On Our Cover lasting peace has remained elusive for many Congolese, but more than ever that hope is near.
6:8 Magazine, Fall 2008, Volume 9 6:8 is a quarterly magazine of Food for the Hungry that highlights stories of physical and spiritual transformation through the grace of God and affirms the role of partners and supporters in making a difference in the lives of the poor around the world. Platimum Award Winner, MarComm Creative Awards and Award of Distinction, The Communicator Awards
President Benjamin K. Homan Vice President Matt Panos Sr. Director, Ministry Partners John Frick Executive Editor Greg Forney Managing Editor Rez Gopez-Sindac Senior Graphic Designer Lisa Leff Assistant Writer Dana Ryan Editorial Resource Heidi Hatch We welcome comments and feedback. E-mail us at: 6-8magazine@fh.org Or send them to: Food for the Hungry 6:8 Magazine 1224 E. Washington Street Phoenix, AZ 85034 Phone: 480-998-3100 (Toll free) 800-2-HUNGERS Food for the Hungry thanks photographer and advocate Rodney Rascona for providing us with excellent photography. We also thank O’Neil Printing for their support in maintaining graphic industry standards at reduced costs, allowing us to be faithful stewards of God’s gifts and resources. Food for the Hungry is a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Copyright 2008 by Food for the Hungry. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this publication without written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited.
Contents FALL 2008
5 Editor’s Letter 6 From the President
LIKE WALKING SKELETONS
10 FH News 18 One at a Time
REDEMPTION OF A CHILD SOLDIER
22 Frontliners
mentor to pastors
26
Cover Story
SEEKING PEACE IN A KILLING FIELD Deeply wounded by years of conflict and violence, the Democratic Republic of the Congo cries for lasting peace and true prosperity.
32 Vision Partners
CELEBRATING A CHAMPION
This publication is in compliance with the FSC and is printed with soy-based inks.
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Editor’s Letter As the hot Arizona summer started to fade this past
August, albeit a slow fade, our house was getting ready for “back to school.” Armed with a list prepared by my wife, I braved the mad rush of parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters running up and down store aisles and snatching up school supplies like they were candy. My 5-year-old son, eagerly looking forward to his first day as a kindergartner, hunted and gathered the items on his list with great passion. My 8-year-old son, more in tune with the reality that the summer break was nearing its end, was a little less enthusiastic. They both, however, never thought about dropping out of school to help feed our family. And I – a parent wanting what is best for my children – was not confronted with the difficult questions many poor families around the world ask themselves. Questions like: “Should I take my children out of school… …to wait in food lines? …to scrounge for food in garbage cans? …to walk miles for water? …to earn extra income? …to help care for our family? These are choices we don’t normally face in America. But for families in poverty-stricken countries around the world – and especially during this time of food crisis – these are certainly life-or-death decisions. When impoverished families are constantly faced with these kinds of choices, it is easy to understand how poverty can be a vicious cycle that continues for generations – unless something is done to break it. Simply throwing resources into a community or family without addressing the root problem can only help temporarily and may breed dependency. Food for the Hungry enters into a community not to bring a myriad of resources, but to help people discover and develop the resources that already exist in their community. We walk alongside churches, leaders and families to help them build a better future and fulfill God’s purpose in their lives. But even
as we initiate projects to meet their immediate and long-term needs, we humbly acknowledge that it is God who sparks real transformation. He is the One who brings change that lasts. Change like that experienced by Agnes (One at a Time), who was once on the brink of suicide but is now a smallbusiness owner and able to provide for her family. Change like that promoted by Pastor Alacha in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who teaches Congolese how to love and forgive one another in the aftermath of war and conflict (Cover story) and by Pastor Tomas, who equips pastors in the villages of Mozambique to be effective messengers of Christ (Frontliners). And change made possible by passionate friends of Food for the Hungry like you and Thomas Kelley (Vision Partners). As we lovingly provide food, shelter and education to our own children, let us remember the countless boys and girls in the poorest places in the world who go to bed hungry and drop out of school because they have to work to feed their families. As we lift them up to God in prayer, may we be sensitive to how God would want us to help change the plight of hundreds of thousands of families faced with difficult choices. We all can make a difference. By God’s grace and through your faithful support, these children can stay in school, their families can be equipped to meet their own needs, and many communities can be transformed. Thank you for joining with us to end physical and spiritual hungers worldwide.
GREG FORNEY is executive editor of Food for the Hungry’s quarterly magazine, 6:8. He is also Creative Services director at Food for the Hungry’s U.S. headquarters located in Phoenix. You can email him at greg.forney@fh.org.
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from the president
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The wrath of the global food crisis falls heaviest on the poorest of the poor who struggle daily just to stay alive. Our loving God compels us to respond to their cries.
The global food crisis is real. I have seen it with my own eyes in urban centers and forgotten villages around the world. And the global food crisis is not simply about soaring prices and a shortage of food. It includes that, of course, but the global food crisis has a human face. Countless faces, actually, and if you stare into them, you cannot remain silent or inactive. If you hear their voices, they are not unlike an echo of the words of David in the Psalms. They cry out for help, for intervention. The voices are urgent. And God has given His people eyes to see and ears to hear. And it is also God who calls His people to take action: to care and to respond. And that is what Food for the Hungry is doing. But first, you must look into the faces. And, we’ll start with two, the faces of two mothers toughened by decades of living in one of the worst slums of Manila in the Philippines. To look at these women, you cannot help but see a deep fear etched across their brows and stretched tight and thin over their cheekbones. “We have never seen it
this bad; we are worried.” It is as if their leathery skin quivers with each word. These mothers live at the epicenter of the world’s food crisis. In an urban jungle like Manila, a city with the highest population density in the world, people have no place to plant crops or cultivate a garden. Their food must be purchased, not grown. They are at the mercy of escalating food costs, trapped in a deadly spiral of global events that they cannot control. Instead, they can only twist
and reel from food prices that may mean life or death – for them and for their families. Even if they can scrape together enough money for some of their food ration, it may mean not enough money is left for rent, for schooling or even medicine. The high price of food can be like a death warrant. The grim choices presented by the food crisis emboldened these two mothers to speak with me. Small in stature and with a gaunt appearance that made them appear almost like
Yet I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. – Psalm 40:17
Vulnerable children are most affected by the food crisis.
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Many of the poor in Manila, a city with the highest population density in the world, live in congested slum areas with no place to plant crops. (Inset) Malnutrition contributes to the high death rate among children in developing countries.
Our diet is now rice alone; we cannot afford to put anything on top of the rice.
walking skeletons, one of the mothers walked with a limp and held an umbrella that she used as a cane. These were strong women who were unafraid to describe the terrible options that lay in front of them. Stick-like arms hung from their tiny shoulders as they told of the consequences of the food crisis and sky-rocketing prices for rice and other food. “We live by the river. Some of us and some of the children live under the bridge.” “Our diet is now rice alone; we cannot afford to put anything on top of the rice. Most of the fathers cannot find work.” Their slight frames suggested also that these women had already sacrificed their own well-being for the sake of their families. I stared into their faces and saw determination to survive. It will be a fight on so many different fronts. There will be a battle to keep the children in school instead of roaming the streets to search for scraps of food. There will be the temptation to simply feed children diluted coffee or tea, artificially stimulating them with caffeine 8
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instead of real nutrition. “The families are tense. Parents argue because of the cruel choices created by the lack of money to buy food.” “We cannot buy fruit or vegetables or meat any more; the children are not eating enough. Even the rice has turned bad. We cannot afford good rice.” “We are worried. The people may turn to violence. Prices for everything have risen. Even people trained to make crafts can no longer afford to buy supplies to do their livelihoods. Things are very bad. We do not know what will happen next.”
