It is the time of year when most of us plan to give. Sometimes it is a puppy for the family at Christmas. Sometimes it is treating ourselves to that delicious dessert. Sometimes it is a generous donation to the local outreach center. Whatever your year-end plans are, please consider including the children, the families and the refugees that Feeding The Nations reaches every day.
You can be the difference between hope and heartache in the coming year!
We received a desperate plea for food, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and hygiene products. Children are suffering from skin infections due to lack of soap and basic hygiene; besides suffering from ongoing malnourishment due to lack of food.
You might not have heard about this in the news, mainly because the news cycle moves on to the “next” crisis, the next “new” news of the day. For some, what is happening in Venezuela is old news. But not for us.
We just received word that the rice meals previously sent are all gone. But there are still many children who need help. Just two weeks ago, the organization we are working with was helping a toddler, Santiago, who was severely malnourished and needed immediate medical attention. He was also suffering from a skin infection due to lack of soap. Tragically, he died.
Friends, this is an immediate need. We have the food in our warehouse. We have collected some of the hygiene products. What we need are the funds to purchase more soap, and ship the supplies to Venezuela.
Because of Venezuela’s current political climate, we cannot send a container at this time. Instead, supplies must be sent one pallet at a time. The goal is to send 12 pallets over a two month period. Friends, this will cost $24,000.
How can you help? Can you send one pallet ($2,000)? Maybe two? Perhaps your church can sponsor several pallets. Every bit helps to send these emergency supplies to those who desperately need it; innocent children who are suffering and even dying.
Thank you for your compassion, for your willingness to show God’s love to people you may never meet this side of heaven. We love because He first loved us. Thank you for showing hurting people His love.
Our annual Beans and Rice challenge is November 11-15 and we are excited! What’s the beans and rice challenge you ask? We’ve all heard the saying “walk a mile in another man’s shoes” well, a few years ago we decided to “eat a week from another man’s bowl.” We wanted a way to connect on a very small level with what people all over the world are experiencing daily.
We are blessed with so much choice here in the States. Many people around the world have no food choice. It’s eat what’s available or don’t eat at all. We thought, what if we eat beans and rice every meal for a week and give what we would normally spend on food to those who have nothing?
I can say from experience that it has impacted my family. After two dinners of beans and rice my sons are asking “Beans and rice again? Why?” And we love the questions! That’s another reason we began the challenge—to raise questions and share with our family and others, what other families are facing around the world. It has been amazing to see the awareness in my little boys. They truly feel for children who may only have one simple meal of beans and rice a day. Their hearts are moved with compassion They want to reach out. They want to help.
Perhaps you want to help too, but because of scheduling or dietary restrictions your family can’t eat beans and rice every night for a week. What can you do? There are so many ways we can help. Let’s let our compassion move us to action. I’m hoping your family will join me and my family for the Beans and Rice challenge November 11-15.
Thank you,
Josh Page-Wood
Feeding The Nations Co-Director
P.S. Anyone who donates $35.00 or more will receive a beans and rice t-shirt!
-Josh Page-Wood, FTN Co-Director
During the ISIS attacks in Syria and Iraq, people were forced to flee and sought safe haven wherever they could. The large number of Inter Displaced Persons and Refuges in the region led to the establishment of many camps in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. One of our partners, Barzani Charity Foundation, is currently managing 13 camps. Right now, 21,749 families are living between the 13 camps.
Qasim*, is a
father with special needs, he has 3 children and a wife. They are living on
Sinjar Mountain. They fled from Sinjar city to the mountain during the ISIS
attack. He is physically disabled, he cannot walk or work. He is not able to provide
his family with their basic needs.
The food boxes provide them with necessary food items. It is not a stretch to
say that without the food assistance Qasim’s family would not be able to
survive.
Layal* is a single mom, whose husband was killed by ISIS. She lives in a refugee camp with 3 daughters and disabled son. She is working on daily basis in a center inside the camp, but her salary doesn’t cover the needs of her family and her son’s medications. Receiving food boxes has had a great impact on her life and her children’s lives by filling gaps of their needs in food items. She is so grateful.
Fatma*, is a beautiful 9 year old little girl who lives with her family in one of the camps. During an ISIS attack on their town, her family fled their home seeking a safe place and came to one of the camps. When they arrived, they were in a very bad situation, arriving with nothing. After their arrival to the camp and receiving a tent, immediately they were provided with food boxes to save them from hunger.
Please pray for the Syrian, Iraqi and Kurdish people. Due to the recent military attacks from Turkey, many have been forced to leave their homes and flee for their lives, after having already survived unspeakable circumstances. The Barzani Charity Foundation is preparing for an influx of Kurdish and Syrian families who are fleeing the violence. The situation on the ground is dire and they need our support. Please, give today. Thank you.
The lunches are packed, the school supplies are bought, forms are filled out, sports practices have started, School has begun!
The start of a new school year brings excitement! It’s a time to set new goals and return to routine after all of the summer fun.
Students in other countries are excited about the new school year too, but probably not for the same reasons as our kids and grandkids who are excited to see friends, or get a new lunchbox and backpack. You see, it’s a sad reality that many children don’t have access to food on a regular basis unless they are at school. In the United States, children thankfully have access to government-funded school meal programs, many of which operate all year long.
In other parts of the world, children, in many cases, go to school not to receive an education, but to receive food. Public and private schools alike are able to provide meals only through the generous donations of people like you.
With the start of this new school year, schools need help. If it weren’t for the hope and assistance that feeding programs provide families, even the very young could be placed in the workforce or in very dangerous trafficking situations. Food is often sent home to the families of these precious children. Through the schools, families are given support and help for a better future.
I’ve been in the home of a family in Zambia. Their home was a tent. When their little boy came home from school, he brought his mama food. They were so grateful. Because their son went to school, they had food to eat.
Because of your faithful giving, schools in Nicaragua, Haiti, Zambia and Malawi have been helped with ongoing school feeding programs. With your continued support, breakfasts and lunches can be given to school children around the world. When children receive food at school, they are more likely to stay in school and continue with their education. Education is the key to a future that is different, brighter, and more secure than the reality they are living in.
THANK YOU for your donation. Thank you for having compassion on a generation of world changers just waiting to make their mark on their corner of the globe. God bless.
For the Hungry,
Steve Sumrall
