OperatiOn Bless ing internatiOnaljune 2013

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Breaking Pots for Clean Water

A Honduran village celebrates the gift of clean water in “smashing” style

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One of the most impactful ways to improve health and quality of life for the poor is to make safe water easily available. In countries where safe water only comes in a bottle, families who cannot afford it live on the edge of disease

and disaster. Historically, we have provided safe water by drilling deep wells and installing hand

pumps. This is still a good option in some places, but there are an increasing number of countries where entire aquifers are contaminated, either by poor sanitation or improper well construction that allows surface contaminates to drain into pristine aquifers. Besides polluted aquifers, most lakes, rivers and streams (even in the U.S.) are contaminated with harmful bacteria.

The good news is that killing harmful bacteria is not costly. We have long utilized portable chlorination equipment in our global disaster relief efforts, and since the 2010 Haiti earthquake, have learned how to produce our own food-grade chlorine (sodium hypochlorite). We mix rock salt and water, creating a brine solution and then run the brine through an electrolysis process that converts brine into sodium hypochlorite. The resulting chlorine solution is very potent and only a bottle cap full is required to disinfect five gallons of water. On a larger scale, a gallon of our solution disinfects a 3,000 gallon truckload of otherwise unsafe water.

In Haiti, we produce enough chlorine to disinfect over 3 million gallons of water a day. In South Sudan, we installed a chlorine generator in the nation’s largest hospital. The cover story in this issue tells how Operation Blessing chlorinates water for a community tank in Honduras, providing the whole village with easy access to safe water.

Thank you for your support and prayers that allow Operation Blessing to use leading edge solutions to help more people in more effective ways.

May God bless you,

A Message from The PresidenTBill at the site of a water project in Haiti.

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4 Tortillas for glendy As her girls cried and shivered in the cold of a temporary shelter, Glendy could only pray for a miracle

6 Making an Impact Young volunteers help meet the needs of a California family fighting cancer

10 From Tragedy to Triumph Out of civil war and tragedy, a Liberian woman finds her calling to care for hundreds of orphans

13 Photo Prayer of The Day A picture is worth a thousand words —and in this case — a prayer. Sign up today to receive your free daily Photo Prayer!

14 Free from Pain Medical clinic offers free checkups and medicine to thousands of Cambodian villagers

Inside this issue Cover page 8

Breaking Pots for Clean WaterA Honduran village celebrates the gift of clean water in “smashing” style

page 6

A Message from The PresidenT

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Guatemala

glendy’s husband made her a promise — one that unfortunately he was not able to keep.

He promised to buy her a corn mill so she would be able to earn an income preparing tortillas at home while taking care of their three little girls.

But a few days later an earthquake struck their region of Guatemala — Glendy’s husband was killed and their home reduced to rubble.

As her girls cried and shivered in the cold of a temporary shelter, Glendy could only pray for a miracle.

“The words of her daughters, asking her to take them home caused Glendy immense pain,” said OBI staff, “and she could only tell them to put their trust in the Lord, as she saw no possibility of earning the money to

tortillas for glendy

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provide for their food, let alone a roof.”In the days following the earthquake, Operation Blessing teams

learned about Glendy’s situation and provided her with food, clothing, beds, blankets and an emergency kit to help them through.

Then, Operation Blessing teams offered her a special blessing — help rebuilding her damaged house, giving her family a new hope and a new home.

But perhaps the biggest blessing of all, one that would help get Glendy get back on her feet and provide for her three little ones, was OBI’s fulfill-ment of the promise her husband had made before

his death — the gift of a new corn mill. Now, Glendy is able to work from home and earn enough income to take care of her children and even send them to school. ◆

As her girls cried and shivered in

the cold of a temporary

shelter, Glendy could only pray

for a miracle

Thanks to a new corn mill, Glendy is now able to provide for her children.

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When Joyce was diagnosed with breast cancer — the same disease that took her mother’s life just last year — her world was quickly turned upside down.

Within a month of her diagnosis, Joyce had surgery and then began chemotherapy. But in that short time, the cancer had already impacted her family’s entire life, and one of their needs was immediately apparent — their yard was overgrown and neglected. Her husband, Jerry, simply

hadn’t had time to keep up with the work along with everything else going on.

