OPERATION BLESS ING INTERNATIONALJUNE 2015

Blessingsoperationblessing.org

Standing With the Persecuted

and Oppressed Operation Blessing partners aid families facing

persecution for their faith and the oppression of poverty around the world

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A Message from THE PRESIDENT

Bill visits a region in Africa where Christians fled under heavy fire that created craters like the one seen here.

In ancient times, Christians were often martyred as "punishment" for believing in Christ. Today, believers in an ever-increasing number of places are being oppressed, persecuted and even killed — just because they are followers of Christ.

Coliseums of old have been replaced by Internet cafés where computer screens display horrific atrocities. Christian men ruthlessly killed, while off camera, their wives and daughters are raped and enslaved because they are followers of Jesus.

Whether it's ISIS decapitating kneeling men in Iraq; Boko Haram kidnapping schoolgirls in Nigeria; al-Shabaab attacking a university campus in Kenya; Abu Sayyaf decapitating missionaries in the Philippines; or the Taliban blowing up churches filled with worshipers in Pakistan — the message is the same: "Convert to Islam or die."

As we witness these nightmares on the evening news, we want to do something to help. But how can we reach out to persecuted believers? One way is to support Operation Blessing teams as they travel to these dangerous places to offer support to local churches that are nurturing victims and easing their pain.

Our current efforts to help oppressed and persecuted Christians include furnishing meals and financial support for the families of those killed in recent Taliban suicide attacks on churches in Pakistan; security, supplies and new bathroom facilities for Nigerian girls attending school despite renewed threats of kidnapping by Boko Haram; furnishing blankets, fresh produce and cook stoves to families in Northern Iraq who have fled from ISIS; vocational training and safe water wells for terrorized villagers in Mindanao, Philippines.

These efforts are happening now. With your increased support, we can do even more for oppressed believers. Recently we even started a project in Cuba providing funds to help a network of pastors focused on helping believers start small businesses and break the chains of poverty and oppression. Please consider making a donation to help us do even more.

May God bless you,

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A Message from THE PRESIDENT 4 Keeping Karla Safe Operation Blessing installs a safe water system that brings joy to a little girl and her impoverished community

6 A Joy to Help Operation Blessing partners help deliver food and supplies to families in need across America

12 Club Bless Join our monthly giving program and get a special gift!

13 Are You Prepared? Protect your family by using OBI’s 7-Day Family Disaster Planning Guide

14 Hope for Precious Hands A little girl from Peru receives the life-changing gift of a free surgery

Inside this issue Cover PAGE 8

Standing With the Persecuted and Oppressed Operation Blessing partners aid families facing persecution for their faith and the oppression of poverty

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HONDURAS

Keeping Karla Safe

During the summer, while so many kids around the world are sleeping in and going to the pool, ten-year-old Karla would wake up at 3:30 each morning so she could help her mother

collect water. Karla and her mother would leave while it was still dark, avoiding

the intense heat that would often dry up the well during the day. Residents in Karla’s community have relied on the handmade

artesian well for the last 40 years, but it is unreliable and unsafe, with many members of the community contracting waterborne ill-nesses, even cholera, over the years from the contaminated water.

Operation Blessing installs a safe water system that brings joy to a little girl and

her impoverished community

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And though Karla was often sick from drinking the water, her biggest fear was the hike they had to make to retrieve it.

During the night she would hear coyotes howling in the distance and had heard stories from others in her vil-lage that had lost livestock to a coyote attack.

“I was really scared a coyote would come and take me,” Karla told OBI staff.

Operation Blessing saw the need for a safe and dependable water source for Karla and her community and began working on a solution. In three months, OB Honduras had installed a 3,000 gallon tank and created a network of pipes that allows each home in the village to

have its own tap. A chlorine system was also installed to provide safe water and eliminate the threat of waterborne illness in the community.

Karla no longer has to wake up so very early and suffer the fear of coyotes each morning — she can simply use the tap in her own home to get all the safe and refreshing water she needs.

