Hill Country Roots, Texas Floodwaters, and Hope: Johnny’s Story

TEXAS – For Johnny, the family home was more than just a building. It was the heart of generations—a place where his grandmother once painted in her backyard studio and helped launch the Hill Country Arts Foundation. But as Texas floodwaters surged through his neighborhood, the legacy he cherished stood on the edge of devastation.

“What happened here,” Johnny explained, “was my nephew was here with two other families… and as the water started rising at four o’clock in the morning, they couldn’t go get the kids. There was a river between this house and where the kids were.”

That river—normally a gentle stream—had swelled into a mile-wide force of nature, cutting off families from each other and swallowing homes in its path. The water eventually receded, but it left behind chaos, mud, and broken memories. The storm didn’t just upend buildings—it upended spirits.

That’s when volunteers from Operation Blessing arrived.

The Faithful Volunteers

Among them was Fiorella D’Anico, who had already served in flood-ravaged areas of Brazil. This time, she found herself in the heart of Hill Country, helping Johnny clean and restore the home that meant so much to him after Texas floodwaters caused so much destruction. “We’re helping Johnny to clean this house and just help him to come back here,” she said, sleeves rolled up, hands at work.

For Johnny, the volunteers weren’t just doing disaster cleanup—they were reviving hope.

“They’re helping me get through it a lot,” Jonny said. “That’s what it means to me. It brings my spirits up. When I feel low, then all these people helping out just brings me back up.”

Hope After the Texas Floodwaters

Thanks to friends like you, Johnny didn’t have to face the aftermath alone. Your compassionate support made it possible for Operation Blessing to rush to the scene, offering practical help and emotional encouragement to flood victims in Carvalho and beyond.

You Are the Difference

From Texas floodwaters to other disasters across the globe, your generosity equips Operation Blessing to respond when crisis hits—bringing hot meals, safe water, hygiene kits, and most of all, hope.

Together, we’re not just cleaning up flood damage—we’re helping families stand again.

You can continue to be the answer to someone’s prayer.

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Born With a Severe Heart Condition, Zixian’s Life Was Transformed by Surgery

CHINA – Born with a severe heart condition, young Zixian from rural China faced a life of uncertainty and pain. Her condition left her frequently sick, suffering from recurring pneumonia, and tethered to oxygen tubes just to survive. Every breath was a struggle. Her family watched helplessly as her health declined, knowing that she urgently needed surgery—but they couldn’t afford it.

It broke her mother’s heart to watch her precious child suffering. To make matters worse, Zixian’s father was forced to work far from home just to earn enough to keep the family afloat. Her older sister Ranran, just a child herself, offered her piggy bank savings in a heartfelt attempt to help.

Though the family was committed to doing everything they could, the cost of surgery for a child born with a severe heart condition was far beyond their reach. Then, everything changed.

Operation Blessing Provided the Surgery

A divine moment of connection occurred when Zixian’s mother, desperate for help, visited a hospital and met someone who invited her to church. That encounter led her to Operation Blessing—and to hope.

Moved by the family’s story and determined to help, Operation Blessing stepped in and paid for the surgery that Zixian so desperately needed. The once-frail girl was finally able to undergo the life-saving operation that her family never could have afforded on their own.

Today, Zixian is healed. She runs, laughs, and plays with joy and freedom, no longer held back by illness. Her transformation is nothing short of a miracle.

Her mother, once overwhelmed by fear and uncertainty, now watches her daughter thrive with tears of gratitude and a heart full of faith. She found hope, healing, and a renewed belief in God through the kindness of strangers who stepped in when her family had nowhere else to turn.

Zixian’s journey is a testament to what’s possible when compassion and generosity come together to meet real human need. Born with a severe heart condition, she was given a second chance at life—because someone cared enough to help.

