East Africa Relief Efforts

 

“We have received distress calls from our missionaries,” says Rev. Henry Okodi* of Kenya. “Their communities are in dire need of basic food and water.”

Rev. Okodi leads a network of churches in East Africa, where rains have failed and millions of poor, rural families have lost their crops and have no food to eat. He says that Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are experiencing the worst drought in over 60 years.

Aaron Kiambu*, another local pastor says that, “pastoralists moved their herds to Somalia in search of pasture and water, as they often have done in such droughts. But they found worse conditions there. And those who went to Ethiopia were just as disappointed.”

“It has become difficult to share the love of Christ with someone who has lost their livelihood and is facing starvation,” says Reverend Okodi, whose ministry works directly with people in the bush who have no food.

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Reverend Okodi leads a well-established Christian ministry of 60 church planters who are working in communities across East Africa. The missionaries serve very poor people who often hold to superstitious beliefs that mix both Islam and witchcraft.

In addition to planting churches, Rev. Okodi's ministry reaches out to refugees from nearby countries who have been displaced by war, famine, and extreme poverty. Christian ministry in this context involves addressing the physical and emotional needs of the people, which includes food security programs and water projects.

Helping with "two hands"

“We want to extend two hands to reach the lost and minister to the physical and spiritual well-being of the people in distress,” explains Rev. Okodi. "We have worked in this region for over 20 years. Now, in the face of a disaster of this magnitude, I hear the voice of Jesus who commanded his disciples to 'give them something to eat. (Mark 6:37)'”

The East Africa famine relief project extends Rev. Okodi's missionary work by offering life-saving assistance to people who are facing loss of livelihoods and starvation. Your partnership in this critical project supports three critical initiatives over the next six months.

Help support three life-saving interventions

1. Distribute famine survival kits to 2,000 families in three of the hardest-hit counties in Kenya. Each famine survival kit costs $40 and provides one family with a month's supply of rice, lentils, sorghum and cooking oil. A gift of $240 provides food for six months, until the next rainy season.
2. Establish rescue centres to provide emergency food for 2,200 children who will receive a nutritious Unimix porridge and a lunch. As part of this intervention, 400 vulnerable children under age 5 will receive a package of medicines to prevent dehydration and death. An entire month of the child health and feeding program can be funded for $20,000.
3. Dig five borehole wells to provide a dependable water supply for families and their livestock. In one community, the borehole well will also provide water for irrigating crops. The ministry will work closely with local chiefs to select the best locations for each of the five wells. Each well costs $1,720.

Please consider joining Pastor Okodi to help provide life-saving food for families caught in the grip of this terrible disaster. The emergency food aid you provide will be distributed in those communities where the government and other agencies have a limited presence.

*Names have been changed to protect identities in this sensitive region

 

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