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?

HAITI – Two years ago, a devastating earthquake ripped through the nation of Haiti—changing it forever. Since then, so many of you have made such a significant impact in these communities that we wanted to share just a few of the things your support has accomplished over the last two years.

• Clean Water – At the height of our relief efforts, 35 water purification units provided safe drinking water to more than 100,000 people…every day. We also drilled more than 30 wells and have been producing and distributing enough chlorine to hospitals and orphanages to disinfect millions of gallons of drinking water each day.

• Medical Care – When the quake hit, you helped us ship millions of dollars worth of medicine to Haiti. A few months later, we were among the first responders to the deadly cholera outbreak. We also distributed more than 3,000 wheelchairs to those in need and constructed a new surgical unit and emergency facility at St. Luke’s Family Hospital.

• Food Distribution – Immediately following the earthquake, we shipped cargo containers of emergency food supplies to feed hundreds of orphans, children, and families in need. Today, we are giving poverty-stricken families a source of income and high protein food source through fish farms.

• Orphan Care – We joined hands with Partners in Health to open Zanmi Beni Children’s Home for orphans and special needs children. Today we are continuing to improve the home through a new dormitory and even growing tilapia to provide a source of protein for the children.

In 2012, we are looking ahead to even more exciting initiatives for Haiti including being able to significantly increase the number of wells we can build each year thanks to the purchase of a new well drilling rig.

We humbly thank you for your compassion for the people of Haiti and the suffering around the world.

Haiti – I’ll never forget the day I met Nastalie.

Our team had just arrived to her village of Luben, Haiti, which is in the heart of the region where the deadly cholera outbreak started.

The village is surrounded by rice fields, which just two months before had been flooded with cholera-contaminated waters, surrounding the village with disease and basically cutting them off from any aid or hope of help.

Nastalie’s mom told us how she had heard the warnings on the radio to not drink from the river. But the river was their life source—the place where they bathed, cleaned clothes, and collected water for cooking and drinking.

For four days, they went without drinking water.

The mom was desperate and cried out to God for help – and the very next day an Operation Blessing truck loaded with Lifesaver jerrycans arrived, which would provide them with purified drinking water and protect them against the cholera.

As we’re walking through the village and talking, this precious 5-year-old, Nastalie, reaches up and grabs my hand, and with her other hand begins to softly stroke my arm and presses it against her dirt-stained cheek.

I don’t speak Creole, so I couldn’t really communicate well with Nastalie, but her tender touch said everything that words could not.

Nastalie is alive and healthy today because of the compassionate efforts of our supporters who enabled us to send relief to her village…just in time.

On behalf of Nastalie, her family, and all the villagers of Luben, thank you for your compassion, and merry Christmas.

Operation Blessing staff Lara Coleman shares the latest on OBI’s relief and development projects in Haiti.

MEDAN BELIZE, Haiti – Today we brought our water truck and another vehicle filled with food down the treacherous road towards Lake Azuei. We were able to deliver 4,000 gallons of clean water and nearly 1.5 tons of food to the 45 families living in the village Medan Belize.

There were enough supplies to help an additional 30 families living in the neighboring village called Canez.

The items we delivered included packaged military food supplies and “Manny Food” packs, which are a mix of rice and soy, packed with nutrients to help malnourished children.

ERCIS, Turkey – Operation Blessing disaster relief teams are on the ground in Turkey working in partnership with Humedica, a German medical team, to bring relief to earthquake survivors.

NAIROBI, Kenya – After the tragic pipeline fire and explosion in Sinai slum earlier this week, officials are confirming that more than 100 people died and many more are suffering from serious burns.

OB Kenya has been distributing relief supplies such as hygiene items, food, clothing, and school supplies to families whose homes were destroyed in the fire.

Operation Blessing staff visited with children affected by the tragedy, distributing books and coloring materials. “They were so excited and appreciated what Operation Blessing had done,” said Hellen, from OB Kenya. “No other organization had remembered them.”

Operation Blessing is also working with the Red Cross in Kenya to distribute donated items.

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NAIROBI, Kenya – In Nairobi, the Sinai slum sits on top of a pipeline that feeds a nearby fuel depot. Yesterday morning, spilled petroleum that had collected in the drainage system caught fire and a subsequent explosion killed nearly 100 people. Many caught in the melee tried to jump into the nearby storm drainage ditch to put out the flames, but the result was deadly. Hundreds of burn victims were admitted to a nearby hospital.

The rain that day only made matters worse as storm water mixed with petroleum drained into the nearby valley. Hundreds of structures were burned to the ground and more than 1,000 people have been left without shelter.

OB Kenya is already working on relief efforts in Sinai Slum. Teams will be providing displaced victims with clean water to drink and essential food staples. They will also be distributing basic necessities such as diapers, baby food and bedding to families who lost their homes.

KENYA – Today we visited a Masai village where Operation Blessing is building a new school. This building will prevent the need for children to walk over two miles through tall grasses where they have sometimes been trampled by elephants and attacked by lions.

For even more protection, large wooden posts will form a fence around the school.

Finally, we’re also drilling a deep well that will provide safe water and irrigate crops that we will teach the tribe to grow.

KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan is not the safest place to be right now from most people’s perspective. The day I left for Afghanistan the president’s brother was killed by his own security guard. Just as I landed in Delhi, I received a text message, “terrorist attack in Mumbai, alert in major airports in India.” I had second thoughts; should I be making this trip right now?

“Be safe,” was the word given to me as I embarked on this journey. There was a slight fear in my heart, but I had to look through God’s eyes, rather than men’s on this trip. Was it safety that I was primarily considering as I came to Kabul, Afghanistan? Not really. It was the beautiful people that Operation Blessing has been a part of—friends, leaders and elders of communities with whom I had developed relationships over many years. This alone was a worthwhile reason for the trip.

Most of the passengers boarding the flight from Delhi to Kabul were young men. They were mainly Farsi speakers dressed in modern jeans, clean shaven and using the latest gadgets such as iPods and text messaging. They were completely opposite those I had seen only a few years ago. I couldn’t wait to see what else had changed in these few years.

Driving from the airport to the guesthouse I saw modern apartment complexes, shopping centers, restaurants, paved roads and more. But all of this came with heavy security in place. “Inshallah” is the most commonly used Arabic word among the Muslims, meaning “it is God’s will.” Inshallah is what the Afghans live by—whatever comes and goes, it is God’s will.

As we drove to the project site this morning, I spoke with a man I have known for many years. He shared with me how his son-in-law and son had been killed in a bomb explosion, making life even more difficult as he now takes care of extended families.

He said, “I have gone through so much; our people suffer. When will all this end?” There was a moment of silence, and then he said, “We have hope when I see you, when you help us, when you give water to our people, I know we are not forgotten.”

What can we offer to a nation of suffering people? Hope.

Join me as I take you on a journey over the next few days to see what Operation Blessing has done and is continuing to do to bring hope to the people of Afghanistan.

DEATH VALLEY – 5 days. 306 miles. 1 goal. Find out what’s driving Jason Lester, ESPY award winner and ultra endurance athlete, to run 306 grueling miles along the Badwater course through Death Valley to help raise $1 million for Operation Blessing’s clean water projects.

Read Jason’s blog:

This is a tough post to write. I don’t really know where to start. How does one stare into a coming trial, one that will test everything that they are and put that fear, trepidation, thrill, excitement, dread, anticipation, anxiety, nervousness, elation into words?

– Jason

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