For two weeks we are sharing a series of inspiring stories and videos as part of our annual partnership drive. As you reflect on these stories, consider joining our efforts and renewing your support as an Operation Blessing Monthly Partner.

GUATEMALA – Elsa lost nearly everything she loved in only a few short months.

A tropical storm flooded her home, destroying all of her family’s possessions and the house itself. After salvaging what they could, her family moved to a new area. There they set up a small store for Elsa to run, supplementing their depleted income.

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Then, her husband became sick and their entire income went to medicine and treatment. Tragically, he passed away soon after. In the middle of everything else, Elsa lost her little store.

Her oldest son works hard to provide for their family, but with six younger siblings, his income isn’t enough to make ends meet.

Then Elsa received an unexpected blessing—Operation Blessing gave her the supplies she needed to open her store again.

Now, Elsa is back in business. Her store sells small necessity items to the community, along with snacks, sodas and candy. It brings in enough income to make ends meet and provide for her children.

Even better, the store is near her home, so she is there to care for her littlest ones even while she is working. And some of her children like to help out at the store, like 12-year-old Dina. “I learn the prices by memory to help our customers,” she said proudly.

Today you can begin having an impact like this on even more families like Elsa’s. Will you to live your faith in 2012 by partnering with Operation Blessing and committing to bless the poor in the coming year?

Over the next two weeks we’ll be sharing a series of inspiring stories and videos as part of our annual partnership drive. As you reflect on these stories, consider joining our efforts and renewing your support as an Operation Blessing Monthly Partner.

HONDURAS – Four times a day, Yenny descends a steep mountain slope from her village to collect water from their only source—a natural spring. But it isn’t the trip down the mountain that is so grueling; it’s the climb back up.

Yenny lifts a heavy 5-gallon bucket of water onto her head before she makes the climb. Over time her task has caused back pain, headaches, and soreness in her feet and arms. But Yenny had no other option—her family needed water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and more. Her brothers worked all day to provide for the family, and her aging mother could no longer make the trek, so the task fell to Yenny.

Her village had collected water at the same source for more than 100 years. Yenny thought that someday her children would have to do the same.

But all of that changed when Operation Blessing came to her village.

The team from OB Honduras offered Yenny’s village an innovative solution—a pump system to bring the water up the mountain to the village. Even better, the team installed faucets in each house in Yenny’s village—bringing running water right into their homes.

“That day, I jumped for joy,” Yenny said. “It made me so happy. Thanks, Operation Blessing, you’ve made our dream come true.”

Today you can begin having an impact like this in communities like Yenny’s around the world. Will you to live your faith in 2012 by partnering with Operation Blessing and committing to bless the poor in the coming year?

GUATEMALA – Orphaned at a young age, Juan and Joseline have been living with their grandparents in an impoverished area of Guatemala.

But when a tropical storm hit their community this year, floodwaters tore their home apart, destroying everything they owned—and leaving them with only the clothes on their back.

The family desperately needed a safe, sturdy home to live in, but the little income the grandfather earned was barely enough to provide food for the family.

All over the world there are children and families like Juan and Joseline’s in desperate need of food, shelter, medical care and more. But thanks to faithful friends like you, Juan, Joseline and their family now have the hope of a better life and a brighter future.

Operation Blessing teams built them a brand new, sturdy home in a better community—giving them a precious gift they could never have afforded on their own.

“Today we woke up in our new home, we are very happy!” said the children.

CHINCHA & HUAYCAN, Peru – This year OB Peru held a special Christmas program to benefit impoverished children. With the help of volunteers from a local church, Operation Blessing provided more than 1,500 children with a Christmas breakfast, a show, food baskets for their families, and even special Christmas gifts. Additionally, the children were given a free dental check-up.

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras – Christmas is all about giving gifts to others. Many children think Christmas is about them receiving gifts. I know 14-year-old boy, Enrique, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, who is not like that at all.