[ FROM THE PRESIDENT ]
The fear was palpable. The uncertainty is real. The food crisis is not only global, it is local – and it has a face. It is a face that cries out, and it is a face that Food for the Hungry is privileged, in the name of our Savior, to assist with care and dignity. Here is how. Food for the Hungry has… 1. Assessed the situation in our fields around the world. This is information gathered from field and community workers and volunteers whose “boots are on the ground” in the places most affected.The picture is not good. Pressure is felt everywhere, made even more stark by high fuel prices. 2. Focused our first emergency response to the food crisis on urban, peri-urban areas and small towns where the need is greatest because of people’s inability to grow food themselves. These families and children completely rely on market purchases for their household needs – and the unbelievable increase in food prices in the last year has significantly diminished their ability to buy basic staples, leading to intensified malnutrition, especially among children. 3. Prioritized assistance to places where we have existing staff, and the capacity to verify that assistance will reach people in need (for example, in the communities where many of our sponsored children live). In fact, where we can, we are making sure children have enough to eat – and enough energy to stay with their education – by providing them solid lunches given in many schools. It has a double impact: food for the day AND an incentive for education.
4. Raised our ministry alert status to “yellow,” recognizing that in some communities where we serve, rioting and food-related violence has already happened or simmers close beneath the surface. We also have asked friends like you to consider helping with a “little or a lot extra” financial help.We can make it stretch so far… 5. Committed ourselves to continue to speak out for more international assistance and intervention. Not long ago, I met privately with the U.S. government’s Secretary of Agriculture urging strong and bold action in sharing America’s resources. I followed the honorable secretary to the podium at the International Food Aid Conference a few months ago and urged generous assistance be made available at every level in order to save lives. Also, in my role as the chairman of the Alliance for Food Aid, I will continue to speak out on behalf of the world’s poor.
For more information on the Global Food Crisis, please visit our web site at www.fh.org/food crisis.
During World War I, people around the world turned their face toward the suffering of Europe. War had disrupted the planting of food. Harvest season would come and go – and with nothing to offer families and children. In the United States, President Woodrow Wilson launched a bi-partisan effort to provide for starving people, many of them in Belgium. He reached across political boundaries and invited a man named Herbert Hoover to coordinate a response. Hoover assessed the situation and came to the conclusion that there was just not enough food around – unless people made personal sacrifices. He asked the American people to respond: “Meatless Mondays” and “Wheatless Wednesdays” became the practice of ordinary families from coast to coast.The response was overwhelming. Through personal sacrifice in the lunchrooms and on the supper tables, millions of families helped create a food surplus that sent tons of food to people who otherwise would have died a slow and painful death due to starvation. The global food crisis is just what it sounds like. It is GLOBAL. It is a CRISIS. And it hits people at their most basic level of need: FOOD. When I consider the faces of the people that I have met and I reflect on how they care just as much for their children as I do for my own, I cannot help but respond. The crisis may seem
the global food crisis is just what it sounds like. it is global. it is a crisis. and feel invisible, but their cries are real. Their faces are not invented. They are people endowed with value and worth – and it is my privilege to honor and worship God by expressing His love to them. Just as we are reminded in Isaiah 58:7 (“Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?”), I pray that may God grant us His grace as we extend His care – and as we give food for the hungry.9
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FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY News
Pork sales are expected to stimulate Rwanda’s economy.
pork processing plant opens in rwanda
A Food for the Hungry counselor prays with a woman at Padibe camp in Northern Uganda.
UGANDANS TRAINED IN COUNSELING At Food for the Hungry’s New Life Center in Kitgum, Uganda, 74 northern Ugandans have received more than 120 hours of training in Christian counseling with an emphasis on trauma and HIV/AIDS in light of the conflict in northern Uganda caused by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The newly trained counselors live in several
internally displaced person’s (IDP) camps scattered outside of Kitgum where they provide counseling to their neighbors, referring severe cases to Food for the Hungry’s live-in rehabilitation program. The rehabilitation program at the New Life Center provides counseling, skills training and literacy classes for women abducted by the LRA.
church raises $54,000 to build wells in peru Last year, Senior Pastor Jimmy Jones of Horizons Community Church in Ham Lake, Minn., challenged his congregation to partner with Food for the Hungry and fund eight new water wells in Pucallpa, Peru. To help the congregation visualize what the water tower looked like, several members of the church built a scaled version of a water tower in the main sanctuary. Pastor Jones asked families to spend half of what they would normally spend on Christmas and bring the other half as a birthday gift to Jesus on Christmas Eve to help provide the funding for the water projects. 10 FALL FALL 2008 2008 10
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“Our church family gave $54,021.02 to help fund the projects,” Pastor Jones says. “So I said, ‘let’s finish the cost of all eight wells this next Christmas’ – and the people cheered that idea on!” Horizons Community Church will help build water towers, like the one pictured at right, in Pucallpa, Peru.
In Rwanda, Food for the Hungry started the Rwandan Meat Suppliers (RMS) company as a pilot venture and hopes to put $400,000 into the hands of local pig farmers during the first year of operation. RMS runs the first pork processing plant in Rwanda approved by the Rwandan Bureau of Standards. The goal is to create a midlevel business industry that connects smallholding independent entrepreneurs with larger formal markets. “RMS will hopefully be an avenue for sustainable economic development in poor communities that will help people to overcome poverty in Rwanda,” says Samuel Adams, Food for the Hungry regional economic development officer.
words to live by
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. – Isaiah 25:4
global food crisis • overseas involvement through c2c • new life center counseling
american churches partner with communities abroad
RESPONDING TO THE GLOBAL FOOD CRISIS
Food for the Hungry responds to the global food crisis through a number of ways. One is through a voucher system that allows families in at-risk countries to purchase vegetables, grains and legumes from local markets. Another way is by shipping food packets containing rice, soy protein and other vitamins and minerals to the most vulnerable communities around the world. Moreover, Food for the Hungry helps intensify food production activities in many rural areas through seeds distribution as well as by providing families training in agricultural production, pest control and post-harvest storage.
In June 2005, Eastpointe Christian Church of Scarborough, Maine, made a commitment to Hacia El Desarrollo in Peru through Food for the Hungry’s Community to Community (C2C) program, a holistic partnership between American churches and communities in foreign countries. “We wanted a relationship with a community struggling in poverty,” says Food for the Hungry advocate and Eastpointe Church member Sean Flathers.“We didn’t just want to send a donation every month. We wanted to get involved in God’s global purpose.” Through the C2C program, an American church partners with a developing community in Africa, Asia or Latin America. Church members sponsor individual children in their partner community and they get to know their community personally through short-term teams, community updates and prayer.
To learn more about how your church can develop a C2C relationship, or to watch video clips from a C2C church, visit www. fh.org/c2c.
Food for the Hungry supports deworming campaign
Poverty Unlocked is a new four-week course designed for Sunday school classes and small groups that looks at what the Bible says about poverty and how Christians are called to respond. To learn more or to request the Poverty Unlocked curriculum for your church or small group, contact the Advocate Ministry at 1-800-248-6437, ext. 1106.
