(Photo courtesy BGR via Twitter)
International (MNN) — Most people hear the word famine so much that they’ve become immune to it. They’ve stopped paying attention. It’s just another word. But ignoring it doesn’t make the problem go away. In fact, it makes the problem worse. Fortunately, Baptist Global Response (BGR) has stationed help around the world and is partnering with clinics to create a solution.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), around 795 million people don’t have enough food to live a healthy lifestyle.
WFP says worldwide, around 3.1 million children under the age of 5 die each year from malnutrition.
Can you imagine putting your child to bed every night, knowing they didn’t eat that day, and they wouldn’t eat the next?
All Africa News shares the story of Lamanara Diallo, a 67-year-old farmer, with a wife, seven kids, and worries of how he’s going to feed them. After several years of rain and crop failure, Diallo had to start borrowing money to buy food. For the last months, his family has only been able to afford a bowl of wild leaves with a little maize once a day. If rains don’t come this year, “it will be a disaster.”
In the Bible, Jesus reminds us that if one part of the church suffers, the whole church suffers. Remembering this, Baptist Global Response has been providing support at clinics both physically and spiritually.
They tell the story of one orphaned baby who had stopped eating after his mother had died. For four days, his grandparents searched for ways to feed him and for foods he would eat. They even tried cow’s milk, but he wouldn’t take it. Since they lived in the middle of the desert, they lived too far from stores that sold a formula. But, they traveled to a clinic that partners with BGR and distributes a formula. Finally after days of refusing food, he ate.
There are stories like this everywhere around the world, but in some instances, like Diallo’s, the problems aren’t solved unless someone acts. Will you? Pray for families who are struggling with malnutrition and donate to the hungry here. Pray for BGR as they reach out to help the hungry, both physically and spiritually.
