‘A Miracle from God’: Lives and Livelihoods Restored as Operation Blessing Helps Brazil Flood Victims
RIO GRANDE DO SUL, Brazil – In the wake of devastating floods that struck southern Brazil, recovery has been slow. That includes the community of Santos Dumont where Operation Blessing teams arrived quickly, and their impact continues today.
Paulo and Daisonara Bardo still become emotional while reflecting on those difficult days of mid-April, when flooding devastated their community here in southern Brazil.
“From the very moment it happened, every minute, every second, God told us to just trust Him,” Daisonara told CBN News.
As Paulo navigated the floodwaters, he recorded the destruction of their barber shop and surrounding homes along with the hopeless feeling he felt.
“When I first opened the doors, everything was destroyed,” recalled a distraught Paulo Bardo. “We didn’t expect to find anything salvageable. The water reached the ceiling, causing immense destruction. We had no hope of rebuilding.”
Their four-year-old business lay buried under thick layers of mud, with all their belongings ruined.
“From the very beginning, God was telling us to trust and have faith,” Daisonara told CBN News. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to trust in amidst such destruction – until the Lord brought people from all over the world to make it happen.”
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Operation Blessing deployed aid workers within days, learned of the Bardos’ plight and quickly stepped in to help.
“We could never have rebuilt the way Operation Blessing did,” said Paulo. “We might have tried to reuse some equipment, but there wasn’t much to salvage. Without their help, we wouldn’t have succeeded.”
Operation Blessing bought them new furniture and tools, enabling them to resurrect their business, which now supports three additional stylist families.
Their shop now proudly displays a sign proclaiming, “This place is a fruit of a miracle from God.”
“I tell my clients that what God did in the barber shop through Operation Blessing was a miracle. We experienced this miracle in our business and families because where there was once despair, God brought hope through OB,” said Paulo.
In the aftermath of the devastating floods in southern Brazil, Operation Blessing is distributing essential hygiene kits. Each contains soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and sanitary pads—vital for health and dignity when clean water is scarce. #DisasterRelief #BrazilFlood pic.twitter.com/0KV0AI65RJ
— Diego Traverso (@diegofilmmaker) June 6, 2024
From the middle of April all the way through May, this region of southern Brazil got more than 15 inches of rain.
In essence, affecting more than 90 percent of the entire state. Operation Blessing decided to come to the small community of Santos Dumont and one of the first things they did to help the community was to rebuild the church.
“The pastor was super hopeless,” recalled Operation Blessing’s Diego Traverso. “They were not even expecting to come back he even said to God, ‘I’m not coming back.'”
“When I saw the destruction of the church and the surrounding community, I never thought there would be a way to rebuild,” said Altamiro Dos Santos, pastor of Spring of the King Missionary Church.
That’s when Operation Blessing approached him with a plan to rebuild.
“The Lord brought people from OB from the other side of the world to unite with us in an alliance to help rebuild. If this had relied solely on human strength, it would not have been possible,” said Santos.
While some volunteers worked on the church, others focused on Suellen Da Silva’s community center, known as Sohnos e Sabores, or Dreams and Flavors.
For years, this center served as a refuge for hundreds of underprivileged individuals, providing hot meals, clothing, and showers. Unfortunately, it also sustained significant damage.
“I’ll be honest: life in this community is very difficult,” Suellen Da Silva told CBN News. “Many people are homeless and live in precarious conditions. Most earn a living by collecting trash and recycling. There’s a lack of everything – water, sanitation, food. The community center was their only lifeline.”
Through four months of work, Operation Blessing helped install new showers, toilets, a kitchen, a dining area, and a classroom with desks for children.
“I am filled with gratitude for OB. Nothing this significant has ever happened to me, and you can’t imagine how many people benefit from this center each day. They come here for lunch, dinner, and showers. OB will be forever loved by this community,” Suellen said.
The catastrophic flooding also made existing water quality issues worse in Rio Grande do Sul, contaminating local water sources with debris, pollutants, and sewage, making safe drinking water even more scarce.
“It’s been very challenging because the post-disaster, post-cleanup is always more complicated,” said Juber Teixeira, a pastor with Bethel Church.
In some rural and underserved areas, Operation Blessing partnered with Bethel Church to provide residents clean water, food supplies, and hygiene kits.
During the floods in Brazil, many families lost their businesses, leaving them without a livelihood. We are proud to help these families start over by providing everything they need to reactivate their businesses and regain stability. With your support, this is possible. Thanks! pic.twitter.com/JDBsVYKdMr
— Diego Traverso (@diegofilmmaker) June 20, 2024
CBN News covered a recent outreach as the two groups assisted numerous families and set up a mobile laundry service.
“Today, we are serving 170 families in the Fatima neighborhood, one of the areas most affected by the flood,” said Teixeira. “We are distributing food boxes, hygiene kits, cleaning supplies, blankets, and our mobile laundromat is washing clothes for the residents.”
Operation Blessing also worked with Pastor Mateus Holz Tasso soon after the disaster to help tens of thousands affected by the flooding.
“We always pray to be witnesses of God and when the flooding happened in a way that we never imagined, it gave us a huge opportunity to share God’s love,” said Tasso, pastor of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord.
Pastor Tasso says he saw a record number of people coming to church for the first time.
Among them was Gabriel Rodriguez, a community leader, who was touched by Operation Blessing volunteers and church members who frequently worked in his neighborhood.
“I’ll keep going to church because it brings me peace, it brings me tranquility during this period of chaos we are living in,” Rodriguez told CBN News. “It’s overwhelming but there in the church I can find myself.”
Five months later, as the state of Rio Grande do Sul rebuilds, Traverso sees resilience and spirit here, showing that even amid challenges, compassion and community can lead to recovery and renewal.
“Most of the businesses that we helped reopen, they want to reinvest their profits. They want to charge even less of what they used to charge. Why? Because they want to bless the community,” said Traverso.
Great news from Brazil! Today, a family that lost everything in the floods has relaunched their food truck, thanks to Operation Blessing and our amazing partners. Just a month after the disaster, this is a testament to resilience and hope.”God is our refuge and strength,” OB pic.twitter.com/vRu29A2P0v
— Diego Traverso (@diegofilmmaker) June 11, 2024
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