So an Operation Blessing Impact Team — a group of young adult volunteers from the Atlanta-based Master’s Commission — teamed up with OBI’s partner organization Isaiah’s Rock and

began meeting needs right in their backyard.The flower beds and shrubbery were overgrown, and yard debris

littered the lawn. The OBI Impact Team, with help from Isaiah’s Rock,

MAkING an IMpACTCalIFORnIa

Young volunteers help meet the needs of a California family fighting cancer

Students give Jerry & Joyce’s yard a much needed makeover: mowing and cleaning up the yard, pruning overgrown trees, and even planting new flowers.

A team member gives a hug to Joyce who is now undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

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cleaned out the yard, giving it a much needed face-lift. They cleared debris, pruned the overgrown fruit trees, mowed the lawn, filled holes in the ground, added fresh mulch, and even planted new flowers.

“As soon as we arrived, we felt the warm hearts of the family,” said Tyree, an Impact Team member. “We not only blessed them, but their hearts truly blessed us.”

The Impact Team also helped Joyce clean inside their home. “I got the precious honor of serving the family by dusting and organizing inside the house while Mrs. Joyce and I chatted,” said Charity, another team member.

“We talked about our dreams, memories and funny stories… It became quite clear to me that there was so much more being revived than her yard — a sense of hope had been further revived in all of us today.”

After the team finished working in the yard, they gave Joyce’s family food and groceries from Isaiah’s Rock to help them through this tough time.

“My wife started crying when she heard the OB Impact Team was coming with Isaiah’s Rock to clean out the yard,” Jerry said. “I really don’t know how to say thank you!”

Helping Joyce’s family was just one of many projects conducted by the Impact Team to help serve the homeless, hungry, hurting and impoverished in California.

During the week-long trip, team members also participated in food distributions, community children’s programs and other outreach events benefiting more than 1,100 families in need. ◆

MAkING an IMpACTYoung volunteers help meet the needs of a California family fighting cancer

During the week-long trip, teams participated in food distributions, community children’s programs and other outreach events to benefit more than 1,100 families in need.

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there’s a sound of crashing coming from the village of Brisas del Valle. It’s not an act of rage, but rather one of celebration.

Clean water has finally arrived.After years of walking long distances

along dangerous paths to collect water from a mountain spring, these Honduran families now have safe access to clean water — without ever having to leave their homes.

Operation Blessing teams completed the 6-month project, which included building a large water tank a mile-and-a-half uphill that serves as a reservoir to collect the water from the mountain spring. The water is then treated with chlorine and piped down to the village, where teams built access points at the local school and in every home.

To commemorate the completion of the project, villagers gathered together for a special

HOnduRas

Breaking pots for Clean Water

A Honduran village celebrates the gift of clean water in “smashing” style

Water from a mountain spring flows into a large reservoir tank built by Operation Blessing.

The water in the tank is then chlorinated and piped into the village school and homes, giving everyone safe access to clean water.

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ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebratory meal with Operation Blessing staff.

Then Maria stepped forward with a clay pot on her head filled with water.

As villagers gathered around, she carefully clasped the pot with both hands before hurling it to the ground and smashing it into pieces — the water spilling out and quickly getting soaked up by the dry, dusty ground.

It was a symbolic gesture to say: never again. Never again will the villagers have to face danger to collect water. From now on, every family will have access to safe, clean water.

And that’s something worth celebrating. ◆

Breaking pots for Clean Water

DID YOu kNOWIn just one day,

an estimated 200 million hours are spent globally by women collecting water for their families? About 780 million people — 11 percent of the world’s population — still lack access to safe drinking water.

But since 2000, partners like you have helped provide more than 5 million people around the world with safe access to water. “What we never thought or dreamt of, we have now,” said a Nigerian villager at a well dedication.

Thank you for your life-changing gift!

A woman ceremoniously breaks a clay pot of water to signify that their village will never again have to face danger to get water.

?

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“It’s a joy,” said Mother Edith of her role in caring for orphans. “I have given my life to them.”

