“Throughout the lockdowns, we’ve had 720 decisions for Christ, and about 120 of those were the parents and guardians of kids in our schools,” Set Free Ministries’ Dave McIntyre says.

“We’ve been very blessed during the lockdown. Our team ‘took the bull by the horns’ and went out there and continued the work of Christ.”

Set Free cares for thousands of vulnerable kids in East Africa through its 15 Impact Sites. More about that here. These facilities provide a safe place for children to eat, sleep, and receive a Christian education.

When strict lockdowns sent students back to their home communities in March 2020, “We just went to Plan B,” McIntyre says.

“We’ve been paying our teachers during the entire shutdown, and we sent them out to the villages. They were hand-writing lessons to take out to the kids. [This] was not a one-time meeting; those teachers were going back again and again, week after week.”

Along with formal education, children learn a trade like sewing or mechanics.
(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries)

The believers’ commitment “made a huge impression on parents and the villages,” McIntyre continues.

“When they first started doing it, the parents [said], ‘We’re not paying school fees, why are you here?’ And they (the teachers) [said], ‘Well, we just love your kids, and we’re going to be meeting with them.’”

A future for Uganda

Uganda lifted its lockdowns earlier this month, allowing students back into the classroom. Pray for low infection rates so schools can remain open.

“We know our schools are reopening, and our teachers are fired up to have their kids back. But that’s taking place in the context of a devastating situation,” McIntyre says.

“Many teachers have had to find other employment. Many schools have converted to housing, taking their buildings and making them into apartments.”

While thousands of children receive an education and more through Set Free, scores are waiting in the wings. “We have several hundred kids we’d love to add to that program, but [they need to be] sponsored,” McIntyre says.

For $35 each month, you can help a vulnerable child attend school and have a future beyond stealing or prostitution.

“These are kids who have serious needs. They’re either double orphans or in situations where they have one parent, [and] this is a way they can continue to go to school,” McIntyre explains.

Follow Set Free Ministries on Facebook or Instagram for updates and prayer needs.

Header and story images courtesy of Set Free Ministries.

Set Free Ministries’ Dean VanderMey says witch doctors are behind the crisis. “Witch doctors actually kidnap children… for the bloodletting,” he states.

“There’s not only animals being sacrificed, but there’s actual children being sacrificed.”

What’s going on in Uganda?

Local believers invited Set Free Ministries to Uganda in 2004, and they began working with kids and churches in 2005. They’ve seen firsthand the power witch doctors hold over communities.

“There’s a witch doctor for every 11 to 12 people depending on what region you’re in. They hold everything through fear and intimidation,” VanderMey says.

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Soon after Set Free began working in Uganda, VanderMey queried a group of local pastors during a conference. “I hear it’s customary when you have a child that you have two weeks…before the witch doctors demand you bring your child in for dedication. If you don’t, they will curse you and your child gets sick,” he remembers discussing with the men present.

“Have all of you had your children dedicated by the witch doctors?”

VanderMey says each man in the group bowed his head in shame. Pastors felt powerless and afraid of the witch doctors’ abilities.

“Every pastor there had allowed their children to be dedicated to Satan.”

Set Free and its partnering churches give kids and their families an alternative.

How to put witch doctors out of business

Set Free offers hope and protection through Christian education and mentoring. More about that here. “We have nine schools right now…those nine schools [educate] between 250 and 300 students a year,” says VanderMey.

Uganda’s AIDS epidemic of previous decades resulted in “2.3 million orphans; they say 75% of Uganda is age 18 and under. It’s now a nation of children, really,” he adds.

“The last thing Jesus said before He left Earth was ‘go make disciples.’ We’re making disciples of all nations and, in Uganda, there’s a lot of children that need discipleship.”

(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries).

Set Free wants to expand their efforts by building Light Academy – the region’s first Christian high school and vocational school. “Only 10% of students go to high school,” VanderMey explains.

“A lot of the girls get human trafficked, and we don’t want to see that. We want to keep them in school and keep them educated, and then [help] them get jobs [through] a vocational training center.”

Set Free’s team needs to raise $5.3 million over the next five years to make Light Academy a reality, VanderMey says. Click here and select “SFM East Africa” to give a gift.

“We’re looking for new donors who might be interested in helping because… it’s actually revolutionizing a whole region of people,” he explains, referring to Ugandan believers previously held captive by their fear of witch doctors.