Flowing Water Finally Means Freedom from Ongoing Water Scarcity

HONDURAS—Ten-year-old Reina lives in the Honduran village of Agua Buena, which means “good water.” But in remote Agua Buena, water is scarce—and what little is available, isn’t safe to drink. Ongoing water scarcity is a daily reality for families here. The only water tank for the village was too small, and crumbling.

“Some days water comes through a small pipe to our house,” Reina said. “Other days it does not, because the tank is empty. The water always tastes bad and has a terrible smell.” Even when they did have water, it was dangerous. “My children got very sick from the water,” said Reina’s mother, Leticia. “Reina seemed to suffer the most. I cried with my daughter when she cried. It felt like something was being torn out of my heart.”

Ongoing Water Scarcity and Hope for Change

But Reina believes she received a message about things changing—for the better. “An angel visited me. I know it is hard to believe, but I saw him!” she said. “The angel told me to trust in God, and I really listened to him. Then he said this bad pain and sickness would never happen to me again!”

Compassionate friends like you made that message come true. Thanks to your generosity, we built a new, much larger water tank—large enough to support the needs of Agua Buena for the next 20 years! This vital project addressed the community’s ongoing water scarcity.

We added a system to treat the water and pipes to run it to the homes. On top of that, our team installed toilets and handwashing sinks for each family. Now, everyone in Agua Buena has plenty of clean water.

“We are grateful to the people from Operation Blessing and to everyone who paid for us to have this water project in our community,” Leticia said. “God bless the donors who support us here in the community.” The town of Agua Buena is now living up to its name again—and children like Reina couldn’t be more appreciative.

More Than Virginia Food Assistance

VIRGINIA – Family means the world to Tamara. “I would do anything for my babies and my husband,” she said. That includes going to great lengths to ensure that they have enough food to eat. Even though Tamara and her husband work hard at a hotel chain to provide for their two sons, rising grocery prices have put a strain on their finances. They didn’t qualify for Virginia food assistance, so Tamara had to look elsewhere for help. That’s when your love met her in a tangible way—and provided more than she ever expected with food assistance.

Tamara first visited the food pantry at Freedom Church, an Operation Blessing distribution partner, during the pandemic. Even more recently, high gas and food prices have put a strain on their finances. Tamara shared, “Right now, the hours are not the best, but hey, I’m there, and I still need the income.” But it just wasn’t enough.”

Virginia Food Assistance Makes all the Difference

Thankfully, your support gave Tamara the food assistance her family needed. YOU provided the extra help—and the groceries—she needed to put enough food on the table for her family. “Everything that you give us, we eat,” Tamara said. “It stretches when times are tough.”

Your love goes the extra mile every time Tamara visits the pantry. “You all give us a blessing with prayer,” she told us. “Somebody else cares for us. It’s just an uplifting spirit. Receiving groceries at the same time—you can’t go wrong with that. Two big blessings.”

Compassion to Provide Much Needed Hunger Relief

Your compassion provides much-needed hunger relief to so many hungry neighbors, like Tamara, who are struggling right here in the U.S. For those faced with the difficult choice of buying groceries or paying the electric bill, your compassion is a lifeline—one less burden they have to carry each month.

Tamara’s heart is filled with gratitude for all you have done for her family with much needed food assistance. “Thank you. It definitely makes a difference in my house.”

Rebuilding After Hurricane Erick: Hope for Families in Oaxaca

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Rebuilding After Hurricane Erick: Hope for Families in Oaxaca

“I See Everything Scattered and I Start to Cry”

MEXICO- When Hurricane Erick tore through the coastal town of Pinotepa Nacional in Oaxaca, Mexico, it left behind a trail of shattered homes and broken hearts. Rosa, a local resident, remembers returning to her family’s house and being overwhelmed by the sight of devastation. Rebuilding after Hurricane Erick remains essential to help victims restore their lives.

“I see the house, I see everything scattered and I start to cry,” she shared. “I can’t do it in front of my parents because, well, they’re feeling the same way. My dad cries all the time because he says he’s too old to do anything to rebuild his house.”

