Operation Christmas Child Brings Joy and Hope to Families Devastated by Fire on Guanaja Island

God used Operation Christmas Child gift boxes to bring joy and hope to families devastated by the fire.

Guanaja is one of three picturesque islands of Honduras, located 44 miles north of the coast in the Caribbean. One of its keys is home to a small, highly populated town called El Cayo, with 5,300 residents. It is known as the Venice of Honduras for a series of winding canals that run alongside narrow streets and alleys.

On October 2, 2021, many informal brigades used canal water to fight a devastating pre-dawn fire that occurred in El Cayo, turning this tourist and fishing destination into an inferno. More than 200 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. El Cayo does not have a fire service, which allowed it to burn for hours out of control. Finally, the flames subsided when the Honduran Air Force arrived and dropped water on the island. Although no one died, hundreds of residents were left homeless.

Operation Christmas Child had planned to have an evangelistic event on El Cayo, but logistical difficulties in getting to the island proved problematic. Julia Bonilla, the general coordinator of the boxes in the Bay Islands, had prayed for Guanaja since Hurricane Mitch devastated the area in 1998. She joined Samaritan’s Purse in 2011 and began praying that the gift boxes would be distributed one day in Guanaja and that the Gospel could be shared with the children of the region. It broke her heart to see many of the island’s once family-oriented people fall prey to drugs and alcohol. Children, she believed, were the key to change.

“I pray that the island of Guanaja comes to the Lord,” he said. “To achieve this, we must start with the children and have them come to God, so the next generation will be different.”

“God’s time is perfect”

In 2020, transportation difficulties were resolved and a date was set for the evangelistic event for the month of November at the Baptist Church of Cayo in El Cayo. While final preparations were being made the fire occurred. The event, a few weeks later, at the church that was not damaged by the flames came at the right time.

Pastor Rigoberto Mejía (left) prays for the Peña family who put their faith in Jesus Christ after their children received gift boxes from Operation Christmas Child at the El Cayo Baptist Church in Honduras.

“God’s timing is perfect,” Julia said at the event in which 120 children participated and received boxes and heard the Gospel. Many children prayed to receive Christ and were discipled in The Great Adventure. “God knows everything in advance. He knew exactly when they would need this,” Julia continued. The church’s pastor, Rigoberto Mejía, agreed. “The children and their parents were so grateful. They were desperate. They had lost everything. Thank you to Operation Christmas Child for coming and helping these children regain hope.”

“The gifts brought them great joy.”

Héctor Sevilla Peña, his wife Yohemy and their three children lost their home and all their possessions in the fire and gave thanks for the boxes of gifts.

“We lost everything. “We couldn’t save anything,” Héctor said. “My children were so happy when they saw their gifts and toys because it brought them a little bit of what they lost. The gifts brought them great joy.”

When church members saw the impact of the gift boxes, it inspired them to do more. They bought backpacks, sandals and other items for the children so they could go back to school. Hector said the extra gifts were a blessing. “The church gave them the things we can’t buy. We give thanks to God”.

But the greatest impact was the Gospel. Hector and his family put their faith in Christ and are now active members of the church.

“In the life of this family, God has done great things.”

“I used to do things my way,” Héctor said, “but now I think differently. I tell my wife, ‘Let’s do things God’s way.’ It is our plan, to serve the Lord with devotion, with all our heart.”

Pastor Rigoberto also noticed the change in Héctor and his family. “This family is an example of people who believe and feel the love of God,” he said. “God is the one who changes lives, and in the life of this family, God has done great things.”

A spiritual cleansing

God is also doing great things in Guanaja since the fire, which Julia sees as a spiritual cleansing. The result is fewer drugs on the island and more people coming to the Lord.

“More children and their parents come to church now,” he said. Since the fire and the event in November 2021 other events have taken place on the islands. “Samaritan’s Purse has been impactful in the Bay Islands. “I thank God for everyone who does their part by sending the boxes of gifts that bring so much hope to each child.”

Pastor Rigoberto agreed. “We have seen a huge impact on parents as a result of these events,” he said. “Before, parents didn’t make their children come to church, but now they bring them themselves.”

“Everything is in the hands of God”

Some homes and businesses in El Cayo have been rebuilt, but many others are still in the process of being rebuilt. Héctor and his family rent an apartment on the island from his uncle and have started a business on the ground floor, where they sell snacks and other food while they work on rebuilding their house. No matter what happens next, Hector is grateful for how God rescued the family from his fire and has now blessed them in the days and months that follow.

Héctor reviews the progress of his new house under construction.

“Everything is in God’s hands,” said Hector. “He has provided for us. “We have faith in God and we will not doubt.”

Please pray for the people in El Cayo who have lost so much and for our Operation Christmas Child teams to continue ministering in the Bay Islands.

You can bless other communities like this by packing for National Collection Week November 13-20, where more than 4,500 collection centers will open across the country.

Héctor, Yohemy and their children trust in God after everything they experienced.

SUPPORT

Operation Christmas Child Through Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan’s Purse is sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with millions of children in more than 100 countries each year. Many of these children have never received a gift or heard about the true meaning of Christmas, until they open their gift boxes from a person like you. Some people can’t come up with the $10 per box we ask for shipping costs. But if you adopt a box, you can collaborate with them in sending the Gospel and help “so that you may be saved to the ends of the earth”(Acts 13:47, KJV).

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Adopt a box: $10 | Adopt a Carton of 15 boxes: $150

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