Aria stood alone in her kitchen, preparing her family’s dinner. She hauled an oversized pot onto the stovetop and slowly poured in cooking oil. She cut up vegetables and meat just as her mother had shown her when she was a little girl. Now at 14 years old, Aria knew her way around the kitchen. While the oil warmed on the stovetop, she continued to prepare the other ingredients.
That’s when the bomb hit her house.
Everything happened at once. The kitchen exploded. The oil in the pot ignited. And suddenly, Aria realized she was on fire. What was left of the room filled with the smell of burning flesh.
Her family rushed her to a hospital, praying the entire way that doctors would be able to save her life.
Now Aria, whose name we’ve changed to protect her identity, lives in a refugee camp along with many other people whose lives were destroyed by the Syrian civil war.
It’s been several years since Aria’s kitchen — and her entire world — exploded. But it’s been only a few months since she made a full recovery.
After paying her initial medical bills and being forced to flee their home, Aria’s parents couldn’t afford the surgery she needed to treat the extensive burns all over her back. She hated looking at her reflection, a constant reminder of the worst moment she had ever experienced. She even tried to end her own life.
That’s when someone’s compassion gave Aria the gift of physical and spiritual healing.
She learned that a generous donor provided what was needed for her surgery … and her entire outlook changed.
It was at the hospital that Aria met many other people who were physically and spiritually scarred by the violence. One particular boy, whom we’ll call Amhed, captured her attention. He had lost his entire family — and both his legs — in an explosion not much different from the one that had hit her own home.
When Aria met Amhed, he was waiting for prosthetics. She was so touched by his story that when a body tissue donation necessary for her surgery finally arrived, she ask that it be used for the procedure he needed instead.
She was grateful for the gift of healing someone had given her, and she wanted to pay it forward by helping someone else.
Soon after, another tissue donation arrived, and the doctors performed Aria’s reconstructive surgery.
As soon as she woke up from the anesthesia, Aria went to visit and comfort the younger children in the pediatric section of the hospital. She now works regularly as a volunteer at a medical clinic, spreading the hope and compassion that was given to her.
That’s the kind of powerful impact you make, too, when you provide lifesaving aid. You help rescue a person like Aria and demonstrate an incredible, selfless love.
Without help, someone may not receive the urgent medical attention, food, or other supplies they desperately need.
But your generosity meets critical needs and also gives someone the opportunity to hear the Gospel since all aid is distributed by local believers and Christian partners.
And there is no healing balm like the peace of Jesus Christ.