Their story is not unique. Many families in this area are now living under tarps or open skies, their roofs ripped away by the winds of the Category 3 storm.

A Community in Crisis

Though international headlines downplayed the damage, the reality for those affected is stark. As Operation Blessing’s Daniel Castro explained, “Many houses are without roofs. Many families are struggling because they don’t have a safe space to live.”

In Pinotepa Nacional alone, Operation Blessing identified more than 130 homes in urgent need of repair.

Answering the Call with Roofing Materials and Compassion

Thanks to friends like you, Operation Blessing is responding. We’re providing essential roofing materials to the hardest-hit families—giving them more than shelter; we’re offering dignity, protection, and peace of mind.

For families like Rosa’s, your support is a lifeline. With each sheet of metal and bundle of supplies delivered, hope rises again over Oaxaca.

How You Can Help

Together, we can reach more homes, more hearts, and more lives. Please continue to pray for our team as they work tirelessly in difficult conditions. And please pray for the families still recovering from Hurricane Erick’s impact. Rebuilding after Hurricane Erick is not easy, but your kindness is making a difference.

Your gift today can help rebuild not just rooftops—but restore hope for a brighter tomorrow.

[Give Now to Help Disaster Victims]

One Woman’s Story of Survival and Hope After the Flood

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TEXAS – For Collene Lucas of Kerrville, Texas, it started like any other day. She went to work with no idea her life would soon be turned upside down. But a day mired in danger would eventually lead to hope after the flood.

“Ten minutes till five, I left my house,” she recalled. Just over an hour later, a vendor walked into her workplace and shared devastating news—floodwaters were overtaking parts of town. “At that time, I knew my house was flooding.”

As fear crept in, Collene’s mind went straight to her husband, who was home and unreachable. Desperate, she drove toward their house, only to have her truck stall in rising waters. “I opened the driver’s door, I put my left leg out, and the water was almost up to my hip,” she remembered. With floodwaters surging, she realized she couldn’t get to her husband—and all she could do was pray. “I really believe I was walking on water,” she said, as she made her way to the firehouse for help.

A Miracle of Hope After the Flood

Collene’s story is not one of loss, but of grace. Rescuers reached her husband in time. “We lost a lot of things, but we didn’t lose a life,” she said, overwhelmed with gratitude. “Everybody needs to understand that lives are irreplaceable. Materialistic things can be replaced, but not a life.”

Returning home to the aftermath was painful. Memories soaked and scattered—but not destroyed. “You’ll hold them in your heart and in your mind forever,” she said.

Help Arrived Through Friends Like You

Amid the chaos, Collene saw God’s provision through Operation Blessing. “I am so blessed today to be at my home with some Christian organizations. They’re all volunteers, and they have been a true blessing,” she shared. Teams helped her pack what remained, creating a temporary storage area in her garage. With that weight lifted from them, Collene and her husband could move into a studio apartment. “Now we’re able to not have to worry about this part of it… It’s a blessing.”

Blessings That Keep Moving Forward

Floods devastated Collene’s home, but they didn’t destroy her spirit. She spoke through tears, not of sorrow, but of praise. “I just—I don’t know what I would have done without the help from y’all… It’s like a miracle.”

Because of compassionate friends like you, Operation Blessing is able to bring that kind of miracle to disaster victims around the world—providing emergency meals, clean water and hygiene kits. Most importantly, though, YOU helped bring hope after the flood.

“I have nothing but blessings. I am truly blessed.” – Collene Lucas

You can continue to be the answer to someone’s prayer.

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Portraits of Promise for the Vulnerable in Croatia

CROATIA — Just a few years ago, Goran and Valerija had no way of knowing that the rocky path life would take them on would eventually lead them to one another, thanks to friends like you. Both Goran and Valerija experienced more adversity than any child should face in a lifetime. Like so many who are vulnerable in Croatia, Goran endured both the trauma of being separated from his parents when they could no longer care for him and then mistreatment from his new parents.

