For years Brad and Karen Theriault lived in Green Valley Lake—arguably one of the most beautiful spots in America. So when wildfires broke out in California’s San Bernardino National Forest near their home in late October 2007, they were naturally concerned.

On November 9 firefighters finally contained the wildfires—but only after destroying more than 1,500 homes. The Theriault’s was one of them.

Brad and Karen lost everything. With little more than the clothes on their backs, they were faced with overwhelming grief—and the monumental task of clearing away what was left of their family home.

Our Response to the California Fires
In response to the California fires, Joyce Meyer Ministries teamed with Service International to bring critical relief to families like the Theriaults.

Our rapid relief trailers arrived in the mountains of San Bernardino to supply vital necessities like food, water and blankets. We helped families clean up debris. We even partnered with Streetwise Ministry and Skyline Church to provide critical spiritual help.

“When your organization came to help,” says Karen Theriault, “we were overjoyed. Thank you for being our ‘angels’ at a very stressful time.”

When disaster strikes, we are dedicated to bringing aid to those who need it the most. To date, we’ve donated more than $7 million to disaster relief efforts worldwide.

In some crises—like the California fires—we help people pick up the pieces. In others, we help them fight for their very lives. And that’s exactly what we did last August when an 8.0 earthquake shook the country of Peru.

Devastating Earthquake Destroys Peru
On August 15, 2007, an earthquake struck the South American country of Peru, killing over 500 people, injuring 1,500 and leaving more than 16,000 without homes.

“The dead are scattered by the dozens on the streets,” said Juan Mendoza, Mayor of Pisco, the largest city in Peru. According to Mendoza, Pisco was without lights, water and communications. The earthquake destroyed most houses, churches, stores and hotels.

That’s why we joined with Robert and Karyn Barriger from Camino de Vida church in Peru to send medical and reconstruction teams into the worst hit areas. We:

• Built makeshift tents to get people out of the cold
• Gave almost 1,000 blankets, 7,500 pounds of food, along with mattresses and clothes to approximately 5,000 people in eight different cities
• Delivered materials and tools to construct a total of 480 temporary homes
• Housed and cared for more than 500 families as needed for up to 6 months

A Summary of Disaster Relief Efforts in 2007
But we weren’t only in California or Peru. Because of your support, we formed critical partnerships worldwide that put us at the very scene of several major occurrences in 2007. For instance:

• When an F5 tornado ripped through Greensburg, Kansas, our teams were there to help families repair their homes and rebuild their lives.
• When a category 4 cyclone struck the southwest coast of Bangladesh, leaving millions homeless, we built temporary housing and handed out food, water and other supplies.
• When hurricane floods devastated parts of Nicaragua…and a deadly typhoon battered northern Vietnam…our teams arrived on the scene, providing welcome help to the homeless and needy.

In addition, we continued throughout 2007 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina restore and rebuild their homes all along the U.S. Gulf Coast. To date, we’ve restored or rebuilt more than 450 homes, donating more than $3 million.

So whether it’s in the forests of California or on the coast of Bangladesh—we can provide lifesaving physical and spiritual help during times of crisis. And your donations make this all possible.

Thank you for your incredible support. Your compassionate giving is extending the love of God in both word and deed…forever touching the lives of those who need it the most.

More information about our disaster relief efforts around the world

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