Food for the Hungry donated 1.2 million tablets of anti-parasite medication to Nicaragua’s Ministry of Health in support of its National Vaccination and Deparasiting Campaign in spring 2008. In addition to the medicine donation, Food for the Hungry staff organized a “parasite museum” in collaboration with the National University of Nicaragua to educate children on prevention of intestinal worms. The museum included samples of various kinds of parasites in jars as well as specimens that children could look at using microscopes. Visual presentations of the parasite life cycle and preventative measures to avoid infection were also part of the museum. Pastor David Zelaya of the City of God Church in Chichigalpa saw the
effects firsthand. “The parents in Tololar told me about how their children insisted on washing their hands before eating dinner. The children were very impacted by the site of the live parasites. Now they understand much better what can happen when they don’t take care of themselves.”
Hunger Corps Maria Saeli teaches about parasites.
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reconstruction efforts in chengdu • hurricane alma relief • go ed. in uganda, thailand
RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS UNDERWAY IN CHINA
Many survivors of the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that hit China’s Sichuan province in May 2008 lost their homes and other possessions. The Food for the Hungry team in Chengdu, China, is joining reconstruction efforts as the response has transitioned from relief to long-term work. “We are planning to help build a community clinic that will be strategically located next to a local registered church,” says Jared Utterback, Food for the Hungry community development manager in Chengdu. “Hundreds of these churches were damaged and our Chinese partners are planning to rebuild several of them that were utterly destroyed.” While plans to rebuild
Food for the Hungry President Ben Homan (left) and Payap University President Dr. Pradit Takerngrangsarit (right) sign the memorandum of agreement.
Adam Henry, leader for the Food for the Hungry team in Chengdu, shares a smile with earthquake survivors.
take shape, millions of Chinese are suffering from emotional trauma as they deal with grief over the loss of loved ones. Adam Henry, the leader of the Food for the Hungry team in Chengdu, says survivors experience deep pain. “There were an estimated
11,000 children who perished in the earthquake,” says Henry. “Please remember the parents who lost a child. Remember also the children who lost their families or are temporarily separated from their families because of the earthquake.” Chris Sprague interviews displaced families.
Go Ed. students help displaced families in uganda Chris Sprague and Justin Herfst, two college students participating in Food for the Hungry’s Go ED. program, played a big role in bringing emergency relief to 400 displaced families in Uganda. Sprague and Herfst learned of the displacement while completing their practicum studies in Uganda. They observed families sleeping in caves or in open spaces. After talking with the families, Sprague drafted a relief proposal and sent it to Food for the Hungry’s relief unit.Within a few days, the proposal was approved. Soon after, Food for the Hungry, in partnership with other nonprofit organizations, distributed tarps, blankets, jerry cans, and water purification tablets to the affected families. As a result of Sprague’s demonstration of compassionate care, he was nominated by Go ED. faculty members for a Forum Undergraduate Research Award. According to the organization’s Web site (www.forumea.org/research-awards.htm), “nominated research is a testimony to students’ understanding of other cultures and societies.”
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GO ED. PROGRAM TO BE LAUNCHED IN THAILAND Food for the Hungry President and CEO Benjamin Homan and Dr. Pradit Takerngrangsarit, president of Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand, signed a memorandum of agreement in June establishing Payap University as the credit-awarding institution for Food for the Hungry’s Go ED. “Mekong” program set to launch in 2009. Participating students will complete a semester of study based out of Chiang Mai that includes practicum at sites across Southeast Asia where Food for the Hungry works. Payap University is a private Christian institution that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees to students from all over the world. Plans are also underway for a Go ED. program in Bolivia with a start date of spring 2010. For more information about Go ED., visit www.go-ed.net.
facts on Bolivia • Bolivia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Latin America. • The country is rich in natural resources.
FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY News
HURRICANE VICTIMS RECEIVE HELP
On May 29, Hurricane Alma slammed into Nicaragua’s Pacific Coast and dumped heavy rain on low-lying coastal areas, provoking flooding and infrastructural damage throughout the western region. In El Limonal, a community where Food for the Hungry has been working for more than five years, the hurricane destroyed houses, trees and latrines. Within hours of the storm, local community leaders visited families and prayed with them. The next day, Food for the Hungry staff Mike and Maria Saeli and Mike Coberley visited the community to assess the damage and help distribute 260 yards of black plastic and other emergency items to affected families. “The plastic was greatly needed,” Mike Coberley said. “We had about four large rolls, and within an hour [local] Pastor Crespin had distributed one of them. But just as importantly, people needed to know that they were not alone and that we can help, when the need arises.” (Pamela Neumann, FH/Nicaragua communications specialist)
Hunger Corps Mike Saeli helped Rosa, a member of El Limonal, clean up damage caused by Hurricane Alma.
Wisconsin church helps plant gardens, brings medicine In early 2008, 10 members of St. Rafael’s Catholic Church in Osh Kosh, Wis., worked alongside community members in El Ojoche, Nicaragua, to plant patio gardens and provide medical consults and medicine to more than 300 individuals in the surrounding area. In El Ojoche, a small rural community near the Honduras border, team members helped construct compost bins and irrigation systems, and implemented soil hydration techniques that community members learned at an agricultural training farm. Others helped provide health checkA nurse from St. Raphael’s Catholic Church team ups in the communities of El Ojoche, San Miguelito, performs a medical check-up. and La Carreta. The local health committees organized the clinics by setting up private consult rooms and creating a list of patients, with the most medically needy at the top of the list. Food for the Hungry team members also had opportunities to interact with community members during home visits and while making pottery together.
global food crisis stats The food crisis threatens to plunge more than 100 million people into hunger (Quote, World Food Program). More than 2 billion people are affected.
The cost of food: Facts and figures (BBC News) Prices rise in a single year (March 07-March 08). Corn: 31% Rice: 74% Soya: 87% Wheat: 130%
experience the hope
Four years ago, Thomas and Nicola Winkel traveled to Indonesia with Food for the Hungry after the devastating tsunami. Their new book, Transformation from Tragedy: Stories of Hope, Faith & Community after the Tsunami, brings an incredible story of faith and humanity to life with full-color pages and vivid storytelling. Signed copies are available from the authors at www.TransformationBook.com.
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FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY News $87M awarded to fund food security programs
Globally, approximately 50 percent of all HIV-positive people are female. Conference participants continue a conversation they began during a breakout session.
Conference prompts action
To care for the poor in a holistic way is the unifying call that emerged at the conclusion of the Transformational Development (TD) Conference. Hosted by Food for the Hungry and George Fox University, the conference was attended by key leaders in education, missions, philanthropy and relief and development sectors. Plenary speaker Dr. Bryant Myers heralded the conference as “the first significant evangelical gathering on transformational development in the last decade.” Myers is author of Walking with the Poor and a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary. What unfolded during the event was dynamic and lively discussion about some of the greatest challenges and opportunities of Christian relief and development work. What emerged were proposals of best practice, stories of transformation, and more significant questions for exploration. Questions asked during the conference: • How should biblical theology shape not just our motivations but our day-to-day operations? • How can we participate as both agents of transformation and subjects in need of transformation? • Why must we seek the restoration of both the broken individual, as well as the broken system?
