Feed the Hungry

Greetings everyone in the name of our Risen L0rd and S@vi0r!!

Would
you join me in reading all of Isaiah 58 today? The whole chapter is
rich and helpful in showing us truly what G0d wants from us as w0rship.
It describes false w0rship and then goes on to describes what true
w0rship and fasting means from G0d’s perspective. As I have been pr@ying
and seeking G0d regarding the v!llage of JdTou and our Gift of Grain
Project, this chapter and these verses spoke to me. As f0ll0wers of Jss,
the light of G0d in us shines in the darkness around us when we
demonstrate His compassion and unfailing love to those who are consumed
by the darkness.

On Friday, D@n, Pastor JD, and I
sat together to hear D@n’s report from his trip to the v!llage of
JdTou–our focus for Gift of Grain 2014. I can only say I continue to
be moved by G0d’s Sp!r!t to believe in Him and to act in w0rship to
demonstrate His love to this people. As I listened to D@n describe his
journey, the difficulties and the fears of those he went to visit, it
was evident that G0d had opened D@n’s eyes to fellow M@lians who are
living in some of the harshest conditions he had ever seen. As I watched
Pastor JD and listened to his responses, I knew that he too understood
the difficulties as he said, “Oh B@ye (the place where we all thought
was hard),B@ye is a good place!”

Some of the descriptions D@n shared were

• From
  where the paved road stops, you will travel 175 km to the v!llage of
  N. This is the closest v!llage to find food, healtcare, etc. to
  JdTou.
• There is only sand…no trees…no water…no roads.
• From N@ra you will travel 30 km to JdTou without seeing any other person.
• From N@ra you will not find any protection or security forces.
• The road is not clear…so it is easy to get lost. They got lost and
  when they finally saw a man, his wife, and children, they ran and hid
  in their home. They were afraid of these strangers and did not want to
  talk to them. 
• Even in JdTou, the people were afraid of them.
  When they asked where the chiefs house was and if they could see the
  chief, they did not want to tell them even though the chief was sitting
  among them. G0d broke down those fears and began to develop a trust so
  that the chief spoke up and took them to his house…EVERYONE followed
  them.

When they were asked what their greatest needs are, they said 4 things:

• We have no water in our village. We have to travel 15 km to get water.
• We have no hospital or healthcare in our village. We must travel 30 km to find medicine or medical help.
• We have no school for our children.
• We have no food in the village. We must travel 30 km to find food for our families.

D@n
asked them, “I need to buy 5 kilos of millet right now. Can I find it
here?” The answer, “No. You cannot find even 5 kilos of millet here.”

So they sat together to determine how many families lived in JdTou. There are 244 families living there.

It
did not take long to experience that overwhelming feeling, to have a
fear rise up in me, and to wonder if we can do this! As I looked at the
number of families and the cost for ONE bag of millet I thought, “How
can we possibly help? This is too big for us!! How will we ever have
enough to make a difference?”

But
as we talked we all agreed that we must seek G0d and allow Him to do
what He wants to do. We cannot imagine how He will accomplish this, but
we all believe and know that whatever He does will be exactly what we
need to do.

Then I read Isaiah 58,
and I asked myself, “L0ri will you fast so that this v!llage and these
people might see the light shining in their darkness? Will you give up
some of your food so that you can feed the hungry in the v!llage of
JdTou?” I cannot imagine the hunger these people live with daily, the
challenges they face with no water quickly accessible. I cannot imagine
what it is like to be in the middle of the area where rebels seek to
overtake you and you live in the fear of that daily. Yet one thing I
know, G0d has shone His light and revealed this v!llage to His people
and He knows all about the things they face daily.

For
each family of JdTou to receive one bag of millet, this project will
cost over $12,000. We have never done this before and to be honest I
find myself trying to figure out what we can do if we do not have
$12,000.  G0d continues to remind me, “L0ri your confidence and your
hope is in me, not in yourself or others. Trust in me!”

We want to begin buying grain as quickly as possible. One bag of grain will cost $50.
As August and September come, the price of grain will increase greatly
because the shortage will be even greater until the harvest comes in
October, November, December. We are asking G0d to provide what we need
by the end of June. Will you pr@y with us? Will you fast with us so that
His light will shine in the darkness of JdTou and her people?
 

If you and your family would like to buy a bag of grain for one of the families in JuduTou, you can do that by:

• going to our website at www.hisharvesters.org and clicking on the DONATE button. Please place a note on your donation that this is for Gift of Grain 2014.
• sending a check to HSI PO Box 1975 Cleveland, TX 77327. Please put Gift of Grain 2014 on the memo line.

Will
you also begin now pr@ying for a great rainy season here in M@li? Pr@y
for a great harvest this year so that people will find what they need to
eat both physically and sp!r!tually.