a “chance” encounter with an Operation Blessing employee at an unrelated service project after a tornado in Alabama. They shared their story, and we knew that because of support from Operation Blessing friends like you, we could make a huge difference for this family. Marie said she believes, “The Lord put us all there together.”

Marie wept and still seemed incredibly overwhelmed as we arrived at her home. OB volunteers are now busy installing new drywall, ceilings, insulation, and flooring to get the Petersons back into a real home. Marie said, “I’ll have walls. I’ll be able to look up and see a ceiling. I won’t be sweeping concrete! I want to tell you how grateful I am for your sacrifice and service!”

Thank you for making this and other ongoing disaster relief possible in Mexico Beach, around the U.S., and across the globe! Please give a special gift to help disaster victims today.

In Memory of John Chappell

John Wade Chappell passed away peacefully on July 25, 2019 in his home in Norfolk, VA at the age of 80. He is survived by his wife, Catherine Mussat Chappell; daughter, Victoria Chappell Harvey and her husband, David Harvey III; brother, Donald Ellsworth Chappell; his wife, Wendy Weiler Chappell; and their daughter, Caroline Chappell Hazarian.

John was born in Norfolk, VA on February 22, 1939 and grew up in Chesapeake, VA where he graduated from Oscar Smith High School in 1957. He earned a B.S. from The University of Virginia in 1961. After graduating, John joined the U.S. Army and attained the rank of Captain.

John began his career in New York at The Chase Manhattan Bank. After leaving Chase, he advanced his career at Bache, Halsey, Stuart, and Co.; Cross & Brown Co.; Christian Broadcasting Network; Paine Webber; and Morgan Stanley. He specialized in investment banking focusing on real estate. For the past 13 years John was a Senior Portfolio Manager at Wellington Shields and Co., LLC.

John was passionate about helping others and accomplished this through The Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem and Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club. He was instrumental in forming The Committee to Save St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City in the late 1970s.

John gave back to the community he loved by serving as a Commissioner for the Transportation Safety Commission and South Norfolk Revitalization Commission for the City of Chesapeake. He also served as Transportation Chairman for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.

John was a member of the St. George’s Society of New York, the South Norfolk Ruritan Club, the Atlantic Masonic Lodge #2 AF&AM, and the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club.

A private family burial will take place at Rosewood Memorial Park. A celebration of life memorial service will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Norfolk, VA on August 26, 2019 at 2 p.m. where John has been a long-time and devoted member. In lieu of flowers an account has been formed with Operation Blessing’s Living Water Program in John’s honor to help those without access to clean water.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

As a memorial to John, you can help bless men, women, and children with the priceless gift of clean water, a gift that has the power to change lives. Click here to make an online donation in honor of John’s life today. Thank you for your compassion to bless the hurting.

You’re Blessing Lives in Extreme Ways

This family's tragedy turned to triumph with an Extreme Blessing Home Makeover.

NORTH CAROLINA – Divya, Terry, and their 12-year-old son lived through the heartache of seeing their home in Lumberton, N.C., destroyed not once, but twice by hurricane flooding. But thanks to The Home Depot Foundation and Operation Blessing supporters like you, their tragedy turned to triumph. They received an extreme home makeover they never imagined.

Divya grew up in Lumberton, and she received her grandmother’s house when she passed away. That place was very special to her and always takes her back to her childhood. She said simply, “It’s home.” So when Hurricane Matthew struck in 2016, the family decided to repair their home and stay put.

They felt certain that Matthew had been a “once in a hundred years storm.” They worked hard to get their home back into shape. Meanwhile, Divya continued working at her small salon in town, and Terry as a corrections officer. Both view their jobs as ministries. Divya said about her husband, “He wants to protect and serve.”

Hurricane Florence Wreaks Havoc

When Hurricane Florence headed their way last year, they heeded the warnings to get to higher ground to make sure they wouldn’t get trapped. And they took all the precautions they could to protect their house.

It wasn’t until after the worst of the storm, when a nearby river crested later that week, that tragedy struck for a second time. Divya experienced the heartache of seeing her home destroyed with contaminated water and mold once again. She said, “For lack of a better word, it’s a disaster… I was kind of numb. You don’t want it to be true.”

Facing the devastating floods for the second time proved truly challenging for the family. But they managed to maintain their faith. In the midst of it all Divya quoted Romans 8:28: “‘All things work together for the good of those who love the Lord.’ So that’s where I’m finding peace.”