Food for the Hungry is privileged to coordinate the TD conference and commits to serve the development community through similar initiatives.
music lovers respond to children in poverty
Food for the Hungry partners with Christian musicians in speaking up for the poor year-round, but the summertime is when things really kick into high gear. Between May and September 2008,Food for the Hungry participated in eight Christian music festivals across the nation, encouraging fans to join Food for the Hungry’s child sponsorship program. Families, youth groups, corporate offices and individuals responded to the call by sponsoring nearly 700 children around the world! “The summer music festivals are a great way to get the word out about sponsorship,” says Bonnie Chavez, Food for the Hungry chief sponsorship officer. I believe God is using music to impact the lives of children and families in a powerful way.”
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Volunteers stand ready to help festivalgoers become child sponsors.
Food for the Hungry was awarded more than $87 million by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for its long-term food security programs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($11.5 million), Ethiopia ($48 million) and Mozambique ($17.5 million). In addition, USAID’s Office of Food for Peace also granted Food for the Hungry $2.3 million in cash to complete the final year of the Title II agricultural program in Bolivia as well as $2 million in cash to complete the food security program in the Congo. On the HIV/AIDS front, Food for the Hungry’s Health Unit secured $1.9 million in USAID (PEPFAR) funding for Healthy Choices Leading to Life programs in Nigeria and Mozambique. Additional grants were secured from the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) with $500,000 for an education program in Sudan, $1 million for a food security program in the Congo, and $700,000 for an education program in Burundi. Finally, USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) awarded $793,000 for a food security program in Sudan.
TRANSFORMATIONAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE • PROPOSED AIDS FUNDING • FESTIVALS IMPACT CHILD SPONSORSHIP
FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY HAILS PROPOSED AIDS FUNDING EXTENSION
innovative concert tour
This fall, some of today’s most talented Christian artists will hit the road with a brand-new concept for a concert tour. The Art*Music*Justice Tour will feature top-notch musicians who make a difference by using their talents and influence to raise awareness about the plight of the poor and oppressed around the world. Critically acclaimed singersongwriter Sara Groves has rounded up fellow artists Charlie Peacock, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken and Brandon Heath in this tour to help Food for the Hungry and International Justice Mission meet the pressing needs of children, families and communities in impoverished countries. Groves, a Food for the Hungry partner, wants to see justice for the oppressed and is excited about this radical approach to doing concerts. “God is calling us to respond,” says Groves. “All of us on this tour want to convey that it is not a burden to help; it is an adventure. We’re excited to get out there and share what God is doing!” The Art*Music*Justice Tour will roam the country September 17 to October 26. Visit www.fh.org/ saragroves for more information and to find a concert near you.
In May, President Bush called on Congress to double the U.S. commitment toward battling the global AIDS crisis. His proposal would increase PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program for AIDS relief) funding to $30 billion, extend the program to 2013, provide lifesaving treatment to an additional 2.5 million people, prevent more than 12 million new infections, and care for more than 12 million people – including 5 million orphans and children. Benjamin K. Homan, Food for the Hungry president and CEO and acting chairman of ACVFA, the advisory arm of USAID, applauds the proposed increase, affirming the urgent need to help those suffering with HIV/AIDS worldwide. “Having personally witnessed the tragic impact of HIV/AIDS in communities throughout Africa and having also seen how PEPFAR has brought hope to real people in real places, I am overwhelmed with emotion at this announcement,” Homan states.
Through the PEPFAR initiative, Food for the Hungry implements AIDS prevention in four countries – Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Haiti – as well as provides care and support to orphans and vulnerable children in Kenya. As a result of PEPFAR, Food for the Hungry has reached more than 594,000 youth and children through 2,952 youth-to-youth groups and 89,766 trained adults as direct beneficiaries of the program. An additional 56 million people were reached through television and radio. Also, communities were mobilized to reach 2,905 churches and mosques, 1,722 schools, and 924 women’s groups. “Through PEPFAR we are reaching millions of youth with life-saving messages of abstinence before marriage and faithfulness in marriage,” states Kim Cutler, Food for the Hungry HIV/AIDS programs coordinator. “Our network of partners has grown in capacity through this funding … PEPFAR has been a huge blessing to the people of Africa.”
hiv/aids in africa
the faces of aids
Hospitals are filled with HIV/AIDS patients.
AIDS orphans face uncertain futures.
Ninety percent of the world’s AIDS orphans are in Africa.
DVD NOW AVAILABLE
Food for the Hungry continues to collaborate with churches, government, business leaders and nonprofits to fight against human sex trafficking in Phoenix. WORLD Magazine’s April 19, 2008 issue on the theme of “Save our Cities” featured Food for the Hungry’s efforts, highlighting the documentary “Branded” that was released earlier this year. Visit www.brandedphx.com to purchase DVD copies of the documentary and to find upcoming seminar locations and other resources.
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Clean water in the dominican republic • 6:8 sunday • aid to ethiopia
homes rebuilt in philippines after typhoon fengshen
Excavation work is underway in Sabana Cruz.
partnership brings clean water to the dominican republic
Two years ago, Goshen Church and Eastern University visited Sabana Cruz, a community in the Dominican Republic, and discovered it did not have a source of clean water. Children hauled gallons of dirty water from a river 5 miles away that made all the families sick. “A group from my church and students from Eastern University decided to rally together to do something about it,” says Food for the Hungry advocate Ed Dart. “We wanted to raise enough money to build a water system that would bring clean water to Sabana Cruz from a nearby natural spring. We knew God had the resources, and God would make it happen.” Goshen church members donated $10,000, and students from Eastern University raised $6,000 through special events. Food for the Hungry’s grant department was able to secure grants for $26,000. Together, they raised enough money to build a water system that will provide clean water to the community. Construction began in April 2008.
food security director testifies before congress
Andy Barnes, Food for the Hungry food security director and former country director in Ethiopia, testified before Congress in July, in his new role as food security director. The Agriculture Committee of the House of Representatives and specifically the Subcommittee on Specialty Crops, Rural Development and Foreign Agriculture, requested that an expert testify on current Andy Barnes efforts and challenges faced in delivering food aid. Barnes spoke during the public hearing from his direct and recent experience on the ground.
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Typhoon Fengshen hit the Philippines on June 21 causing landslides, flooding and knocking out power for about 12 hours. A ferry carrying more than 800 people also capsized. No lives were lost in the communities where Food for the Hungry works, but flooding was up to 5 feet high in some areas resulting in extensive structural damage. Food for the Hungry and partnering organizations provided emergency relief to the affected families while conducting assessments to determine long-term efforts. Homes for 16 families were rebuilt and fortified against further storms and flooding. Food for the Hungry also helped to repair the community water pump and reconstruct toilet facilities, as well as facilitate risk management trainings to prepare communities for future storms.
More than 130 families lost their homes due to wind and rain from typhoon Fengshen.
Carlos Alejandro Jose Maldonado Lutomirsky (left), executive secretary of CONRED in Guatemala and Victor Cortez (right), Food for the Hungry country director in Guatemala sign the agreement.
Partners in relief operations
After two years of discussions and negotiations, Food for the Hungry signed an agreement with Coordinadora Nacional Para la Reducción de Desastres (CONRED), Guatemala’s governmental entity tasked with disaster response and preparedness. The agreement establishes the basis for cooperation and mutual benefit between Food for the Hungry and CONRED in relief operations. As a recognized partner, Food for the Hungry will provide support and coordination during emergencies. CONRED will offer training and resources to Food for the Hungry staff members, as well as to leaders of communities where Food for the Hungry works.