“They attacked me for every little thing, like breathing too loud,” said Goran of his adoptive family. “I had to wash everything in the house and clean the floors.” The emotional and physical abuse he suffered at home and from his peers left him scarred and void of hope in humanity and life itself.

Although Valerija was born into a loving family, she has cerebral palsy, which led to insufferable torment when she reached grade school. To cope with the pain, Valerija resorted to self-harm. “By the age of 17, I had reached the edge,” said Valerija. “I cut myself, overdosed on pills, and attempted to hang myself on more than one occasion.”

Finding Hope for the Vulnerable in Croatia

After years of suffering, heartache, and pain, Goran and Valerija had each given up on life—and God. But then God brought them both to our Orphan’s Promise House of Opportunities. There, thanks to support from friends like you, they were given ample love and encouragement—something so desperately needed by those who are vulnerable in Croatia.

“I have never seen in my life, in all my youth, that kind of love towards me,” said Goran. “I received that love and I saw that I was really accepted from the people who didn’t know me, who saw me that day.” Because of the kindness of our generous partners, Goran and Valerija are living meaningful and fulfilling lives today.

“God gave me a good job where people are not rude, where people are like brothers,” said Goran. Despite the challenges of Valerija’s condition and her history in school, she recently graduated with her bachelor’s degree, which wouldn’t have been possible without supporters like you.

Through our Orphan’s Promise program, Goran and Valerija learned important life skills such as managing finances and being independent. They also found community and friends, renewed their love for the Lord, found love with each other as well—and got married! “We joke sometimes that we are two lame people,” said Valerija. “He says he’s lame in the head, and I’m lame in the legs. He is my legs; I am his brain.”

Our House of Opportunities director said, “No matter how many times I have listened to their testimony, I am still fascinated by what God did— out of something that was broken, without hope, without meaning, without purpose.”

The young couple is thankful that the program brought them together, and now their desire is to glorify God through their marriage and future children. Thank you for helping provide a beacon of hope to them when they needed it most. You are helping at-risk children and the vulnerable in Croatia to grow into thriving young adults.

Restoring Dignity Through Surgery: The Gift of Sight in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA – In the rural communities of South Africa, blindness isn’t just a medical condition—it steals dignity, connection, and purpose. Cataracts, left untreated, plunge individuals into isolation, stripping them of their independence and self-worth. But by restoring dignity through surgery, Operation Blessing is helping to rewrite these stories—one life, one miracle surgery at a time.

Many of those affected describe blindness as “living in complete darkness,” both physically and emotionally. They can no longer work, walk safely, or see the faces of their loved ones. For many, it’s a slow and painful decline into despair. “I just sit all day. It’s painful. I am stressed,” shared one elderly patient, before undergoing cataract surgery made possible by Operation Blessing.

But everything changes with the miracle of sight.

By restoring dignity through our program in Zutulele, we help give people their lives back. This process involves providing eye surgery by removing cataracts and implanting artificial lenses. The result is immediate and profound. Patients once confined to their homes now walk confidently through their villages. “No more do I need to be led by the arm,” one joyful recipient said. “I am free in my soul.”

For these men and women, this isn’t just a medical intervention—it’s spiritual and emotional restoration. It’s the power of restoring dignity through surgery in its purest form.

These life-changing procedures would not be possible without the compassion of our donors. Through your generosity, you’re not just helping people see again, you’re helping them reclaim their lives, their freedom, and their joy.

One man said it best: “Thanks a lot to Operation Blessing for helping me with my sight. Now there’s so much ahead of me. If only you knew what it’s like to see again.” Restoring dignity through surgery means offering more than sight—it means offering hope. It means living again.

Help Operation Blessing continue restoring lives.
Support miracle surgery for those in need by visiting: ob.org/dignityrestored

Blessed Relief after Dangerous Flooding in Texas

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TEXAS – “I Thought I’d Lost Everything… Until Help Arrived.” That’s what Jeanie in Texas told us after the dangerous flooding in Texas tore through her home.