As Operation Blessing disaster relief volunteers showed up on the scene to help remove soggy flooring, molding sheet rock, and damaged items from the home, matters began to look up for the family. Little did they suspect the relief they received at that time was just the beginning of the blessings in store!

An Extreme Home Makeover Blessing

On November 27th the couple were given the chance to attend The Tonight Show. But they had no idea the surprise waiting for them there. Jimmy Fallon asked them to stand and share a little about their story. Then, to their shock, he announced that The Home Depot Foundation and Operation Blessing had a huge surprise in store for their family.

Operation Blessing helped the family find a new home in a safer area away from flooding. Then Home Depot and Operation Blessing volunteers teams completely renovated it. They painted and provided new flooring and kitchen cabinets. They filled the house with new furnishings and beautifully landscaped the yard. The team also thoughtfully decorated to make the house feel like a home to the family.

Finally, the Extreme Blessing Home Makeover was ready for the big reveal. The family, who hadn’t seen any of the progress being made, was brought to their renovated home unsure what to expect. Then, OB semi-trucks pulled away. They revealed the new home lined with smiling, cheering volunteers waving signs and holding brightly colored balloons. It was a welcome home unlike any other.

The family’s expressions were priceless as they toured their house with its fresh paint, new furnishings, and fully renovated kitchen. Divya said, “It just felt like home when we entered the door. This is a miracle, because now we feel safe.”

Because of you, their tragedy has turned to triumph and this family with servants’ hearts can finally see purpose in it all. “To the donors and sponsors of Operation Blessing,” Divya said, “thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

Fighting Hunger Today and for the Future

WORLDWIDE – According to the United Nations, one in nine people in the world don’t have enough food. And a lack of proper nutrition causes nearly half the deaths in children less than five years old. Those are astounding statistics. It’s clear our world is facing a massive hunger crisis.

But as a supporter of Operation Blessing, you can feel confident that you’re fighting hunger all around the world all throughout the year. In each region and situation, OB staff carefully look at the surrounding issues to choose the solution that will provide the most impact.

Because of this, not only are you helping hungry children, families and individuals with their urgent needs for food and nutrition, you are also helping them in lasting ways that will make a difference long into the future! Here are a few of the ways you are fighting hunger.

You Are Fighting Hunger

Famine Relief

When famine and drought strike vulnerable areas like Kenya and South Sudan, many are robbed not only of food for their tables but also of their income opportunities. Thanks to you, Operation Blessing rushes to the scene to provide immediate relief to the suffering and malnourished.

Agricultural & Farming Programs

In parts of Latin America and Africa, Operation Blessing supporters supply villages and schools with agricultural training, irrigations systems, chicken coops, and farm animals. These offer struggling families and individuals a chance to grow food for their families long into the future and sell the excess to better provide for needs like education and medical expenses.

Nutritional Support

Many children around the world lack the nutrients they need to grow and thrive such as protein and iron. In Burundi, you supply a feeding program for young children in partnership with a local hospital. And through our nutrition programs, you give school children in places like Kenya and Peru the extra support they need. Not only do you supply supplements and nutritious school meals, but in parts of Latin America you also offer cooking classes to teach mothers how to cook healthier for years to come.

Disaster and Crisis Relief

When crisis and natural disaster strikes, basic needs like food, hygiene supplies, and clean water often go unmet. But you send support to disaster victims in dire circumstances. Through hot meals following hurricanes in the U.S. and floods in Mexico; hamburgers for Venezuelan refugees; and the distribution of nonperishable food supplies for earthquake and volcano victims in Guatemala, you help provide relief during the darkest times of crisis and disaster.

Business and Livelihood Support

One of the best methods for fighting hunger 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, training in cosmetology or sewing for women in Pakistan, or one of the many other opportunities available, you are helping families to earn more income to consistently provide food for their children.

A Hunger Strike Force semi-truck is fighting hunger by delivering food to hungry Americans.

U.S. Hunger Strike Force

In the U.S., even many working families have a difficult time making ends meet. You bless them by making possible the distribution of millions of pounds worth of free 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.

Summer Feeding Program

Here in America, many children depend on free school breakfasts and lunches to get the nutrition they desperately need. These same children often go without food on the weekends and during school breaks. But caring friends like you are making a real difference through Operation Blessing’s U.S. summer feeding program.

Anita’s Angels – Dayton Tornado Relief

Single father, Juan, in his old dilapidated home.

