Feed the Hungry

"No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help...Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon...." Isaiah 58:6-10

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.

Thank you for pr@ying with us for the people of M@li!!