East Africa is going on four decades of severe drought affecting 40 million people.

Wycliffe Associates works with communities in East Africa on Bible translation projects. But Bart Maley with Wycliffe Associates says the time people spend to get water makes it difficult to do anything else.

“Anyone can imagine that if you’re struggling with water and food for your basic needs, how are you going to accomplish any other tasks? So for our Bible translation teams, in particular, it’s hard to get a group of people and sit down together and use the tools and training to implement church-owned Bible translation and to work on that as a team together when all you’re doing is just taking care of your basic needs.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

Wycliffe Associates seeks to meet people’s deepest spiritual need with God’s Word, and often that comes alongside satisfying physical needs. Their community development program, managed by Maley, works with local community leaders in East Africa to determine how to fill the gap for food and water in drought.

Maley says, “Our program managers work with the community leaders to find, in most cases, drilling teams that would be willing to go into some of these remote areas. Then they also work closely hand-in-hand with the government to try to get some government interaction as well.

“Oftentimes, they’re kind of forgotten peoples in regards to their own governments even. But where we can, we’ll work with government officials, and we have actually contracted some government drilling teams to go into remote regions and drill water wells for these communities to provide for their basic needs.”

Once these communities have wells and clean drinking water, they can set up small-scale irrigation — or “drip irrigation” — to make sure every drop of water is used effectively to grow crops.

“We do also have an what we call our emergency 9-1-1 program,” says Maley. “We have provided food resources and other basic needs for people that are in starvation mode that have no other way to provide for themselves.”

(Photo courtesy of Wycliffe Associates)

The final piece to the puzzle is partnership with ministries and organizations to tackle the water crisis. Wycliffe Associates has linked arms with Echo Ministries based in Fort Meyers, Florida for creative agricultural solutions in East Africa.

For example, even when it does rain, the ground is so hard packed from decades of drought that “the water is just going to hit it and run,” Maley says.

This is where Echo Ministries comes in. They help communities in East Africa build dams. More specifically, Maley says, “To have it actually be a sand filled dam, that would catch the water much like a water aquifer under the ground. Then the sand would also inhibit the evaporation of water.”

It’s a multi-faceted issue requiring help from all angles. But Wycliffe Associates sees how providing rescue and aid while empowering communities in East Africa not only improves lives. It also opens Gospel doors.

Maley asks, “Pray for us for wisdom and insights in how to address these needs and how to connect with partner organizations that will help us. Pray for our own partnership and our own organization as we raise funds through our community development and emergency 911 program to help partner with these communities.”

Also, pray that people across East Africa will ultimately know the Living Water of Jesus Christ.

Click here to learn more about supporting Wycliffe Associates.

Header photo courtesy of Mike Erskine/Unsplash.

Ten million children need lifesaving support, according to UNICEF. The flooding damaged 2 million homes and killed thousands.

Pakistan’s foreign minister appealed for international funds ahead of a donor gathering in Geneva. The U.N. has warned that funding for flood victims will run out on January 15. In October, they requested $816 million in aid for the flooding. Only a third of that money has come in.

Nehemiah with FMI says, “Between 8 million and 9 million have been pushed below the poverty line by the floods. The monsoon washed away vast tracts of crops, with many already impoverished families losing their livelihoods.”

“Some homes remain submerged, leaving families living on elevated roads or in displacement camps.”

In this vulnerable situation, many children have been forced into labor or marriage.

Not much help is coming from the Pakistani government. International banks say the country is nearing an economic meltdown. Over half the population already lives under the poverty line, Nehemiah says.

How to pray

Many FMI partners work in the area. Nehemiah says, “Our brothers and sisters working on the ground are also facing harsh situations right now in Pakistan. I would love our readers to please pray for our partners trying to reach out to their congregations.”

Pray also that survivors of the flood would get the aid they need as winter sets in.