“[They’re] not only set free in Christ, but now they’re raising up a generation of new disciples.”

He also requests prayer. “Pray that God will continue the revival, and to bring beauty for ashes. We love seeing that going on right now — it’s just beauty for ashes,” VanderMey asks, referring to Isaiah 61.

“Pray that the Lord would keep bringing in more and more orphaned children who are coming to faith.”

Header image depicts a Sudanese witch doctor or “master on traditional medicine” preparing a treatment against mental illness. Photo by Albert Gonzalez Farran – UNAMID via Flickr/Creative Commons.

To conclude our three-part series with Set Free Ministries, Dean Vander Mey explains the next investment they’re planning for East African children. Earlier in the week, Vander Mey told us about their Christian schools and how God is using Set Free Ministries to rescue and redeem vulnerable kids.

“About 250 to 300 kids are graduating each year from junior high, and there’s no Christian high school” in East Africa that caters to the children they help, Vander Mey explains.

(Photo courtesy Set Free Ministries via Facebook).

“We’re discipling these children from ages five to six until they’re 12, 13, and 14 [years old], and then we’re losing the opportunity to invest in their continued discipleship.

“That’s a very dangerous time to lose teens.”

Without the protection of a family unit, orphans are extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Previous MNN reports, like this one and this one, describe the numerous struggles facing orphaned children in Africa.

“The girls, if they don’t have a hope and a future, will just be sold and bought off, or they will just be child brides,” says Vander Mey. “We don’t want that to happen.”

With your help and prayers, Set Free Ministries wants to add a new chapter to their work in East Africa.

Hope on the horizon

In recent weeks, Set Free and their local partners purchased 60 acres of land in East Africa.

“We’re building a new high school that will hold 1,200 students,” Vander Mey states.

“We’re going to teach them how to prosper, and then they’re going to go out and change their communities.”

(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries)

Curriculum will build upon scholastic and spiritual lessons taught in Set Free’s primary schools. Dormitory-style housing allows discipleship beyond the classroom. Vander Mey says that as students approach graduation, staff will help them prepare to launch into adulthood.

“If you want to go to university, great! If you don’t, we will have a vocational training center right in the school.”

Set Free Ministries needs your help to make this dream a reality.

“We need to raise $5 million in 3 years,” says Vander Mey. “We don’t know how to do that! We’re in way over our heads, [but] God is God. He can do it.”

Click here to donate online and help Set Free Ministries build the high school.

“It takes quite an investment; that’s what discipleship is. Jesus said, ‘Go make disciples’…that’s not the ‘Great Suggestion’ it’s the Great Commission, it’s the Great Command.”

Click to read Part One and Part Two of this series.

Header image courtesy BrainyQuote.com

Human trafficking poses a major threat to Africa’s 52 million orphans. With no adult protection, orphaned kids make easy prey for traffickers. Young men and boys are scooped up and forced to work or they become child soldiers. Orphaned girls become sex slaves or child brides.

In Part Two of our conversation with Set Free Ministries, Dean Vander Mey describes how God is using their ministry to set captives free in East Africa…literally and spiritually.

Read Part One here.

Orphans: rescued and redeemed

Several years ago, an email from an anonymous source arrived in Vander Mey’s inbox. It warned of suspicious activity at an orphanage near a school Set Free supported.

“I couldn’t ignore it,” Vander Mey recalls, adding that he sent it on to Set Free’s partners and asked them to ‘check it out.’ What they discovered was more than appalling.

(Header and story photo courtesy Set Free Ministries)

“The orphan director was putting [the girls] in buses on weekends and he would take them to different villages…All the girls were being raped; 40 to 50 times a night for the weekend, and then he’d take them back to the orphanage,” says Vander Mey.

“We sent in police, we sent in investigators. He ran, the orphanage was closed down, we took all of the girls.”

All 24 of the abused girls, ranging from 8 to 16 years old, were invited to one of Set Free’s Christian schools for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children. At the school, the girls received their first formal education. Most importantly, they learned about their value in Christ.

Vander Mey spoke with some of the girls during his recent visit to East Africa.

“They’re thriving; some are teachers,” he shares. “They’ve been set free. The past does not affect their future because their minds are renewed…they have a new identity.