Make it a 6:8 sunday event!
6:8 Sunday is an annual event to educate churches about the needs of the poor around the world and challenge them to get involved. On October 19, 2008, churches around the United States will answer the question: What does it mean for Christians to pursue justice for children and families living in extreme poverty? Consider hosting 6:8 Sunday with your congregation, Bible study group, Sunday School class or other small group. Food for the Hungry provides all necessary resources. Visit www.fh.org/68Sunday to learn more!
FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY News advocacy Advances food for the hungry’s work in bolivia Dan Perry, a Food for the Hungry advocate from San Antonio, Texas, recently spoke at a meeting in Austin, where he related his excitement at being able to visit Toro Toro in the Potosi area of Bolivia where he met two of his sponsored children. The next day, a businessman approached Dan, wanting to know what city he had visited in Bolivia. The businessman owned a company that was looking to build a second factory in Bolivia and after talking with Dan, the businessman suggested the factory be built in Toro Toro to advance Food for the Hungry’s work in the community by employing 300 people. For more information on becoming an advocate, visit www. fh.org/advocates.
Dan Perry, pictured here with children from Toro Toro in Bolivia, is passionate about speaking on behalf of the poor.
aid offered following ethnic clashes in ethiopia On May 17, 2008, ethnic clashes erupted in Ethiopia between the neighboring Gumuz and Oromo tribes.The clash resulted in the death of hundreds and the displacement of thousands who live at the borders of Benishangul Gumez and Oromia Regional States. In response to the conflict, Food for the Hungry committed $5,000 for the distribution of emergency supplies such as cooking utensils, water containers and blankets. When tensions eased, Food for the Hungry staff returned to the project areas to assist victims with recovery efforts.
church team renovates feeding center in nicaragua
Earlier this year, 11 men from First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Beaver, Pa., traveled to El Limonal, Nicaragua, to help construct a concrete floor in the community’s feeding center. For years, the community’s local feeding center consisted of a tin roof over a few wooden tables on a dirt floor. To provide the children with a more sanitary and sturdy space in which to eat meals, the team worked alongside the community to construct a new concrete floor, as well as a storage area for cooking utensils, nonperishable food, and other items frequently used by the feeding center and the local school across the street. The team also built relationships with the people of El Limonal through playing with the kids each day and through evangelistic outreach activities organized in collaboration with the local church. One team member
An FPC church member smiles with his new Nicaraguan friend.
shared his testimony and another participated in a dramatic presentation of the gospel. “It was more than a team performing an act of service,” says Food for the Hungry staff Mike Coberley, “It was a group of God’s children loving each other.”
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one at a time
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When most children her age were worrying about what to wear to school or how to pass the next big exam, Agnes Anek was fighting for her life in the Bush. By Mary Euler
of being welcoming and loving, Agnes’ neighbors were afraid of her and ostracized her, calling her dangerous … a soldier … a killer.
The New Life Center
Food for the Hungry staff found Agnes living in Mucwini with her elderly grandmother, as both her parents had died. Agnes Anek was 14 years old and was playing at home one Neither Agnes nor her grandmother had any source of income morning when the rebel soldiers came for her.Threatening her or means of survival. “She was hopeless and suicidal. She also had low self-esteem with weapons like machetes and AK-47s, the soldiers of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) forced Agnes from her home and and low self-worth, and she never smiled at all,” says Terry told her to start walking. Thus began her three-year nightmare Ombalo, the staff coordinator at Food for the Hungry’s New roving on foot through northern Uganda and southern Sudan. Life Center in Kitgum in northern Uganda. The New Life Center trains and equips dozens of In the 21-year war waged by the self-proclaimed spirit medium, Joseph Kony, and his LRA, children like Agnes have indigenous northern Ugandan volunteers and staff to care for been the weapon of choice. While numbers are not certain, a former abductees. The staff introduce them to a loving God World Development Report from 2007 says at least 66,000 who desires to give them new life and new hope, and that this Ugandan children have been stolen from their families and God loves and accepts them for who they are. And teachers help them make up for years of forced to fight. The boys are made education missed while in the bush. into murderers, rapists and looters, Basic reading, writing and math and the girls are given as prizes to “Then they will know that I am the skills are taught in sessions under boy soldiers who perform well. Lord, when I have broken the bars trees, where young women make So often during abduction, both of their yoke and have delivered up the majority of students. boys and girls are forced to murder All the while, the New them from the hand of those who their family members or neighbors, Life Center counselors are on ensuring they have no reason to enslaved them.” - Ezekiel 34:27b the lookout for young women return to home from “the bush.” traumatized to the point of deep “When I was in the bush, I depression and having thoughts or thought I would not come back,” says Agnes. “I had a lot of fear, and we were being beaten every attempts of suicide. Several practical criteria involving written notes and multiple visits help identify these young women who time.” Agnes was given as a wife to an older soldier. She became are then invited to stay at the New Life Center campus for pregnant as soon as her body was able, celebrating her “sweet more intense rehabilitation. sixteen” by giving birth to a child of rape. Her chores were cooking over an open fire and carrying Going to the Campus heavy loads of supplies as the army wandered the harsh terrain. Agnes accepted her invitation to the campus, located about 15 She could be beaten if the smoke from the fire went too high miles from her home, and arrived with her child in July 2007. and gave away the army’s location. And still today, 19-year-old The center can accommodate about 20 young women and their Agnes suffers chest and back pains from carrying heavy cooking children under age six, and the length of stay is three months. Like most of the young women, Agnes was very timid at pots, tents and foodstuffs for miles and miles each day of the first, not participating in group activities like morning devotions, three years she spent in captivity. One cold night, Agnes and the other captives lay in the English class or games. But as the weeks went on, Agnes opened dirt under the stars as they had every night for the past three up and began to see hope for her life. The New Life Center campus is a haven. Here, young years, half-sleeping and always on guard. A plan of escape had been brewing in their minds and hearts, and tonight would women never have to carry heavy loads.They can use adequate, be the night for the three of them. And so three bruised and safe cooking facilities to prepare meals for themselves and each exhausted bodies tiptoed away from the LRA camp and hid other. The girls never have to sleep on the dirt.Ten huts constructed in the tall grass. Eventually, Agnes and the boy escapee made it to a stranger’s home in a nearby village. The young girl in the traditional northern Ugandan fashion accommodate two young women each. Mattresses, pillows, sheets and mosquito accompanying them did not survive the escape. Agnes made her way back home to Mucwini, but instead nets are provided. Photo: At the New Life Center, Agnes Anek (left) came to know how valuable she is in the eyes of God.