“Operation Blessing, thank you very much for putting water in our house,” Karla said, “God bless!” ◆

Keeping Karla Safe

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PENNSYLVANIA

A JOY TO HELP

Melissa and her husband, Mike, had run a successful real estate appraisal business for more than a decade — earning enough to provide for their family and afford the specialized diet their son,

Ian, required.But then Mike started showing signs of the early stages of dementia,

and he could no longer help with the business. Matters got worse when

Operation Blessing partners help deliver food and supplies to families

in need across America

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a downturn in the economy meant fewer appraisals were needed. As their busi-ness steadily declined, Melissa searched for a different job. She final-ly found one, serving at a local diner.

The income wasn’t nearly enough to provide for the family, purchase the healthy foods 12-year-old Ian needed because of his intestinal disorder, and pay for Mike’s mounting medical bills. Melissa worried they would either be forced to go without food or lose their home.

Then one of Melissa’s coworkers told her about a local Operation Blessing-supported food pantry. She hesitated to ask for help but knew that

her family needed the food in order to make ends meet.

At the food pan-try, Melissa received enough food for a whole month — even

better, the food was wholesome enough for even Ian’s strict diet.“They have been a lifesaver in a lot of ways,” Melissa said. “These people

make you feel that it’s a gift and that it’s a joy to help. They fill your spirit.”Operation Blessing delivers 40,000 to 70,000 pounds of food and relief

to the food pantry in Pennsylvania every month, helping serve the 1,500 families that seek help there.

“When our folks see the Operation Blessing truck pull in there’s just a lot of excitement,” said Gary Bellis, founder of the food pantry. “We know [you bring] good product that we can distribute to so many people in need.” ◆

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —“These people make you feel

that it’s a gift and that it’s a joy to help. They fill your spirit.”

– Melissa— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

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Galatians 6:10 says “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” The work Operation Blessing does to aid the persecuted and oppressed is the ultimate

example of how partners like you are working with churches to bless the poor, the desperate and the suffering around the world — especially the persecuted.

IRAQ: Over a million people have fled their homes to escape per-secution and violence at the hand of Islamic militant group ISIS. Finding shelter in makeshift camps, these families are now living day by day — relying on the generosity of others for even the most basic necessities like food and water.

Thanks to generous Operation Blessing part-ners, OBI teams have been responding to the crisis in Northern Iraq, feeding thousands of displaced Christians and other minorities with distribu-tions of food staples such as rice, noodles, tea, beans,

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Operation Blessing partners aid families facing persecution for their faith and the oppression of poverty around the world

WORLDWIDE

STANDING WITH THE PERSECUTED AND 0PPRESSED

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lentils, powdered milk and more. Teams also delivered cook stoves, blankets, diapers and truckloads of critical supplies.

“These Iraqi Christians are some of the most beautiful and loving people I have ever met,” said David Darg, Operation Blessing’s vice president of international operations. “They have gone through unimagi-

nable persecution and are now living in very tough conditions. To be here providing them food and essential relief supplies and letting them know they are not alone is such a privilege.”

TURKEY: Natalia and her family wanted to remain in their home in Syria, but as ISIS militants advanced and fighting intensified, they knew that as Christians they would not be safe remaining there for long.

“There was not another option for us,” Natalia said, “just leave Syria or die.”

So Natalia and her husband packed up their three children, ages 10 months to eight years, and fled. They crossed the bor-der into Turkey, where they will remain until they are able to find refuge in another nation. Meanwhile, by law they are unable to work in Turkey.

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STANDING WITH THE PERSECUTED AND 0PPRESSED

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With no jobs, no income and sometimes no food, the family is struggling to survive.

Operation Blessing teams were able to deliver much-needed supplies to Syrian refugees in Turkey, including food, hygiene items, medicine and more. Operation Blessing part-

ners are also helping make it possible for refugee children to attend an improvised school by provid-ing school supplies and a feeding program.

PAKISTAN: Six-year-old Salman and his younger siblings were orphaned overnight when his parents were martyred by an angry mob in Pakistan.

Accused of blasphemy, the Christian couple was severely beaten until uncon-scious and then thrown into a brick kiln and burned. Authorities were unable to stop violence due to the massive size of the mob.

A few months later, suicide bombers simulta-neously attacked families gathering to worship at two Christian churches in the Pakistani city of Lahore — killing more than 15 people and injuring dozens.

Operation Blessing teams responded with emergency aid for families impacted by both tragedies,

Five-year-old George receives school supplies so he can con-tinue his studies while living in a refugee camp in Turkey.