From Tragedy to Triumph

When Edith Zaizay fled her home in Liberia amid war more than 20 years ago, she saw a scene that broke her heart and would change the course of her entire life — a helpless baby lay

alongside the road, nursing beside her lifeless mother. Edith rescued the orphaned ch-ild as she fled toward safety. Soon, a dozen more

lIBeRIa

Out of civil war and tragedy, a Liberian woman finds her calling to care for hundreds of orphans

orphaned and lost children were following her across Liberia. “When I would cook whatever God gave us for that day, I would share and every one of us would eat,” she said.

By the time it was safe to return home, Edith had 31 children under her care. She was able to eventually reunite some of them with their parents, but many had been orphaned in the conflict. So she brought them into her own home, praying for the means to care for and raise them.

Today, she is known as Mother Edith and hundreds of children have called her orphanage home over the years — today many of them are teachers, nurses and even doctors.

She currently cares for nearly 100 little ones who have been orphaned by conflict and disease or abandoned by

those too impoverished to care for them. “It’s a joy,” she said. “I have given my

life to them.”The orphanage has grown and

now includes a school where the children learn every day and a garden where they help grow food ~ Continued on next page

Above: Eleven-year-old Elizabeth, who lost both her parents during a riot, is now thriving at the orphanage and school, with hopes of someday fulfilling her dream to teach little children.

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staples like okra, cassava and rice.But the orphanage is sorely

in need of repair. The mud brick dormitories leak in the rain, and insects and snakes threaten the children while they sleep.

So Operation Blessing teams helped repair and reinforce the buildings with concrete, placed a new roof on the dormitories, replaced moldy ceilings, and painted the interior and exterior. They also provided new beds, mattresses, bedding and mosquito nets for the children.

“The joy that I have here now is the work you people are doing here,” Edith said. “When I’m moving, I dance, I sing because of what you are doing. See this school, we built it up to where it is, but now you people are helping us to build it to where it is and it is a great joy to my heart.” ◆

to see more of Mother edith’s story, go to ob.org/edith

Under Mother Edith’s watchful eye, hundreds of children are now getting an education. OBI teams helped reinforce the school’s wall and floors with concrete, as well as paint the interior and exterior.

“I don’t think I have a different life to live except for these children — it is what God has given me to do,” Edith said.

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photo prayer of the DayA picture is worth a thousand words —

and in this case — a prayer.

Sign up today at ob.org/photoprayer to get a special photo and prayer sent to your inbox each morning!

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

philippians 4:6

With her husband by her side, Meng Ny slowly made her way to the clinic — each step, a painful one.

For the last two months, the 55-year-old had been suffering from arthritic-like pain throughout her body as well as painful, burning eyes. Not only was this debilitating for Meng, but it prevented her from working on their family farm.

Many impoverished families like Meng’s are already struggling to earn an income, and few are able to access medical care — much less have the financial means to afford it.

Thankfully, villagers told Meng about a free Operation Blessing-supported medical mission taking place a few miles from her home.

There doctors treated Meng for muscle inflammation and an eye

Free from PaIn

CamBOdIa

“I thank all of you for coming, and providing me with good care,” said one patient.

Medical clinic offers free checkups and

medicine to thousands of Cambodian villagers

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infection. With medicine in hand, Meng left the clinic with renewed hope and health.

“I thank all of you for coming, and providing me with good care,” she said.

For 9-year-old Bun Na, it was a severe toothache that brought the young boy to the clinic from his home in the slums. The pain from his tooth made eating and drinking difficult, and caused the second grader to sometimes miss school as well.

“Thank you for helping me to be free from pain,” he said after being seen by a dentist at the clinic. “Now I can go to school happily.”

More than 3,000 villagers were treated during the five-day medical mission that provided general medical, optical and dental care — all free of charge. ◆

More than 3,000 Cambodians were treated at the medical mission.

The five-day clinic provided free medical, optical and dental care to villagers.

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The dangers of summer:Who is at risk?

For many children here in America, summer means running through lawn sprinklers, eating hotdogs at family cookouts, and even getting scraped knees and elbows from a long day of playing with friends.

But for children living in poverty-stricken places of the world, summer can be one of the most dangerous times of the year — bringing threats of hunger, contaminated water, and sickness.

Will you help us provide healthcare, water and food for suffering children during these next three critical months? This is the time when, together, we can save so many lives and help vulnerable children.

Please go to community.ob.org/summer today to send your summer gift and help save lives!

Copyright © 2013 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