Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation is a non-profit, humanitarian organization with a mission to demonstrate God’s love by alleviating human suffering in Africa and around the world.

Our programs are funded by donations received from partners and organizations around the world who share our vision of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the poorest of the poor.

Rabi’s Wheelchair

On the International Day for the Disabled in Nigeria, Operation Blessing donated wheelchairs, hearing aids and insecticide-treated  mosquito nets to physically challenged men, women and children in Jos, Plateau state. Some of the recipients had never received gifts before from anyone as they had been rejected or abandoned by parents who could not come to terms with their condition.

35 year old Rabi was one who suffered such rejection. She was born crippled in both legs with a speech impediment. Her father was so upset that he rejected her and divorced her mother. Rabi’s mother later remarried but could not bring the crippled Rabi into her new home, opting instead to leave her with her great grandmother to raise.

Life was extremely difficult for Rabi as she could not move round due to her condition and things worsened for her when her great grandmother died. She had to drop out of school and lived a very isolated life with a distant relative. She missed going to school and being around people, becoming even more depressed at her inability to move around and visit her friends in school…until Operation Blessing heard about her plight and gave her a brand new wheel chair!

Visibly overcome, an overjoyed Rabi could only wave and offer a mumbled ‘thank you’ between huge beams of delight as she wheeled herself about in her new wheelchair. To add to her joy, her guardian was so impressed with OB’s gesture that she assured us that Rabi would resume school at the Model Teaching centre (a school for the physically challenged) the following day, now that she had a means of moving around!

Rabi’s joy knows no bounds and, as her teacher Nenrot Gomwalk put it, ‘…her tears have been wiped off by what you (OB) have done for her today….”

Micro Enterprise

Tinuke’s Sewing Machine

Life for Tinuke seemed to have taken a downward turn when her husband abandoned her and their two small children. Indeed, it seemed like her walls had come crashing down around her! With no job prospects and no skills, it really looked like God had forsaken her too. Her children had been sent out of school and were always hungry for food which she could not afford, having no money.

Though friends and family tried to help out occasionally, their assistance was not regular enough to sustain them over long periods, and Tinuke hated having to beg when she knew she could work, if she only had some skills! “I cried a lot at the time, I was so miserable seeing my little children suffering like that,” said a desperate Tinuke who contemplated going into prostitution just to be able to feed her kids.

Help however, was on the way! A close friend told her about an Operation Blessing-run sewing centre which had just opened in their town, Oshogbo. If she registered, she would be able to learn new skills that would help her earn an honest living. “I was initially hesitant because I thought I was too old to be taught anything new, especially now that I was a mother of two children.” She however decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised when she discovered that there were many women who were older than herself at the centre and they all welcomed her warmly and made her feel part of a loving family.

Tinuke quickly became an enthusiastic student, learning the skills she needed to make clothes and was happily sewing away within a week!

Before long, she was able to start sewing clothes for friends and neighbours and soon saved up enough money to buy her own sewing machine. Tinuke has since graduated from the OB-assisted sewing centre and works from home. She is doing very well and can barely keep up with the demands she gets. What’s more, her children are now back in school and all their needs as a family are being met!

“I have been tremendously blessed through Operation Blessing. Not only did I learn the skills to earn a living for my family, my faith in God was established there too,” she enthused, referring to the daily prayer meetings and bible studies held before every class.

“We came with our burdens and saw the Lord lift them all! God has made Himself real to me by giving me everything I’ve asked for. Thank you, Operation Blessing!”

OB Fixes Isa’s Double Cleft-Lip!

Little Isa was born with his innocent face hideously disfigured by a double cleft-lip/palate deformity.

Born to poor peasant farmers, seven-month-old Isa started facing challenges very early in life due to his condition. His mother, Sa’adatu, could not breastfeed him because the milk kept leaking out of his mouth. Though she tried hard to nurse him, his deformity was so severe that Isa could not even swallow water. His desperate parents could only watch in despair as their son grew weaker and weaker from malnourishment.

Though poor and barely able to cater for their 5 other children, with the proceeds from their small yam farm in the village, they took Isa to a hospital in Bauchi (northern Nigeria) to try and save him. Unfortunately, their life savings could not pay for the cost of the surgery.

Frustrated and depressed, they were about to give up when Operation Blessing (Nigeria) found them and took up Isa’s case!

A visibly bewildered Sa’adatu was short of words when she learnt, not only was a Christian organization going to take care of Isa’s corrective surgery but he would also look like an ordinary baby boy afterwards. “You mean my baby’s lips will be alright after the surgery?” she asked repeatedly.

Despite assurances, Isa’s mother still had misgivings, but her emotions changed to pure joy when the surgery was completed and she saw the transformation in her handsome baby boy! “I don’t know what to say, it is like a dream come true”, she said, overjoyed that the surgery was a success.