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[ ONE AT A TIME ]
Education is free of charge and toward a new life in Christ. of a high quality.The girls can attend Agnes’ counselor, Jennifer “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ classes five days a week, learning Oyuku, has been working declares the Lord. ‘Plans to prosper basic reading, writing and math for Food for the Hungry you and not to harm you, plans to give concepts. in northern Uganda for 10 And rather than relying on handyears. She used to work with you hope and a future.’” outs from others, the girls at the sponsored children in the - Jeremiah 29:11 New Life Center learn marketable region before abductions skills they can use for years to come: flared up and the sponsorship mushroom farming, tailoring and bread making. centers had to be closed. Jennifer knows northern Uganda’s Most importantly, these young women are taught the Gospel tumultuous story very well, and she knows there is only one of Jesus Christ and are showered with the love that is denied solution. them for so many years. “Here, we lean upon God,” says Jennifer, who helps Agnes and other girls through an 11-week Bible study called New Life. Miracles of the Heart “God is the one who can change the heart of every person.” Each young woman at the New Life Center campus is assigned And while some may say these young women have been a counselor to walk with her through the pain of abduction and crushed beyond the point of restoration, God’s power proves
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Former LRA abductees like Agnes (right) attend classes at the New Life Center five days a week, learning basic reading, writing and math concepts.
miraculous in the face of doubt. This miracle of the heart can be seen in the attitude Agnes has toward her abductors and abusers. Even after witnessing numerous murders and torture, and after being the object of abuse and hatred, Agnes can say with truth today:“They are human beings, like me. And they also were formerly abducted, like me. So it makes me not to feel bad of them.”
To listen now, go to
Home Again
Agnes returned to Mucwini after three months at the New Life Center.While she used to have thoughts of killing herself and her family, today she dreams of furthering her education and sending her son to school when he is of age. “Give LORD,loan callfrom on the hisNew name; Using her thanks educationto andthe a start-up Life Center, Agnes has embarked on known a small-scale business foodwhat at the he localhas market in Mucwini. She make among the selling nations done. even has taken initiative team upto with othertell young in a savings scheme Sing tothe him, singtopraise him; ofwomen all his for rainy days. “Allwonderful that happenedacts.” to me is now past, and this is a life now that I’m entering in,” says - Psalm Agnes. “I feel like I’ve entered a new life, and the old thing is gone.105:1-2 So I need not to worry about what people say, because all is past now. I’m a new person given a new life!” 9
Special thanks to Scott Krippayne for making this available to Food for the Hungry friends and partners.‑ 6:8
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frontliners
Mentor to Pastors
By Rez Gopez-Sindac
With humility and patience, Tomas Zefanias uses his training and experience to help church leaders in the villages of Mozambique become more effective messengers of God’s transforming love.
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It is past noon and the overcast sky hangs low
over Gorongosa, a town in the Sofala province of Mozambique. Not a good time to call a meeting, as many of the villagers in this former Portuguese colony like to enjoy a midday nap. But a dozen local pastors from nearby communities eagerly arrive before the appointed time. Clad in worn-out shirts and faded pants, they nimbly huddle together under a big mango tree, eager to talk about the impact of Food for the Hungry’s church strengthening program on them as church leaders. Speaking through an interpreter, they open their hearts:
“We used to do things on our own; we’re not willing to work with other pastors outside our own denomination,” says Bartholomew, a 55-year-old pastor. “Many church leaders did not know how to differentiate between tradition and God’s truth,” adds Santos, a pastor since 1988.
These men represent scores of pastors all over Sofala province who received training in church development and continue to learn biblical principles in leading their people to spiritual growth and reaching others for Christ.
Addressing the Issues
In 2001, Food for the Hungry started a church strengthening program in four districts in Mozambique in response to requests from local pastors for ministry training. Most of the pastors in the districts do not have the means to go to a Bible school or buy study books and other teaching references. Many struggle in the face of opposing beliefs and spiritual warfare. Tomas Zefanias, a Mozambican pastor who trained in a Bible school in Portugal, knew the frustrations of the village pastors and decided to pioneer this program to help those who are called to the ministry become more effective messengers of God’s transforming love. However, despite the pressing need, the church strengthening program started with a few challenges, the more obvious of which was the pastors’ reluctance to learn and work together. “Because of their denominational differences, the pastors often argued,” says Zefanias, who also
“We did not know how to become real leaders in our own families and communities,” admits Andre, a pastor since 1993.
Thanks to the leadership of Pastor Tomas (opposite page, center), the pastors in Mozambique have learned to pray and work together despite their denominational differences.
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[ FRONTLINERS ]
pastors the Second Baptist Church located in Beira, the second largest city in Mozambique. “They did not want to attend the meetings if they were held in a denomination’s church or facility. So I had to find a neutral place.” Another issue, he says, was that the pastors were “fishing from one another’s fish tanks.” A bigger, but less discernible problem, however, was – and still is – religious syncretism. Zefanias says many churches often mix animistic or indigenous belief system with biblical truth. Zefanias explains that it takes a mature church leader, one who has a solid understanding of God’s absolute truths, to discern the intense spiritual warfare that keeps many people
from moving forward in their Christian walk. Although many church leaders are growing stronger in their faith, Zefanias says some “still struggle to distinguish between the old ways and the ways of God.” “One of the first things we did was we trained these pastors to train others,” says Zefanias. In the course of the training, the pastors were divided into several groups; Bible study centers were also established. Each group would then go to a designated center and teach a group of 15 or 20 new students. “With this type of training, we were able to develop quite a bit of people,” says Zefanias. “We did this for three years.”
Training the Pastors Heeding God’s warning
they learned to the outside
through the prophet Hosea,
world. Zefanias worked with
“My people perish for lack
45 pastors in each of the four
of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6),
districts of Mozambique.
Zefanias started an intensive Below: With arms open wide, Pastor Tomas Zefanias reaches out to many pastors in Mozambique, encouraging them to stay strong in the faith and training them to become effective church leaders.
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study of the Bible with the local pastors. He organized and taught Bible seminars three times a year, introduced pastors to helpful teaching materials, and encouraged them to demonstrate what
churches ssible, different As often as po ip as one body. rosh to pray and w
When asked how the training impacted their ministries, the pastors who are gathered under the mango tree blurt in unison, “The Bible seminars helped us understand various doctrinal issues.” Another pastor adds, “Our churches have definitely been strengthened.” “It helped me become a better leader,” a young pastor exclaims. However, funding transitions in the years that followed affected the program, resulting in shortened and sporadic Bible training sessions with the pastors. But not for long.Thanks to a partner church, the program soon received a much-needed boost. Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Ky., a longtime ministry partner
er gather togeth
of Food for the Hungry, stepped up its financial support by funding the church strengthening program in the town of Gorongosa. Mark Perraut, the church’s missions director, says they are committed more than ever to work with Zefanias to help equip the pastors so they can minister effectively to the people in their respective communities. There is more work to be done, Zefanias admits. But he praises God for the transformation that is already happening. He says, “Today, local pastors from all denominations and religious affiliations work and pray together. They have better understanding of God’s word, and they are actively involved in the life of their community, helping people with their physical problems, whereas before, they were only concerned about spiritual things.” As the meeting with the pastors comes to an end and the sun begins to set, the pastors stand to pray and sing in their own dialects. At this point, one does not need any interpretation to know that real unity runs deep among these brothers in the Lord. 9
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cover story
Seeking Peace in a Killing Field By Lindsay Branham
Deeply wounded by years of conflict and violence, the Democratic Republic of the Congo cries for lasting peace and true prosperity.
