Kenya (MNN) — The famine in the Horne of Africa is having an effect on just about every facet of ministry.
CURE International runs hospitals in Ethiopia and Kenya. Vice President of CURE Joel Worrall says, "When a food shortage occurs in a country like that, everything costs more — food prices have gone up, fuel prices cost more, which impacts our patients ability to get to our facility as well as our abilities to cover the cost of energy."
Food may be the biggest issue. In most 3rd world nations, family and friends are responsible for feeding patients. However, at CURE Hospitals, not only are the patients fed, so are their family members.
CURE is taking action. "We end up having to make all sorts of contingency plans about what the impact's going to be on the budget of those hospitals and then how that going to affect other parts of our work in Africa."
CURE cares for disabled children. Worrall says it makes ministry even more profound. "In the developing world the family that has a disabled child has lots and lots of strikes against them. And, the child obviously does as well. Worrall continues, "People who are abjectly poor, are even poorer. We're dealing with an even greater sense of despair and abandonment and these feelings of, 'where is God in their circumstance.'"
Opening doors to share the Gospel. CURE is helping answer these questions Worrall says, by "being able to provide a location, we're meeting their physical needs at that time, and also giving them an opportunity to be either introduced to Jesus or refreshed spiritually."
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