Rafael Fuentes is the coordinator of the Operation Christmas Child leadership team in Chile. He reports from his home in Temuco, about 160 miles south of the epicenter of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the nation Saturday morning.

Water and electricity were reconnected here in Temuco last night. Today TV and internet are working again and so I have opportunity to communicate with you.

The earthquake has impacted a huge part of the nation, with the worst part being from Santiago and south. Many houses, buildings, bridges, and roads were destroyed.

Dichato is a swimming center on the coast near Concepcion where there was a tsunami. According to TV reports, it destroyed about 80 percent of the houses.

The situation in Concepcion and surrounding areas is very bad with no water, food, or fuel. Because of the lack of electricity, grocery stores, gas stations, and telecommunications are not working.

My mom, brother, and his family live in Tome (18 miles from Concepcion) and up until now we have had no news from them. I cannot travel there because of the lack of fuel, damaged roads, etc. and there are no communication lines and no other way of reaching or communicating with them.

Thank you for your concern and prayers on our behalf.

The Jesus Family Ministries, a church partner in Butuan City, the Philippines, reports on a recent distribution of shoe box gifts from Operation Christmas Child.

Last Saturday, we started giving out our Operation Christmas Child gifts. We divided our lot of 180 boxes into three distributions of 60 boxes. The first was for Taligaman.

Of the 60 kids who received gifts, around 30 were new kids who don’t go to the church. We will start a Vacation Bible School to follow-up with these children.

We hope to reach 100 new children through the OCC events, increasing our Children’s Ministry to a total of around 200 boys and girls in Butuan and in our outreaches. The leaders of the church are very excited with the prospect of a consistent ministry to these children for seven years, and to see a harvest of youth disciples of Christ afterwards!

Mabel, who heads up our Children’s Ministry, envisioned a Children's Church two years ago. Now this vision could be within our reach, with the favor of the Lord of the Harvest. Please pray with us in this endeavor.

Phillip Summers, serving with the Samaritan's Purse water and sanitation team, blogs from Haiti.

This morning I was blessed by God’s splendor in his creation while running over tropical mountain terrain with views of the ocean. This is a beautiful country and people. I also was blessed by the presence of the Lord in the Praise of the Haitian people attending the church at Haiti Arise, our host.

My heart is broken by the hard realities that are their existence. Having a son has heightened my awareness to the vulnerability of children. I want to run up to each one and care for them. This earthquake has shaken more than just their infrastructure; it is revealing the meanest face of poverty.

Two more families who were forced out when Hurricane Katrina swamped New Orleans were able to move back home last week.

Samaritan's Purse staff and volunteers working to rebuild and refurbish houses in New Orleans’ Eighth Ward held home dedications for Hope Joseph and her son, Lebron, and for Ursula Frank.

Richard Brown, Samaritan’s Purse program manager in New Orleans, opened by reading 1 John 3:16 -24 at the Joseph’s dedication. He thanked all the donors and volunteers for their participation. Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, our ministry partner, presented a house-warming gift basket to Hope and Lebron to help make their new house a home.

Ms. Joseph, said how humble, grateful, and thankful she is to God for such a gift and thanked our staff, volunteers, the church, and family and friends as she tried to hold back the tears of joy.

Our staff then headed over for the dedication of a second home on the same day (a first for us!). Ms. Frank, the new homeowner, spoke of how her uncle considers her a gypsy. She is happy that her gypsy days are over and she has a new home to come to.

This dedication was extra special for a family of volunteers who were in New Orleans when we originally gutted the house and happened to be back when the rebuild was finished. The family didn’t know the home would be finished when they scheduled their second trip. They were overjoyed to be on hand for the dedication, and thanked Samaritan’s Purse and Franklin Avenue Baptist Church for the providing the opportunity to volunteer.