Every drop helps determine the content

Regardless of social position, our neighbours have a need for the Gospel; to hear the saving Word of God. The good news for the ‘poor’ is for all mankind! With this Gospel we are sent to everybody by God through you. It is a fundamental human right to eat and we also believe that it is a human right to hear the Gospel! In the village where we live and serve the Lord, the people (mostly subsistence farmers) around us annually experience a ‘lean season’ from July to September, when there is a lack of food in their homes. The farmers’ old stock of food is just about finishing and their incoming harvest is not yet ready. This creates three months of severe stress among families as they try to cope with and manage the situation.

Women carrying firewood from their farms to their homes

During this period of food shortage it is common to see women carrying heavy loads of firewood to the market to sell so that they can buy grains for the household. Children and women are worst hit in this difficult season and you see a lot of malnourished, crying and hungry children around the neighbourhood.

Carrying firewood to the market

In trying to live the Gospel ‘in’ and ‘out’ we often share food with our neighbours so as to reduce their plight. Our contribution to alleviating the suffering of those around us sometimes seems like a single drop in the ocean considering the magnitude and severity of the situation. However, we are often encouraged and motivated by the following story about a Starfish in the Ocean:

'One morning an old man noticed a youngster walking along the beach. As he watched, he saw that from time to time the little girl would bend down, pick something up off the sand, and throw it into the water. The old man being curious followed her and discovered that she was picking up stranded Starfish and putting them back into the Ocean. Shaking his head, he caught up with her and said, “Miss, there are thousands of Starfish along this beach. What difference is it going to make if you throw a few back?” The little girl looked down at the Starfish in her hand and said, “it will make a big difference to this one”'.

Indeed, every drop helps determine the content, so let’s do it so that every drop counts. Please join us in praying that we will have the opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus in many practical ways, wherever we find ourselves.

Sharing maize with our neighbours (1)

Sharing maize with our neighbours (2)

Sharing maize with our neighbours (3)

Thank God for:

• The opportunities He creates to share His love
• The abundance we can share from

Please pray for:

• Our neighbours and many others that every day they will have enough food to eat
• Generosity, that we will give with a happy heart and open-handedly
• A workshop on family life which we are preparing toward
• A final women’s meeting in a series of women’s meetings that Joke is organising this week
• Abukari’s studies - that he will be able to present his thesis in time