“When you have a new identity in Christ, then that’s it. The old is gone, the new is come. God showed them that they could be washed and cleansed from the sin that was done to them, and they could forgive…and then God uses them powerfully.”

A new future for the Next Generation

As explained in yesterday’s story, Set Free began its school ministry in East Africa as a response to the AIDS crisis. The counseling ministry’s 15 Christian schools grew from a desire to feed, teach, and disciple “forgotten” children.

Learn more about the schools and read comments from some of the students here.

(Photo courtesy Set Free Ministries)

Orphans aren’t the only vulnerable children helped by Set Free. A boy named Robert is the perfect example. Robert lived with his parents and siblings, but they weren’t sure what to do with him. Crippled children in Africa are often discarded and rejected.

Thanks to the intervention of a Set Free donor, Robert received the corrective surgeries he needed. Today, Robert can run and play with his schoolmates, and he’s at the top of his class.

Read Robert’s story here.

Tomorrow, we’ll conclude this series with a look at the future. For now, could you keep Set Free and the girls we mentioned today in your prayers?

• Praise God for enabling Set Free and its partners to free the 24 abused girls. Pray for their continued spiritual growth.
• Ask the Lord to help each child find hope and eternal salvation in Christ.
• Pray leaders will make decisions using wisdom and discernment.

Learn more about the work of Set Free Ministries by visiting their website.

According to UNICEF, Eastern and Southern Africa hold 10.5 million children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS. As reported here, AIDS orphans often face discrimination. Some turn to forced labor or prostitution for survival.

“Satan’s best work in Africa: [the] genocide of a million people, and the destruction of millions through AIDS because of fornication and adultery,” states Dean Vander Mey of Set Free Ministries.

Today, we’re beginning a three-part series exploring God’s redemptive work in East Africa through Set Free and local believers.

Helping AIDS orphans prosper

Orphans and vulnerable children are without means of protection or provision. They are at the fringes of society and are the easiest to exploit and abuse. They are easily and frequently overlooked, demeaned, and treated as non-persons. They have no power, no one to advocate for them, and are consistently deprived of justice.
(Header and story photo, caption courtesy Set Free)

Set Free began working in East Africa when Vander Mey saw the desperate situation of AIDS orphans first-hand. He and a few other Set Free leaders were holding a workshop for local believers, and he saw a gaggle of unattended children hanging around the group each day.

When Vander Mey asked the local pastor about them, the man said they were orphans who had seen a poster advertising a free cup of porridge. They had come to the workshop because they were starving. Vander Mey pressed further, asking who would take care of the orphans and how they would get food, shelter, schooling, etc. The response of local believers broke his heart.

“They said, ‘We don’t know [what will happen to them]; we’re poor. This is just how it is here.’”

The Holy Spirit prompted Vander Mey to act. In the mid-2000’s, Set Free and local believers partnered to start a small school that would care for and educate AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.

The movement quickly grew, and small church-based schools began popping up throughout the region.

“Children would come from all over,” says Vander Mey. “They would come from over 10 kilometers away to go to school because they had faith, they had hope, and they were being loved.”

Shining light into darkness

Through the efforts of Set Free and local believers, AIDS orphans are prospering. Set Free’s work has grown to include 15 schools throughout East Africa.

Tomorrow, we’ll hear another update about this work. For now, could you keep Set Free in your prayers? Local witch doctors are presenting quite a challenge.

(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

“These witch doctors are evil,” says Vander Mey. “They rape our children; they wield demonic power. 70% of the people who are in those communities are terrified of these witch doctors because they wield lots of power and they’ve all been abused by them.”

But, just like the region, witch doctors aren’t beyond redemption. Vander Mey recalls a girl who once wandered into a Set Free conference and began thrashing on the floor. It turns out she was the daughter of two local witch doctors and hadn’t been home in months.

“She would walk around [the community] dazed and the boys of the neighborhood would rape her every night,” reports Vander Mey.

“One of our guys picked her up [off of the floor] and prayed over her for five hours. She came to her right mind and started to worship.”

Later that evening, the young girl returned home. “Jesus Christ is Lord,” she told her parents.

“The next morning,” Vander Mey recalls, “her mother came with all the witchcraft from all the generations. She laid it at our feet and we burned it, and she accepted Christ that day.”

Three days later, the girl’s father also gave his heart to Christ.