OHIO – Anita Ellis, a 73-year-old retired grandma from Dayton, Ohio, faced quite a traumatic situation the night an EF-4 tornado hit her home. But with God’s help and a few angels along the way, she’s getting through it.

On that night, she had no idea the tornado was on top of her. The only reason she woke up was the sound of breaking glass. That sound – the glass from her next-door neighbor’s car windshield being smashed by the tornado – may have saved her life.

Moments after she got up, a tree came crashing through her roof, right over her bed. The place she’d slept just moments before now lay covered by tree branches and piles of debris. Anita knows that the Lord saved her. Had it not been for the His strong right hand holding her securely, she would have been in that bed when the tree came crashing down, and she might not be alive right now.

The Lord saved Anita, but her home didn’t fare so well. She still faced the task of picking up the pieces after the storm. Even though her insurance would cover the house, she had a decimated shed and piles of debris to cope with. “It’s things I could not do,” Anita said. “I’ve had two back surgeries, arm surgery, hand surgery. I can’t do it like I used to do.”

But thanks to you, Operation Blessing was on the scene providing disaster relief! A few days earlier we helped her daughter Nicole with damage she received from the tornado. That’s when Nicole told us about her mom, Anita. We met Anita and promised to come back and help her too.

Our volunteers showed up and started by praying with Anita, and lifting her spirits. They took the time to listen to her and show her the love of Christ. Then they got to work: hauling off debris, chain sawing that broken-down shed, and helping Anita sort through her belongings. They even found an old picture of Anita from high school days. They were so happy when they found it. The volunteers laughed and told her she looked like a model.

“They were like angels,” Anita said. “It was like I’d known ‘em forever. They’re God’s people.” She also said, “Please donate. They need it so they can bless others, like me. I thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart.”

Without your support, we couldn’t continue to help grandmas like Anita. Thank you for your prayers and gifts, and for supplying Anita’s angels. Please continue to help Operation Blessing and our efforts here in Dayton, Ohio.

Love in Physical Form

Wilson received a life-changing surgery for his cleft lip.

WORLDWIDE – Sometimes love takes on a physical form. Whether through a nurse’s tender touch, a doctor’s lifesaving intervention, a volunteer’s nurturing care, or a bottle of vital medicine, you show your love to the world’s most vulnerable every single day. By partnering with Operation Blessing, you make sure that our many medical programs keep blessing those in need. When they need it most. Thank you!

Life-Changing Surgeries
Through cleft lip repairs that heal smiles, surgeries to restore eye sight, heart operations that save lives, and more, you are literally changing futures around the globe through life-changing surgeries.

Medical and Dental Brigades
In areas where health care isn’t readily available or affordable, you provide physical care through medical and dental brigades. These bring hope and healing to entire communities, enabling them to pursue a brighter and healthier future.

Community Health Workers
Your support allows Operation Blessing to train volunteer Community Health Workers to serve as front line health promoters in remote villages where medical care is hard to reach, bringing vital care and information to those in need.

Medicine and Supplies
When large corporations donate a wealth of medicines, medical supplies, and more, you help us collect, transport, and distribute these gifts. In this way we make the most of your generous support.

Disease Prevention
Often the best treatment is prevention. You provide classes in hygiene, health, dental care and nutrition, as well as health screenings for illnesses like cervical cancer and mosquito prevention supplies.

Finding Joy in the Storm of the Dayton Tornado

This mother and daughter found joy after the storms of the tornado in Dayton, Ohio.

OHIO, USA – When you have a 10-year-old daughter as joyful as Shiloh, it’s hard to feel down. Even if less than one week ago you narrowly escaped a devastating EF-4 tornado, only to be left with downed trees and mounds of debris strewn across your yard. Debris so thick you can hardly take a step without stumbling.

None of these things broke the spirit of Nicole, a 45-year-old single mom in Dayton, Ohio. The only thing that brought her to tears was when she talked about her daughter, Shiloh, and how much she loved her.

A Scary Night as Tornado Strikes

The night of the storm, rain fell hard and hail banged against the windows. Nicole was upstairs with Shiloh and her son, Jimmy. Their TV was turned off, and she didn’t hear any alerts come across her phone. But things sounded pretty bad and she started to grow concerned.

She got up to look out the window, and as soon as she did she was startled by a loud cracking noise. She had no clue what it was, but she knew it was bad. They hurried down to the basement together. Once they got down there the storm hit full force. “You could hear the transformers popping,” Nicole recalled. “It almost sounded like gunshots: pop, pop, pop, pop, pop.”