OBI partner staff deliver supplies to six-year-old Salman’s family after his parents were martyred for their faith.

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including food provisions for the victims’ families and medical assistance for the injured. Teams have also been working with the Christian com-munity in Pakistan by sponsoring much-needed skills training programs for oppressed young women.

UKRAINE: Natasha’s brothers heard a woman’s cry for help, but the moment they left the safety of their shelter in search of her, another

bomb hit. Two of the broth-ers died, a third narrowly escaped with his life.

With no extended family to take them in, they had stayed in their hometown helping oth-ers too old or too poor to flee the violence. “When I

found my two brothers bodies around the hole where the bomb exploded, I was re-ally scared,” Natasha said. “It changed everything,”

Natasha and her family, including the three little ones now orphaned, fled. They found refuge in Slovyansk with other internally displaced persons (IDPs).

But with no income, these families have no way to purchase food and other supplies. Children like four-year-old Nikita, Natasha’s orphaned niece, are left to go hungry as they wait for the conflict to end.

Operation Blessing teams provided critical relief supplies to these families, including food staples, baby formula, diapers and even warm bread. The conflict in Ukraine may have no clear end in sight, but thanks to Operation Blessing partners, families in need are receiving the aid they desperately need. ◆

Bless the oppressed and persecuted today, visit ob.org to learn more.

Natasha’s family receives much-needed sup-

plies in an IDP camp after they fled their

hometown when the conflict took the lives

of two of her brothers.

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Share God’s Blessings

Join Club Bless — our monthly giving program — and get a special gift!With your monthly gift of

$25 or more, you’ll receive this original photograph signed by award-winning photographer Tony Cece, with an easel so you can display the image as a testament to your heart for the hurting.

– CLUB BLESS – Monthly

President’s Circle $500

Bless-The-Greatest-Need 250

Bless-A-Village 100

Bless-A-Family 50

Bless-A-Life 25

Join Club Bless

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Hurricane season officially began June 1: Are you prepared?Preparedness for disasters is critical to the safety of

our family, friends and loved ones. Without a preparedness plan, our families and communities are left vulnerable to devastation, disaster, injury and even death.

Our 7-Day Family Disaster Planning Guide can help you plan, prepare and protect your family against the threat posed by hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters — it even includes a checklist for what to pack in your emergency go kit and recipes for no-cook meals.

Visit ob.org/disaster-relief to get your free planning guide today!

Hurricane Season: Are You Prepared?

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PERU

Mommy, why are my fingers like this?” little Melani would ask. Her mother Guadalupe struggled to answer each time, unsure why her five-year-old daughter had been

born with Syndactyly, a condition where two or more digits are fused together.

Because of her webbed fingers, Melani had trouble do-ing certain tasks and was often teased and called names by the children at school. Guadalupe was in tears when she told Operation Blessing staff how Melani would ask her to cut her hands with a razor blade so she could freely move her fingers.

“She tells me she wants to become a doctor to help chil-dren that have hands and feet like hers,” said Guadalupe, proud of her daughter’s compassionate heart but feeling powerless to help make little Melani’s dream come true.

She had searched for many years for a solution

A little girl from Peru receives the life-changing gift of a free surgery

Hope for Precious Hands

“She tells me she wants to become a doctor to help

children that have hands and feet like hers,”

said Guadalupe.

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to Melani’s problem, but as a single mother working tirelessly to provide for Melani and her siblings, she couldn’t even afford the transportation costs from their small village to the hospital.

When Operation Blessing learned of little Melani’s situation, a team took her to see a specialist and arranged for her to have the surgery she needed at no cost to her family. Now, Melani will be able to use her fingers and hands to their full potential and chase her dream of becoming a doctor. ◆

Hope for Precious Hands

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Copyright © 2015 by Operation Blessing International, P.O. Box 2636, Virginia Beach, VA 23450. For more information, call (800) 730-2537 or visit our website at operationblessing.org

ForchildrenlikeMusa,thehottestmonths arealsothedeadliest.Summertime is when vulnerable children around the world need help most due to extreme temperatures, crop failures, drought, famine, disease and other deadly threats.

Will you help children survive the summer? Visit ob.org/DangersOfSummer