“We’ve had several witch doctors convert to Christianity because they see our power and they know it’s way greater than the god they serve.”

Learn more about the work of Set Free Ministries by visiting their website.

Kamonkoli orphans need your help.
(Image courtesy Orphan’s Heart)

Uganda (MNN) — If you truly want to make a difference this Christmas, look no further than Uganda. Over 1 million orphans there won’t be celebrating the holidays with family.

Uganda is home to an estimated 1.7 million orphans; 10,000 of whom live on the streets, according to World Bank.

Jerry Haag of Orphan’s Heart says some of the kids they help through a partnership with Hines Ugandan Ministries have lost both parents. “And others are much like what orphans would be here…they’re social orphans. Either their mom or dad cannot, or will not, care for them.

“Some are in the terrible situation they’re in because of extreme poverty.”

And then, there’s the AIDS crisis, rampant in so many African nations.

“Across the continent of Africa, every 14 seconds a child is orphaned because of a parent dying of AIDS,” says Haag.

After Christmas, Ron Gunter of Orphan’s Heart is leading a team armed with Christ’s love and Gospel Truth straight into the dire reality faced by villagers in Kamonkoli, Uganda. They’ll help finish a new school being built on the Hines complex, and “we’ll be feeding…900-1000 children, also delivering clothing and other needs that the kids have there,” Haag says.

They need your help to collect a few more items.

“The girls there love dresses, and so one of the huge needs we have right now are dresses for the girls…and we need shoes for the boys,” he states.

If you’re wondering what clothing sizes are needed, err on the small side, Haag advises.

“These are toddlers up through children in high school, but think smaller sizes than what we would buy here for that group,” he says. Poverty leads to widespread malnutrition in Kamonkoli, which results in smaller growth averages.

“Send [the items] to us, and our team will take it over there and personally deliver it,” says Haag. “And, [we’ll] not only share that gift with them, but also share the Good News of Jesus Christ.”

Click here for a list of items needed in Uganda.

This is the Genesis Primary School that the team will help complete.
(Image courtesy Orphan’s Heart)

Some of the participants on this trip are close to Haag’s heart.

“My mom and dad heard about the need of the school and said, ‘We want to give a gift to make that school possible,'” he explains.

“Not only are they giving to make it possible, but just after Christmas they’ll be standing in that orphanage with a third generation.”

That was the only condition Haag’s father placed on their gift for the school: a picture of the couple with their grandchildren is taken on the new school’s front porch. Haag says his parents want to give their grandchildren “a passion for missions and help them see what difference a gift can make.”

Pray that this passion for missions is passed on from one Haag generation to the next. If you’re looking to make a sustainable difference in an orphan’s life, click here to learn more about sponsoring a child through Orphan’s Heart.

“When you see people with these pressing physical needs, let’s not be guilty of [not acting],” states Haag.

“We need to be the ones to reach out, to meet those needs. We’ve been given that mandate by Jesus Christ, by God the Father.”

In November, an Orphan’s Heart team distributed hundreds of shoes in Kamonkoli.
(Image courtesy Orphan’s Heart)

Pray that all the supplies and donations needed for this trip come through in time.

“Be praying for the vibrancy of Christ through this Christmas time,” Haag asks. “Pray for the reality of that, but don’t just stop there.

“Pray that Jesus will be real and evident to the people there through resources that people are able to send to meet physical needs.”

Pray that villagers will see and hear the Gospel through the Orphan’s Heart team. “For the men and the women and the children there, [pray] that they can be adopted into God’s family,” Haag adds.

The trip to Uganda after Christmas is full, but there is another opportunity to go in March 2014. Learn about it here.

“Be involved on a very personal level,” Haag requests. “Go with us, with Orphan’s Heart, to be the hands and feet of Jesus in that tangible way…to people that have desperate physical needs.”

(Image courtesy Bethany)

Without the protection of parents or family, orphans are either left to fend for themselves or they’re placed in an institution. These children are especially vulnerable in Africa, where children often become head of the household around age 8 or 9.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 70% of the world’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, and in some sub-Saharan nations, the number of AIDS orphans exceeds 1 million. In the Global Slavery Index published earlier this month, half of the top 10 nations where slavery is most prevalent are African: Mauritania, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Gabon.

More than 40,000 children are victims of human trafficking in Benin, and around 14,000 kids are enslaved in Gambia. Their bonds take the form of domestic servitude, forced begging and prostitution, including child sex tourism.