“We didn’t know how bad it was until we walked outside after it was over,” she said. Trees lined her lawn, many snapped in half and strewn in pieces across the ground. A massive blue spruce in the back yard was uprooted and laying on its side. Limbs from her neighbor’s trees had fallen all across her yard as well. The family couldn’t even get off their street because a huge tree blocked the entire road. It was a dead-end street, and that was the only way out.

Joy Comes in the Difficult Time

But, thanks to your support, Operation Blessing rushed in to help the community of Dayton with disaster aid. As our volunteers walked up to Nicole’s house you could see the relief wash over her face. Someone had come to her rescue. We prayed with her, encouraged her, and then got right to work. We took a chainsaw to those heavy limbs and hauled off the debris. By the time our volunteers finished, a giant wall of branches piled high on the edge of her front yard ready for pick up.

While we worked, Nicole told us her 72-year-old mother, who lives by herself, resides right down the street. Her house was also devastated by the storm. Our volunteers knew just what to do! They asked Nicole to get her mother so they could pray with her and find out how they can help. Nicole’s mother, Anita, will now have Operation Blessing come in to assist her as well!

“It made me tingle inside,” Nicole said, “because you’re just a group of people here to help. I’ve felt nothing but joy all day. This is the most normal I’ve felt in over a week. I’m so thankful.”

Thank you for your prayers and your support for Dayton, Ohio. Without you, moms like Nicole wouldn’t get the help they so desperately need.

Reaching Out to Virginia Beach Shooting Victims

A memorial to the victims of the Virginia Beach shooting.

VIRGINIA, USA – On Friday, May 31, 2019, in one of the deadliest workplace shootings in U.S. history, twelve members of the Virginia Beach community were shot and killed while at work in the Virginia Beach Municipal Center. Four others survived the Virginia Beach Shooting, and have been hospitalized.

The generally safe, friendly and tight-knit resort community of Virginia Beach is reeling in the aftermath. Mayor Bobby Dyer called this “The most devastating day in history” for Virginia Beach.

When tragedy strikes, it is so important to come alongside those in pain, and let them know they are not alone. Operation Blessing regularly helps in times of disaster and crisis here in the U.S. and around the world.

In response to the shooting, we raised money to directly help these victims in Virginia Beach. These donations will provide practical help, but perhaps even more importantly, they will let these precious people know that others love them and care deeply about this tragedy.

Thank you for giving generously. Please continue to pray for those who have lost a loved one, and the Virginia Beach community.

From the War Zone of the Dayton Tornado

A sign in the rubble of the Dayton Tornado saying, "Pray for us all."

From Operation Blessing’s U.S. Disaster Relief National Media Liaison, Justin Jenkins, in Ohio

“It looks like someone dropped a bomb in our city.”

As we slowly approached Troy Street, the flashing lights of police cars were shining off the vehicles in front of us. We drove past houses where the roofs were ripped off and debris was strewn across the road. Then we came to a stop in front of something that let me know we were exactly where we were supposed to be. There was a sign – a piece of mangled tin ripped off someone’s roof, cast among a pile of shattered tree branches – with these words scrawled across the surface in purple and blue marker, “Pray For Us All!”

Today, that is exactly what Operation Blessing is here to do. We are here to assess the situation and figure out how we can best meet people’s needs. We are here to meet with local pastors and local emergency management officials. We are here to learn how we can best partner with the local community and bring in resources to help these families in their most desperate times of need. Later, we will bring in supplies to meet physical needs. But today, we are here to meet families devastated by this disaster, pray for them, and show them the love of Christ.

Thank you for praying for these communities and our team as we prepare to deploy volunteers to the hard hit areas.
__________
Please consider sending a special gift to bless disaster victims today. And check out all the latest info on this war zone and the Dayton Tornado relief efforts.

Medicine For Ailing Venezuelan Refugees

CUCUTA, COLOMBIA – The humanitarian crisis in South America continues as thousands of Venezuelan refugees pour into Colombia. Many emigrants are making stops along the way because of the long journey. The Colombian slum of El Talento, located just across the Colombian border, is full of hungry, tired, and dehydrated Venezuelan travelers. Thanks to generous partners like you, Operation Blessing is bringing medical brigades to these refugees, including treatment from our staff of doctors and free medicine. To learn more about how you can help these crisis victims, visit ob.org/crisis.