At 4:00 a.m., she woke to a clash of thunder—only to discover water already rising inside her Texas home. Her 10-month-old granddaughter slept in a playpen just inches off the floor, and the baby’s blankets were already soaked. Jeanie was horrified to realize how much danger the precious child had been in, but so thankful the thunder had woken her up.

“It was really rough,” Jeanie remembers. “We’ve never seen that type of flooding before.”

But in the middle of crisis, something remarkable happened.

Kindness after Dangerous Flooding in Texas Destroys Homes

Within hours, members of Life Church rallied to help neighbors gut their flood-ravaged homes. Then, thanks to friends like you, Operation Blessing arrived with critical relief—boxes of food, clean water, cleaning supplies, and buckets to help families begin the long road to recovery.

“It’s been rough,” Jeanie said. “But with the people that have come in and helped—Life Church, Operation Blessing—I feel like 10,000 pounds has been lifted off my shoulders.”

“I feel like 10,000 pounds has been lifted off my shoulders.”
-Jeanie Branch

This is what it looks like when faith becomes action.

Volunteers worked tirelessly, not for recognition, but out of love. You could see the hope return as people received help they didn’t know was coming. What began as devastation from dangerous flooding in Texas turned into a powerful testimony of compassion, unity, and resilience.

Jeanie’s story is just one example of how your kindness brings relief in the hardest moments.

Ready to help more families like Jeanie’s?
Give today!

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When Rescuers Need Rescuing: Floods Hit Texas Firefighters

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TEXAS – What do you do when rescuers need rescuing? As fireworks were set to light up the sky for Independence Day, an entirely different emergency was unfolding in Center Point, Texas. Torrential rains brought flash floods that tore through the community in the early hours of July 4, forcing families from their homes and turning quiet streets into rivers. Among those hit hardest were the very people risking their lives to help—volunteer firefighters who suddenly found themselves in need of rescue too.

When First Responders Become Victims

As the floods swept in, Razor Dobbs, Public Information Officer and firefighter, quickly headed out to conduct swift water rescues. “All of our trucks were out with us, thank God,” Razor said. “But our station? Seven, eight feet of water destroyed everything inside.”

The department had been gearing up for their annual fundraising BBQ the following week—a crucial event to fund their life-saving work. But the flood took everything. Their gear was ruined. Their fundraiser was canceled. Yet, Razor and his team never stopped serving.

When Rescuers Needed Rescuing…YOU Were There to Help

In this overwhelming time of need, Operation Blessing arrived to support the first responders who had spent the night saving others. With your help, OB delivered requested supplies to the fire department, which had quickly become a central hub for ongoing search and rescue efforts.

According to Bob Burke, OB’s U.S. Disaster Relief Director, “They cycled over a thousand people through this fire department yesterday alone.” These brave men and women continued to serve their neighbors, bolstered by support from compassionate friends like you.

suppliers for first responders when rescuers need rescuing

“You know, it’s a tragedy… but there’s a lot of beauty in it,” Razor reflected. “Thousands of people showed up wanting to help.”

A Mission Fueled by Faith—and by Friends Like You

For Razor and his wife, the last few nights have been filled with prayer. “It’s a calling,” he said. “Because it’s not easy.” And yet, the strength of community and the love of Christ have carried them through.

With each supply delivered and each prayer whispered, Operation Blessing is providing not only practical aid, but also a powerful reminder: You are not alone. And through your continued support, OB stands ready to respond again and again.

The Work Continues

Center Point still has a long road to recovery. But your love is already rebuilding what floodwaters tried to destroy. Thanks to friends like you, OB is helping families and first responders alike—one hot meal, one emergency kit, and one answered prayer at a time. Thank you for being a lifeline when the rescuers need rescuing!

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Together, we are bringing hope to Texas. Thank you.