Surrounded by a family, children become much less appealing to predators like traffickers or pimps. Bethany Christian Services and Buckner International are teaming up to host a conference in Kenya later this month promoting domestic adoption.

“We are hoping that it will inspire the Christian community in Kenya and other countries…to step up to care for orphans and vulnerable children,” says Bill Blacquiere, Bethany’s President and CEO. “It will be educational; it will be informative.”

In a first-of-its-kind event, Bethany and Buckner will introduce Christian communities to the possibility of orphan adoption on November 21 and 22. However, East African mindsets and cultural norms could present a challenge.

“Adoption is kind of foreign to a lot of people in [these] countries,” Blacquiere explains. “They did not grow up with the idea of ‘you adopt non-relatives into your family’.”

It was a difficult hurdle for Bethany to overcome when they began working in Ethiopia. Through a partnership with over 20 local pastors, Bethany offers a multitude of services.

“They said to us, ‘It took us 6 months to get a handle on [the thought] that we were adopted by God, and we should also adopt children who are non-relatives’,” Blacquiere recalls.

While you might not be able to go, Blacquiere says there are three things you can do.

First of all, pray Christian communities attending the conference to open their homes and hearts to orphans. Secondly, ask the Lord to give them understanding of adoption and His love for orphans.

“And third, if they would pray for governments,” requests Blacquiere, “that governments would be open to Christian organizations working with them to provide care for children.”

Orphan Outreach is working with Beyond Adoption in Bungoma, Kenya to care for 130 orphans. (Image courtesy Orphan Outreach)

Healthcare is a low priority for Bungoma families, and many of the 130 kids at Madeline School in Bungoma are AIDS orphans.

“These children are so impoverished; they literally have no shoes on their feet. They don’t have food each day,” Norton explains, “so seeing a doctor is very rare.”

The elusive opportunity came when Orphan Outreach’s team showed up at Madeline School. The medical team cared for each child’s medical needs, and created a record for every student. This way, future medical needs can be addressed effectively.

“They helped train staff on the ground there in medical care for the children, and provided a lot of donations to help the kids medically, as well as hygiene items and things like that,” says Norton.

Classrooms are made of sticks, dung and mud, all built upon a dirt floor. Treatment in such a primitive facility was challenging, to say the least.

“We literally had to get everything, even chairs for the children to sit in, rented and brought to the school,” Norton says.

But in the end, their hard work was worth it.

Norton says, “It was a huge blessing to have this team go in and provide that for the kids. They rarely get medical care at all. Many of them have skin diseases or issues, they have intestinal issues.”

Dental care was also a top priority.

“They don’t even know about brushing their teeth, [nor] have toothbrushes and toothpaste,” says Norton. “Our team took that in for the students.”

While the medical care and supplies are a physical outpouring of Christ’s loves for these children, believers in Bungoma are helping kids see the Gospel in living color.

“Here’s the local church, very poor, and the community of believers in the church is taking in these children,” says Norton.

She explains that church families are housing orphans while they attend Madeline School. Even the pastor has taken in some of the children.

“The opportunity that we have to partner with fellow believers in-country is just a huge blessing to us; it’s what we’re called to do,” Norton states.

While Bungoma doesn’t lie in the line of fire, the nation of Kenya is grabbing global headlines this week following terrorists’ seizure of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Thankfully, Orphan Outreach’s team was on their way out when the attacks took place.

“Our team was at the airport, about to leave the country, when everything happened,” Norton explains. “Safety of our travelers and mission team participants is always of the utmost concern.”

That’s why Orphan Outreach is continuing to monitor the situation in Nairobi. Pray protection over Orphan Outreach staff and the children they’re helping in Kenya.

According to UNICEF data, the country is home to 2.6 million orphans. Of those, an estimated 1.1 million have lost one or both parents to AIDS; UNICEF confirms the AIDS virus claimed both parents of 310,000 children.

Share a prayer for Bungoma’s AIDS orphans on our Facebook page.

Norton says a majority of the kids need sponsors. Can you help? Click here.

“Sponsorship is…so important for us to provide for the daily care for these kids; for food, for paying the teachers, for their educational needs,” Norton says.

Pray more sponsors come forward to sponsor the children in Bungoma.