Thank you OB partners, for giving little Isa the chance to live a normal life!

OB Provides Fresh Water for School Children

For the children of Charles Osueke Shepherd Model school in Gumel town, Kaduna state (north central Nigeria), the provision of a fresh water well by Operation Blessing came in the nick of time.

Their only water source, an open water well had just been contaminated by petrol which had seeped into it from a ruptured underground storage facility of a petrol station located right next to the school premises.

“We noticed that the water in the well smelt of petrol and quickly stopped the students from fetching the contaminated water for drinking it”, said Rev. Victor Ategwu, the school administrator. Unfortunately, the school children now had no fresh water to drink and only a handful of about 600 students could afford to buy packaged water, popularly called ‘pure water’. Since most of the students come from poor homes and often trek many kilometers after school hours to work on family farms, they often went home thirsty, not being able to afford to buy water to drink.

Help however came their way when their plight was brought to OB’s attention. Operation Blessing dug a fresh water well for the students and they now have cause to smile! “The students are really happy that you responded to their cries for help. We are really grateful to you for helping our school community,” says the school administrator amidst cheers and laughter as fresh water flows from the new well during its dedication.

Tatara Government Secondary School, Nasarawa state (north central Nigeria) was also a beneficiary of a fresh water well from Operation Blessing. With a population of about 450 students, the school had severe water problems as previous wells dug yielded no water. “We had a well that dried up and though we tried to reactivate it, we could not get any water from it,” said the school principal, Mr. Bala. Students had to cross a busy highway, often exposed to the risk of being hit by a speeding vehicle, to buy packaged water from hawkers who charged them exorbitant prices for a small packet of water or they went to a nearby stream which cows and other livestock also drank from.

According to Bako, one of the students, “the stream we usually fetch water from is far and makes us come late for class. The water is not safe for drinking because cows also drink from it. We can only use it to bathe and wash our clothes.” 

Now, courtesy of Operation Blessing, the students no longer face these challenges as fresh water has been provided for them.  Director of Operations, CBN Worldreach, Mr. Kim Mitchell dedicated a Living Water Well in the school and said, “I pray this well will be a blessing to you and to future generations as well.”

Thanks to OB partners, it will indeed be a lasting legacy for generations to come!    

AJEGUNLE MEDICAL MISSION

Operation Blessing carried out a free medical service programme in Ajegunle, a suburb in Lagos (south west Nigeria) recently. In collaboration with Calvary Ministries, OB catered to the poor and needy in this slum, carrying out surgery on 104 men, women and children, and providing free medicines for about 4002 patients.

MUSA’S TOOTHACHE

Musa is a hardworking taxi driver in Lagos who uses his earnings to cater for his large family. Working had however become very difficult in the last three years because of a terribly painful toothache that had been bothering him.

Because of the excruciating pain which also caused severe headaches, Musa was forced to stop and rest frequently, with the resultant loss of income for him and his family. “The pain used to be very severe” he recounts. ” I could barely eat, talk less of going about my business.  I tried to go to hospital, but the medication I received was not effective at all.”

Resigned to his situation, Musa could only pray that he would be able to bear the pain so he could continue working and provide for his family…until he heard that Operation Blessing was coming to his community to provide free medical treatment, including dental care!

When he got to the medical mission, he was promptly attended to and, for the first time since the toothache started, received proper medication! According to him, the relief was almost instant.  “I couldn’t believe it, the pain was completely gone! I really thank God for these people who have brought help our way.  If Operation Blessing had  not come, I would have still been suffering this pain.  God will bless you,” he said with a big smile on his face.

OB REMOVES GBOLAHAN’S PAINFUL HERNIA

7 year old Gbolahan was another beneficiary of the free medical services provided by Operation Blessing in Ajegunle, a suburb in Lagos. For him, a life without pain for the first time in over two years was nothing short of a miracle.

His mother Esther recounts that it all began about two years ago.  “When he was about 5 years old, I noticed slight swelling around his abdominal area.  People told me all sorts of things.  That maybe his umbilical cord wasn’t cut properly at birth, etc.” The pain and swelling got worse as Gbolahan grew older but Esther, who ran a small shoe-trading business, thought nothing of sending him to a doctor.  “I thought it would go away, so I only prayed over it with holy water.”

However, when she heard about the proposed OB medical Mission from her Pastor in church, she resolved to take her little boy there to be checked….and it was a good thing she did! Gbolahan was diagnosed with a hernia and the doctors scheduled him for immediate surgery, at no cost to the family.  It was a successful surgery and the little boy was back on his feet within 24 hours.

His stunned mother could barely believe the miracle that happened before her eyes! “Aah! I could not believe that we would receive this kind of help.  Where would I have gotten this kind of help from?  Thanking the OB team profusely, she said, “God will bless you all for remembering the poor like us, and saving my son from this problem.”