The header photo shows a Pakistani village submerged by flooding. (Photo courtesy of Ali Hyder Junejo, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Kenya’s National Drought and Weather Authority says there will be less rainfall this November through December, normally months when the region gets some precipitation.

Muslim religious and political leaders attended the service, which was held at the Garissa Primary School. Nehemiah with FMI says, “Farming activities are dead in the region following the prolonged drought. More livestock have succumbed due to lack of rain and pasture. Human beings are suffering amid a lack of water. Water is a huge, huge issue in this area.”

At the meeting, Local leaders encouraged different groups to work together, stressing that the drought was not caused by any of them.

Persecution

Nehemiah traveled to this area earlier this year. He saw the poverty, the lack of basic infrastructure, and the desolation caused by the drought.

But Christians near Garissa face additional problems as well. Nehemiah says, “They experience persecution daily. Their churches are often damaged with stones. Whenever they move or walk in the streets, people chant at them because they are a very, very tiny minority. The girls who come to their churches are very vulnerable.”

“Muslim boys from a Somalian background often try to kidnap them and take them back to their villages.”

Christians make up less than one percent of the population in this area, near the border with Somalia.

Pray this region receives rain and ask God to strengthen the local church. Many FMI partners serve in the area, regardless of the danger.

Header photo courtesy of FMI. 

The U.N. says 95,000 homes have been destroyed. In Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi, 15 inches of rain in a few hours overwhelmed the streets.

Greg Kelley with World Mission says, “People that we’re working with, and our partners on the ground, are telling me about 40 continuous days of rain. It’s just destroying roads and livestock. Fields and farms are literally washed away. When that is someone’s entire source of substance, either raising their animals or farming, it’s devastating.”

“This year has been uniquely devastating in Pakistan.”

One World Mission Pastor lost both his house and his livestock. People urgently need medical supplies and shelter.

Ministering to those in need

World Mission partners are working to provide these things to those in need. Kelley says, “Many Muslim people would give no time of day to Christianity. Now all of a sudden, because of the horrors they’ve experienced, Christians have a great opportunity. So that’s what our partners are doing on the ground. They’re loving these people in Jesus’ name. They’re distributing our solar-powered Audio Bible in their native language.”

Pakistani society does not think well of Christianity, often seeing it as a Western threat. Kelley says this is an opportunity to show something different. “Some of the things that they’re being told goes out the window when they see someone coming to them saying, ‘We care for your family. Here is a blanket, here’s a tarp, here’s a tent.”

As a result, many people are coming to know Jesus.

You can support World Mission’s work in Pakistan.

The header shows people in Pakistan with aid from World Mission after the flooding. (Photo courtesy of World Mission on Facebook) 

The agricultural system, which employed three-quarters of all Tigray people, has been effectively destroyed by the war. Hospitals have run out of drugs for cancer patients, and often simply send them home.

Eric Foley with The Voice of the Martyrs Korea says, “Our friend, Pastor T, wrote saying, ‘Still, Romans 8:28. The suffering of people is high, but God is working.’ What Pastor T noted for us was that so many Tigrayans are still forced to live in Addis because of the travel limitations and the inability to return and make a living in Tigray at this point. Yet, God is at work.”

“We need to sometimes step into the shoes of ordinary Christian believers and really not think as geopolitical analysts.”

We reported previously that this group of Christians had planted 11 new churches near Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Now, that number has jumped to 19.

Foley says in the absence of governments being able to work together, God’s people continue to show Jesus’ love. “Through the care that the Tigrayan Christians are showing to their neighbors, they’re changing the opinions of Muslim and Orthodox Ethiopians about evangelical Christians.”

How to pray

Praise God for the faith of Tigrayan Christians. Ask God to continue providing for these communities and to bring a permanent end to the war.

These believers have nothing except the community around them. Foley says, “They’re forced to cling to each other and to have all things in common just like the early church did. Because in many cases, they’re sharing apartments, they’re sharing food because their resources are so extremely limited.”

