India (MNN) ― Global food prices have soared by more than 60% in the last year. Coupled with an explosion of rats in India's Northeast, there's an increasing fear that the situation could worsen.
The rat population in Mizoram and Manipur has experienced a massive growth because of an increase in food supply (flowering bamboo). Once those seeds are gone, the rats move on to rice paddies and other crops. When that food sources is exhausted, they begin to attack stored grain.
FARMS International's Joseph Richter says their partners in Nagaland confirm a dire situation. "By June of this year, they expect the situation to become very dire. The fear is that next year there'll be famine in Nagaland. Our committee there reports that even now in the state south of them, Mizoram, people there are dying because of lack of food."
Richter says they're likely to increase the number of ministry projects and evangelism in response. "The local church is really God's plan for community development and community outreach. and we feel that a strong church supported by its members and its tithing and giving is the most effective way to reach out into a community."
The ministry works through local churches to help disciple families and teach the biblical necessity of tithing and generous giving. In a recent letter from their team, one member writes, "The individual entrepreneurs are an outstanding example of self-dependence and dignity of labor. This no doubt has helped a long way in the growth of the local churches, especially in rural areas."
