(Photo courtesy World Renew)

Pakistan (WRN/MNN) — Deserts don’t strike people as “fertile” usually. However, Tharparkar, Pakistan boasts the only fertile desert in the world…up until now.

It is the third-largest province of Pakistan and in the triangle bordered by both Iran and Afghanistan. In normal years, you get the mix of monsoon rains and dry season. However, this year is anything but “normal” for the people in Tharparkar. Wayne DeJong with World Renew explains, “Most often, we’ve been dealing with monsoon flooding, and we responded in 2010, 2011-12 to the monsoon floods. But in November 2013, there was a failure of the monsoon rains, and about two million people were affected.”

The New Normal

So, if this was a problem nine months ago, why are we still talking about it? DeJong answers, “A lot of people have been selling their livestock, and they’ve been able to cope [with the drought] with income received from those sales. They’ve also been borrowing money. But over the last nearly nine months since the drought began, many people have exhausted their coping mechanisms.”

In addition, food prices have skyrocketed due to the combination of poor harvest and increasing numbers of Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) and refugees due to conflict in neighboring countries.

(Photo courtesy World Renew)

According to recent research, Pakistanis could spend nearly half of their income on food and beverages. That means coping mechanisms will end much sooner than the 2014 harvest is due.

The southeast province of Sindh has been most affected, and particularly Tharparkar district. It’s not that the region is cut off from help. Rather, says DeJong, “The government just didn’t have the resources to adequately respond to all of the needs in the area because of the scope of the drought in that district. Also, other international organizations also didn’t have the resources to respond.”

Being Part of the Solution

World Renew is responding, together with the Interfaith League Against Poverty. Through a project funded by the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, World Renew and ILAP are by providing food assistance to 4,290 families who have been severely impacted by the drought. World Renew’s project will focus specifically on these underserved communities that have a high percentage of minority groups.

DeJong adds, “This district is about two-thirds Muslim and about one-third Hindu.” While this project isn’t about overt Gospel work, the people they’re helping are well aware of who motivates their teams. “It’s a good way for us to demonstrate the love of Christ to people when they’re in need. They hear that message loud and clear through our deed ministry.”

The Long Road Ahead

Through World Renew and ILAP, families will receive a food basket that contains wheat flour, rice, lentils, cooking oil, energy biscuits, dates, salt, sugar, and tea leaves. In order to help people restore their livelihoods, World Renew will also provide fodder to keep livestock alive and healthy. “It’s really a pretty straight forward project but in a fairly challenging context where there are some security concerns. So pray for the safety of their staff.”

Please pray for the families struggling under drought conditions in Pakistan, for their improved health, and for their livestock health. Please pray for timely monsoon rains that will allow families to replant their crops and resume their livestock-raising livelihoods once again.

(Photo courtesy World Renew)

Central African Republic (MNN) — What is happening in the Central African Republic is becoming a brutal echo of the Rwandan conflict 20 years ago.

Wayne DeJong is the director of disaster response and rehabilitation at World Renew. He says while the unrest in CAR began March 24, 2013, it got worse. “The country more or less descended into chaos in December and has now become a level 3 emergency, which is the highest level of crisis response.”

It actually goes back before last March. Since December 2012, the CAR has been experiencing political and social instability as well as insecurity. Following the coup in March 2013, the country has seen the disruption of normal life, human rights violations, and the massive displacement of populations. DeJong explains, “The UN is now calling it one of the most silent and forgotten emergencies in the world, with now about 600,000 people displaced within the country and 290,000 refugees in neighboring countries.”

(Photo courtesy World Renew)

According to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, many thousands of these refugees are fleeing to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Chad, and Cameroon.  DeJong adds, “The Central African Republic has a population of 4.6 million, and over half of them are now in need of assistance.”

However, despite repeated UN calls to raise support for these refugees, the sheer number of aggravated simultaneous crises has siphoned off funds. “Pray for support from the international community because only about 20% of the needs in the country are being met by outside resources,” explains DeJong.

Yet, World Renew couldn’t simply contact their staff in CAR and release needed funds. Working through partners in the ACT Alliance and Integral Alliance, they are  assessing needs and providing emergency aid. DeJong goes on to say this is more than a physical approach. “This is definitely another opportunity for us to show God’s Love to people who are in need, and also to demonstrate that the Christian God is a God of love, and not violence.”

“Pray for wisdom and discernment as we develop our response and develop our relations with the partner organizations, working with local communities to do needs assessments,” DeJong requests. “Pray for safety, of course, because it is a dangerous place in which to work.” World Renew will help provide urgently-needed supplies to vulnerable families. This may include the provision of food, water, sanitation, and hygiene in camps for internally displaced people.

Are you ready to be part of the solution in CAR? Click here for more ways you can be the hands and feet of Christ.