Across the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, requests for lasting peace rise up to the sky with fervency. Although there are areas in the eastern Congo that have experienced peace from armed conflict in the last few years, many communities are still held tightly in the grip of unrest. “We want peace,” the people cry. “And please, now.” The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country scarred and bruised from years of unspeakable wars and violence. Because of the 100-day Rwandan Genocide in 1994 that killed an estimated 800,000 people from the warring Tutsi and Hutu tribes, more than one million Rwandans fled to Congo. Hutu extremists responsible for the genocide commanded control of the sprawling refugee camps. Rwanda, anticipating another attack, invaded Congo, backed by Burundi and later by Uganda. Thousands died over the next year. The Second Congo War in 1998 followed, killing more than five million people, either through direct combat or starvation and disease. In response to God’s invitation, Food for the Hungry works in eastern Congo, the most volatile region of the country, to walk with individuals and families to overcome the horrible effects of war. Through programs in the areas of agriculture, water and sanitation, livelihoods, infrastructure rehabilitation, and health, we are making steps towards peace. LUNGALABA In Lungalaba village, located in Katanga, a southern province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the cold wind blows strongly. Arid hills cover the immediate horizon, rolling over the land and up towards the sky. Lungalaba perches delicately
on a gentle rise. The earth falls away below the village in an elegant sweeping expanse, flanked by proud mountains and capped by heavy clouds. Food for the Hungry has set up a goat association in Lungalaba to help increase people’s incomes so they can provide for the needs of their families. Kasese Kalunga is the president of the association. Charged with the care of 15 goats, he stands energetically, points at the structure that houses the goats and speaks with a smile on his face. “To give a goat to a family who has nothing to eat is like hope,” he says. In Lungalaba, there are many orphans, widows and people left disabled by the war. “Life is very difficult,” Kasese adds, his face turned to the horizon. “But peace is here.” Many residents of Lungalaba fled to Zambia as refugees during the war. They recently returned, only to find their homes and fields pillaged and useless. “During the war, the rebels stole everything and people had to run from their homes and into the forest,” says Joseph Lubarika, a Food for the Hungry agronomist based in Moba, the parent site for Lungalaba.“Now, people are trying to rebuild their lives but are starting from zero.” These small breeding projects, however, provide a way for families to establish their livelihoods once again.
KITUMBA Food for the Hungry works in three provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – South Kivu, Maniema, and Katanga – with major field sites in at least nine towns
Through programs in the areas of agriculture, water and sanitation, livelihoods, infrastructure rehabilitation, and health, we are making steps towards peace. 26 FALL 2008
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Food for the Hungry has set up a goat association in Lungalaba to help increase people’s incomes so they can provide for the needs of their families.
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[ SEEKING PEACE IN A KILLING FIELD ]
and with projects in countless villages. However, reaching people in need is wrought with obstacles. There are only 300 kilometers (about 186 miles) of paved roads in the whole country, and it often takes days to transport food and supplies to remote places. Some Food for the Hungry project sites are completely unreachable by road. Kitumba is one of those project sites. Located deep in South Kivu province, the muddy road, or rather, foot path, that leads to Kitumba twists and turns, and is laden with boulders, rocks and abandoned vehicles. At night a thousand fireflies shimmer brightly, set against a star-splashed dark sky. By day the searing equatorial sun breathes ruthlessly on the long empty fields. The wars forced the residents of Kitumba to abandon their homes to seek refuge in safer places. Today, recovering from years of decimation is a slow climb to bounty. Alacha is a pastor in Kitumba. Despite apparent hardship, he sits poised and calm, his smile reflecting a quiet joy. When the war reached Kitumba in 1997, Alacha and his family fled into the jungle, hoping to hide from the conflict between the rebels and the Congolese government.The jungle offered neither shelter nor clearings to plant crops. Alacha and his family of eight subsisted on what they could pick from trees and plants. They drank river water, covered themselves with tree branches at night for camouflage, and tried to fight off the rampant disease that took the lives of many who fled to the jungle, including two of Alacha’s children. In 2004, after seven years in the jungle, Alacha returned to Kitumba to rebuild his life.
But returning to nearly nothing, Alacha found himself unable to provide enough food for his wife and children. Soon, his family’s health and well-being plummeted, and sickness ensued. Around that time, however, Food for the Hungry began holding seed fairs in Alacha’s community to help families rebuild their lives and recover from years of displacement. A seed fair involves local seed vendors giving their seeds to vulnerable widows, orphans and families. Food for the Hungry then reimburses their sale. Alacha received enough seed to plant for a full harvest. Reflecting on the war and if peace can ever really come to Congo, he muses, “I love 1 John. It’s all about love. If we could just love each other, the war would end.”
MOBA In Moba, a tiny baby lies delicately in a doctor’s arms. Minutes later, the malnourished infant dies.The mother falls to the floor screaming in raw anguish and grief. The doctor gently closes the eyes of the baby and places a blanket over his face. “The children cry all day, they are so hungry,” says Kamangu Kalungu, father of five children. “To have food is very difficult,” he remarks solemnly, adding that he can only feed his family once a day, a thin meal of maize and maybe beans.The last time he ate meat was a few years ago. But as the secretary of a Food for the Hungry goat association in his village, Kamangu now receives food for his service through Food for the Hungry. “There is hope for my children. I will grow food,” he says.
I love 1 John. It’s all about love. If we could just love each other, the war would end. – Alacha 28 FALL 2008
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Seed fairs help families rebuild their lives and recover from years of displacement.
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[ SEEKING PEACE IN A KILLING FIELD ]
Food for the Hungry works tirelessly to serve and love the orphans, widows, and elderly people in the Congo. By the end of April, 2008, nearly 140,000 people in Katanga Province have received help through programs aimed at increasing the quality of life and in many cases, saving lives. A few of these activities include seed multiplication (taking disease-resistant seeds, multiplying them and then distributing them to vulnerable families), seed and tool distribution, seed fairs, fish farming (a creative way to increase livelihoods through building and maintaining fish ponds, for both selling and consuming fish), malnutrition programs (education and provision for mothers with malnourished children), water and sanitation (including latrine and water system construction) and road and bridge rehabilitation. Love is the motivation. And much of the love expressed comes from the more than 300 Congolese and international staff working throughout the field and project sites. Meschac Bombo Samba is a Food for the Hungry site coordinator in Moba, overseeing in the last year alone nearly 13,000 beneficiaries of various Food for the Hungry outreaches. Born and raised in Moba, and with a strong vision for a redeemed Congo, Meschac leads and serves with the humility of Christ. Meschac says he wants to see many people come to know Jesus and to experience hope. Meschac believes people should be faithful with what they have. “I am Meshac. And God wants me to be Meshac. A man. In Congo. It is very important to love God and my own country before loving other countries. What God has given me, I must
first be faithful with it.” Unresolved commitment to seeing men, women and children live in healthy relationships with God and creation propels Meschac to continue laboring for the Congolese. One man whose song is now brighter because of Food for the Hungry and the Moba team under Meschac’s leadership is Mukana Kizonde, 62 years old, married with 12 children. Mukana received seeds two years ago from a Food for the Hungry seed fair in Kumbula village, Katanga, and is still reaping the harvest. He planted and the result was bountiful. Mukana says he dreams to build a home with iron sheeting to prevent the rain from soaking his mud brick home during the torrential downpours. But he says that today, he is grateful. His seeds have sprouted life, a “deeper life,” he acknowledges with sincerity. “Jesus is the only one between people and God. And he has sent us life through the Cross.” “Most people live in dire situations,” says Joseph, Food for the Hungry agronomist, “and we can think God is far from people. But I do not see it like that. Because that person, when they believe in God, and they believe truly, they are no longer distressed – by the war, by hunger, by their mounting problems.” “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8) 9 (Lindsay Braham is Food for the Hungry’s regional communications officer for the Africa Great Lakes region.)