Enrique grew up in an abusive home and then lived on the streets for two years, addicted to drugs. I met him a year-and-a-half ago right after Mision Rescate (Rescue Mission) rescued him from the streets. Since then, Operation Blessing has been supporting him with a home, food, schooling and medical care.

In the last year-and-a-half, Enrique has been drug free, is getting good grades in school and has a second chance at life.

He says he feels loved, and now he goes to the local hospital every month to feed disabled children and give toys and food to the sick children there. He also started a toy drive this year to collect toys for children in an impoverished area of the city.

I am so thankful for Operation Blessing supporters whose gift made an impact in Enrique’s life. He is now reaching out to other impoverished children because he has learned that is truly more rewarding to give than to receive.

HUAYCAN, Peru – A few months ago the beautiful smile of eight-year-old Esmeralda was overshadowed by the terrible headaches she endured every day. And as the headaches got worse, her academic performance dropped significantly.

“I couldn´t see very well,” she said. “When I was in class I had to stand and approach the board to see. I fell behind in my lessons and in the evenings I had to go to the home of a classmate to copy the notes I needed. But my eyes would burn and I often could not finish, so the lessons in my notebooks were always incomplete.”

Esmeralda lives in the city of Huaycan with her four sisters, Rosa (14), Dayana (12), Molly (7) and Ruby (3 months). Her father, Julio, works selling recycled copper in the center of the city. But what he earns is only enough for the basic household expenses, especially now that they have a new baby. Her parents had hoped to take Esmeralda to the doctor to buy her glasses, but they simply didn’t have the resources to pay for it.

“My mom promised me that she was going to buy my glasses,” Esmeralda said, “but then she explained to me that now they don’t have money because they are spending a lot on diapers and milk for my little sister.”

Then Operation Blessing held an eye clinic at Esmeralda’s school. At the clinic, an optometrist examined all the children and gave them new prescription glasses, absolutely free.

When OBI staff called her name, Esmeralda ran to get her glasses and put them on.

“Now I can see better,” she said. “My mommy will be very happy because I have my glasses and I can study and improve my grades. I love my glasses—they are very cute! Thanks, Operation Blessing.”

In response to heavy rains triggering widespread flooding, OB El Salvador is providing emergency relief such as food, medical care and more to aid victims. OB staff Tatiana Castaneda reports on the current efforts.

SAN FRANCISO MENENDEZ, El Salvador—As the nation of El Salvador undergoes national alert, people like Leonor who lives in La Hachadura—an area flooded by the heavy rains—are thankful for Operation Blessing reaching out to their community. This evening, our team is taking basic supplies to the families who have stayed in their houses to protect their few belongings in the flooded regions.

Unfortunately, the house she lives in was flooded 5-inches-deep in water and only the highest areas of her lot have dried out. As we visited her community we saw children running barefoot and crying, while the adults were in a silent grief. This community was one of the lucky ones who still have their small zinc-sheet rooms standing, unlike the rest of the homes down the river that were completely destroyed by the flood.

A few residents of the community have evacuated but Leonor stayed behind so she could guard their few belongings. OB El Salvador was able to stage a relief distribution at the entrance to her house, giving away emergency food packs to families affected by the flooding. More than 50 families gathered in front of her house to receive their pack which included purified water, rice, beans, salt, soy and other supplies.

As the beneficiaries lined up, some teared up when asked about their situation—residents like Cecilia whose house had 3 feet of water two days ago.

“We lost everything,” she said. “The clothes that we have left are very wet and some others are buried in the mud. The mattresses were floating and we have lost everything including our corn plantation.”

The situation these families are in is devastating, but just being visited by Operation Blessing in spite of the flooded roads and late hours gave them hope.

“Thank you Operation Blessing. Thank you very much for coming,” Cecilia said.

So far, OB El Salvador has helped hundreds of flood victims through relief efforts that include food and clothes distribution, medical missions and other emergency relief.

SAO PAULO, Brazil – It was a sight to see—hundreds of children, teens and young adults gathered in the streets of Sao Paulo for an event akin to a candlelight vigil. They held flickering candles high for all to see, but slowly, steadily, the flames vanished—extinguished in 15-second intervals.