Healthcare is a low priority for Bungoma families, and many of the 130 kids at Madeline School in Bungoma are AIDS orphans.

"These children are so impoverished; they literally have no shoes on their feet. They don't have food each day," Norton explains, "so seeing a doctor is very rare."

The elusive opportunity came when Orphan Outreach's team showed up at Madeline School. The medical team cared for each child's medical needs and created a record for every student. This way, future medical needs can be addressed effectively.

"They helped train staff on the ground there in medical care for the children and provided a lot of donations to help the kids medically, as well as hygiene items and things like that," says Norton.

Classrooms are made of sticks, dung, and mud, all built upon a dirt floor. Treatment in such a primitive facility was challenging, to say the least.

"We literally had to get everything–even chairs for the children to sit in–rented and brought to the school," Norton says.

But in the end, their hard work was worth it.

Norton says, "It was a huge blessing to have this team go in and provide that for the kids. They rarely get medical care at all. Many of them have skin diseases or issues; they have intestinal issues."

Dental care was also a top priority.

"They don't even know about brushing their teeth, [nor] have toothbrushes and toothpaste," says Norton. "Our team took that in for the students."

While the medical care and supplies are a physical outpouring of Christ's loves for these children, believers in Bungoma are helping kids see the Gospel in living color.

"Here's the local church, very poor, and the community of believers in the church is taking in these children," says Norton.

She explains that church families are housing orphans while they attend Madeline School. Even the pastor has taken in some of the children.

"The opportunity that we have to partner with fellow believers in-country is just a huge blessing to us; it's what we're called to do," Norton states.

While Bungoma isn't in the line of fire, the nation of Kenya is grabbing global headlines this week following terrorists' seizure of the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Thankfully, Orphan Outreach's team was on their way out when the attacks took place.

"Our team was at the airport, about to leave the country when everything happened," Norton explains. "Safety of our travelers and mission team participants is always of the utmost concern."

That's why Orphan Outreach is continuing to monitor the situation in Nairobi. Pray for protection over Orphan Outreach staff and the children they're helping in Kenya.

According to UNICEF data, the country is home to 2.6 million orphans. Of those, an estimated 1.1 million have lost one or both parents to AIDS; UNICEF confirms that the AIDS virus claimed both parents of 310,000 children.

Share a prayer for Bungoma's AIDS orphans on our Facebook page.

Norton says a majority of the kids need sponsors. Can you help? Click here.

"Sponsorship is…so important for us to provide for the daily care for these kids: for food, for paying the teachers, for their educational needs," Norton says.

Pray that more sponsors will come forward to sponsor the children in Bungoma.

Of the 40 million infected with HIV/AIDS in 2003, approximately 26.6 million lived in sub-Saharan Africa. The number of new HIV infections matched the number of people who were killed by AIDS in this region.

European Union flag

That same year, Food for the Hungry (FH) brought 15 U.S.-based Christian groups together to fight the disease globally. The U.S. government awarded them $40 million to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and orphan care programs in eight countries.

Meanwhile, then-President George W. Bush signed into law the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This bill designated $15 billion toward reversing the downward spiral of HIV/AIDS globally.

FH President Dave Evans calls this “the most important single piece of foreign assistance ever focused on one area of need.”

Ten years down the road, PEPFAR and FH efforts are yielding a harvest.

At a recent PEPFAR tenth anniversary celebration, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the one-millionth at-risk baby will be born HIV-free this month.

The U.S. Department of State says new HIV infections have declined nearly 19% globally over the past decade, and AIDS-related mortality has decreased by 26% since peaking in 2005. In sub-Saharan Africa, new infections decreased 33% since 2003, and AIDS-related mortality has dropped 32%.

FH responds to the HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing physical, spiritual, and social support. Their work includes abstinence and prevention education, caring for orphans and vulnerable children, counseling and care for those too sick to leave their homes, and facilitating support groups for women with AIDS.

Since 2003, “We reached over two million youth and married couples with a message of prevention based on abstinence and faithfulness,” Evans said in a recent blog.

“In addition, we were able to positively impact the lives of thousands of [AIDS] orphans, as well as treat AIDS victims with anti-retroviral medicine.”

Get involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS through FH. Pray that FH programs will keep shining the hope of Christ to those at-risk.

Read more about the involvement of Food for the Hungry in the HIV/AIDS battle here and here.