When people believe in God, and they believe truly, they are no longer distressed – by war, by hunger, by their mounting problems.
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Freed from wrong cultural beliefs, this mother exudes joy and peace knowing that God takes an active role in her family’s life and health.
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VISION PARTNERS
Celebrating a Champion
In life and in death, ministry donor Thomas Kelley quietly gave of himself to make life better for the poor and the needy. By Karen Randau
Heroes don’t usually think of themselves as heroes. Thomas Kelley didn’t. But he was indeed a hero – to thousands of people on multiple continents. Sure, he gave many large, life-sustaining financial gifts to Food for the Hungry projects, and we could never fully express our appreciation for that. But his hero status is the result of something much bigger: He gave of himself – in life and in death. Throughout a 12-year association with Food for the Hungry, during which he put in thousands of arduous hours directly helping people in the war-torn country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thomas Kelley demonstrated the importance of leaning on God for both living and dying. The beautiful Congolese fabric that draped his body at his funeral speaks to the simple and humble way in which this energetic entrepreneur chose to live. “He brought the fabric back in January 2006,” said Kelley’s widow, Jan. “He said he believed that would be his last trip, and it was. He was diagnosed with a large brain tumor in January 2007 and died in April. After the tumor was removed, he couldn’t walk or speak much.” One day shortly before he died, Jan remembered the fabric. “He was lying on the bed, and I put it over his blanket. I thought, ‘This is the way it should be.’ My youngest son asked if he could be buried in that cloth. I put away the suit I had planned for the funeral and gave the mortician the cloth. It was beautiful. We all cried. It seemed so right.” Kelley’s pastor, Mark Labberton of First Presbyterian Church in Berkeley, Calif., wrote that it was only fitting that “this elegant, accomplished wealthy disciple would be wrapped in a simple, but brilliantly colored Congolese cloth. Tom had learned to live in the midst of death. So in death he was wrapped in life.” Kelley annually visited Food for the Hungry programs in Rwanda and the Congo. He once said that so many consecutive trips to the Congo gave him “a passion for this country and its people that only firsthand experience and God’s direction can provide.” And God directed Kelley’s heart to a country that has endured conflict since its independence from Belgium in 1960, the most debilitating of which was war that claimed
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nearly 4 million civilians from 1996 until a tenuous peace in 2003. Hundreds of thousands remain displaced, the country’s infrastructure is crumbled and food is scarce. In fact, The Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, reports on its Web site that 1,200 people continue to die every day from conflict-related causes, including disease, hunger and continuing violence. But Kelley looked beyond all of that. “He looked at the people more than the big picture,” said Jan. “In a group of hundreds of people during tool and seed distributions, he always tried to find the individual he could personally help. He loved the kids. He got such great joy out of thinking of things to take to the kids.Yet he was wise in choosing what to support financially. He always tried to give to things that would make a lasting difference in individual lives, like microenterprise and infrastructure projects.”
getting the job done Away from his family for five weeks at a time, Kelley spent long days in exhausting labor, determined to get the job done despite uncertainty, insecurity, scarcity and fatigue. Still, his love and care for people quickly made the Congo staff his friends, brothers and sisters. “Each trip was a reunion, a sort of homecoming,” said Food for the Hungry President Ben Homan. “Thomas’ depth of relationships with Food for the Hungry extended not only to DR Congo, but to Phoenix, Washington, DC, and Guatemala, to name a few places. He even convened a vital meeting in Costa Rica to help focus our worldwide partnership’s attention on DR Congo.” His confidence and flexibility came to life when he helped during one of several changes in the Congo office. “We had a large radio antenna for our shortwave radio that included a pole of a good 40 feet long,” said Merry Fitzpatrick, country director at the time. “I set Thomas to the task of moving it and vaguely wondered how he’d manage to get that monstrously long antenna across town without breaking it. Several hours later, zipping through town between meetings, I spotted the antenna in motion, and it made me laugh. Thomas had rented a chariot, a cart like a rough African version of a rickshaw. While the center of the pole rested on the cart, two men carried the pole, one on each end with the pole on their shoulders as they trudged across town.” Jan said that Fitzpatrick and Kelley shared a mutual respect.
Thomas Kelley valued peopole and always tried to make a difference in the lives of the poor and needy.
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quick facts Born: December 10, 1943, in Minneapolis, Minn. Died: April 28, 2007, at home in Berkeley, Calif. Married: August 6, 1965, to childhood friend Jan Anderson Children: Jason (born in 1970), Shannon (born in 1972), Patrick (born in 1978) Education: BA and MBA from University of Minnesota Business Owned: TBK Capital Ltd., a successful investment firm launched in 1991 First Missions Trip: 1992 to Somalia, by personal invitation from long-time friend, Franklin Graham Association with Food for the Hungry: 1995-2007 as volunteer, friend, mentor and donor
Countries where Thom as Kelley spent TIME serv ing the poor
“They became very close friends. He once wrote to her that his definition of a hero was someone who by choice gives quietly of themselves at some cost and risk to do something of moral value for others. He was speaking of Merry, but I think it also describes Thomas. He did what he did quietly, often without telling anyone because he didn’t want people to pity the people or ask why he put himself at risk to help them. He only spoke of his adventures with people he thought would understand.” “It was as if Thomas sought to ‘fly below radar’ by not drawing attention to his work and service,” said Homan. “But his contribution and tireless service were so significant that it could not go undetected. He was suddenly ‘on the scene’ and pitching in, willing to endure the worst conditions and all of the commensurate risks without thought to his own comforts or protection. And then quietly and unobtrusively, he came alongside our other workers and staff and became fuel and sustenance to them.” Bmuyu Kahanga, Food for the Hungry program officer in the Kalemie Province of the Congo, described Kelley as rich but simple.“One day, he went with me to distribute seeds and was troubled when he saw a naked man among the beneficiaries. Many people did not see, but I saw Thomas take the man to a secret place and give him a shirt. Thomas took care of needy people.” Bryan Garrett, Food for the Hungry program officer in the South
Costa Rica Guatemala Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Kivu and Maniema districts of the Bukavu Province, remembers Kelley’s serving heart, flexibility, faithfulness and commitment to the people and work. “Thomas outlasted quite a few country directors,” said Garrett. “The national staff especially appreciated that Thomas came year after year, providing stability when top-level leadership changed. He helped support several small livestock associations that put many vulnerable families back on their feet following the devastating effects of the war.” Dane Erickson, Katanga program director in Kalemia, said that the entire Congo staff mourned Kelley’s passing. “During his sickness, each day all of our sites prayed for Thomas in devotions. We have all lost a close friend and colleague. Yet, as I have learned from my Congolese friends, there can be rejoicing in loss. When you lose something, you know you have gained. Thomas was a true friend and mentor. I admire him in many ways and learned much from him. He was accomplished yet selfless, confident yet humble. He lives on in many hearts.” Jan remembers her husband as an intelligent go-getter with strong opinions. Yet, Jan and the Food for the Hungry staff and volunteers remember how funny, loving, gentle, fair and kind he was. “Thomas was an amazing man in both life and death,” she said. “He taught us all how to live life to its fullest, and then how to die totally leaning on the arms of God.” 9
[ VISION PARTNERS ]
Kelley (wearing a hat) in the company of happy children and friends.
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www.fh.org DOING…LOVING…WALKING