It was a visual representation of a staggering statistic—every 15 seconds a child in Latin America is sexually abused. Every 15 seconds, a child is exploited, hurt and oppressed, their hope and innocence shattered.

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In an act of solidarity, teens covered their mouths with tape and held signs in a silent plea for change. They marched through the streets to spread awareness. And they listened to Operation Blessing teams speak about child sexual abuse—encouraging children, teenagers, the community and the government to get involved in finding a solution.

Almost even more incredible than the visual display was that it happened in 11 different cities simultaneously.

The 11 cities across Brazil were chosen because they are all set to host the 2012 FIFA World Cup. Large sporting events like the World Cup can often bring sexual tourism to the host country and increase the exploitation of children. So the young people in these cities are teaming up with Operation Blessing to spread awareness of the problem before that happens.

Not wanting to leave the streets cloaked in darkness, the youth relit their candles. It was only a few at first, but then the light spread throughout the crowd. The candles burned brightly once more—symbolizing the hope that remains—the hope that there would someday be an end to the sexual abuse of children in Brazil and throughout Latin America.

HONDURAS – Denis and his wife, Mirna, were waiting for us to arrive so that they could prepare pastelitos (patties made of wheat flour). As soon as we got to their house, Mirna began filling the pastelitos with different things such as beans, corn, rice and potatoes. She fried them in oil and served them to us with a special dip. They were very tasty! While I enjoyed the pastelitos I asked Denis to share how Operation Blessing had helped his family. The following is a personal account from Denis himself:

My two-year-old daughter, Genesis, cried every night for milk. But we did not have the money to buy it for her. My wife and I would pace back and forth, patting Genesis to sleep, but she would scream even more because of the hunger. Since we had no money to buy milk, we gave her water mixed with sugar to fill her hunger, not knowing that the sugar was keeping her awake all night long.

– Denis

El CHAQUITE, Honduras – We were up on Puca mountain—7,000 feet above sea level. Our vehicle could not go any farther because it was too steep, so we packed our gear and walked for about an hour. It was a tiring walk. I was breathing heavily and my legs and knees were hurting, but I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I was determined to see the projects that OB Honduras was doing.

At the top, the air smelled fresh and I was surrounded by a beautiful, green rain forest and the simplicity of life. I felt the richness of God’s creation as I stood and had a panoramic view of the mountain. I was soon greeted with beautiful smiles of young children who probably don’t often go anywhere except to school, which is a 45-minute walk from home.

When our OBI team first came to this village, the people were surprised to see visitors because no one had visited them before. The team spent five days in the village observing the families and learning about their lives.

Their children were beautiful but looked weak. They did not have nutritional supplements in their diet. The men and women worked hard in the fields but made very little money.

All suffered from poor health, living in homes where the living room also served as the kitchen. This causes breathing problems for the families because there is little ventilation for the smoke from the wood-burning fires. If they ever fell ill there was no medical care for miles. Serious sicknesses require a long journey to see a doctor, which often results in arriving too late for treatment.

The OB Honduras team decided to start working with Daiman, an elderly man with one daughter and four grandchildren that he supports. He has worked all of his life on a coffee plantation earning very little income. Now he is 70 years old and endures serious pain in his joints. He is not able to work as before, which means that he is earning very little income. His family’s daily diet comes from the wild vegetation that grows around his home.

The OBI team trained Daiman in family farming and gave him a variety of vegetable seeds. Within a few months, the plants yielded fresh vegetables such as radishes, carrots, onions, beets and cabbages, which Daiman and his family use for food. His harvest was so plentiful that he was even able to sell vegetables to his neighbors for income.

Daiman was very thankful to OBI’s team for coming so far from the city to provide him with an alternative food source for his family. Already, five families have benefited from this garden concept that the OBI team has put in place.

At the end of the day, going downhill was much easier. And over all, we had a fantastic day.