The header photo shows aid arriving in the Tigray region. (Photo courtesy of USAID, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 

The President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, clings to power as large protests take place in the capital, Colombo. Rajeeve Satianathan with Christian World Outreach says, “The big thing that people want is bringing businesses to Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the huge complaint is the corruption in the government. There were so many foreign funds that came to Sri Lanka, but most of them were never used properly.”

Last week, things turned violent as pro-government protestors attacked the makeshift protest village in Colombo, injuring several people with iron rods. Protestors also stormed government buildings.

Economic crisis

Sri Lanka’s people languish in a horrific economic crisis. In just a few days last week, the prices of some goods tripled. Many people do not have fuel with which to cook.

A rushed transition to organic farming has worsened the crisis as well, Sathianathan says. “People want to do organic farming. But completely turning [the chemicals] off and turning the organic farming on, the people had no idea how to do it. And they had zero help.”

CWO ministry

CWO works among small villages, helping those in need. Sathianathan says, “We are helping the elderly women and widows with dry food. At the same time, we are providing seeds so they can do their own gardening and grow vegetables. We buy seeds and provide them to the families.”

They started with one village in the North of the island. But Satianathan says, “We have started doing the same thing in the south of Sri Lanka as well.”

Pray Sri Lankan Christians would shine the hope of Jesus into a desperate situation.

The header photo shows protestors in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Photo courtesy of AntanO, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

Nehemiah with FMI says one of his uncles in Pakistan died because of the heat. “We realize that this is part of climate change, but people and the government in Pakistan are not prepared for such hot temperatures. And right now, we’re talking about April and the beginning of May. June and July are still coming, which are the hottest months in Pakistan.”

The heatwave has also damaged crops, dropping the wheat yield by 50 percent. Trees bloomed too early, then withered. Farmers aren’t getting any help from the government, and don’t know what they will do next.

Power cuts

To make matters worse, people throughout Pakistan do not have reliable electricity amid severe power shortages. Nehemiah says many small businesses are struggling to even operate.  “Urban centers experience load shedding up to six to ten hours every day. The rural regions fall prey to power outages lasting approximately 18 hours a day. Running water is a luxury in Pakistan.”

FMI partners work mostly in the rural areas of Pakistan, where the suffering has been greatest. Ask God to protect them. And pray the heatwave would end soon.

Romans 8 says the creation groans under the weight of death and decay. But God promises to set it free at Jesus’ return and the resurrection of the dead. Pray many across Pakistan would hear this news.

Header photo courtesy of FMI. 

It’s all part of a dryer trend in the region over the past 30 years. Eric Mock of the Slavic Gospel Association says, “The same dry trend that we’ve seen in the US is the same dry trend that they’re seeing in Far East Russia and through Central Asia. And Central Asia was already a very arid climate. It’s the land of camels and difficult to farm. In the middle of this drought, we’ve seen photographs of water wells that are just completely dry with just an old bucket. And people don’t know where they’re even going to get a bucket of water.”

You can help

SGA has responded by equipping local churches to help their neighbors in need. You can get involved with this work here.

Mock says, “With only $10, you can send a bag of food and a few bottles of water to a family. That’s literally the cost of a pizza for us. It could mean food and water for someone for seven to eight days. Pray for the people there and then get behind providing the aid.”

As the churches carry out this work, pray the hope of Jesus would enter what looks like a hopeless situation.

The header photo shows a Bactrian camel, native to Central Asia. (Photo courtesy of Edmart80, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Eva Dehart of For Haiti with Love says tourists have stopped visiting the country during the pandemic, making the situation even more serious. “People simply can’t afford to eat. And malnutrition is the number one cause of death right now. It is really, really sad to watch. There are so many [organizations] that are simply too small to make an impact. We did get food in finally, just a couple of days ago.”

Burn clinic

DeHart says most of this food will go towards helping patients of the burn clinic recover from their injuries. She hopes that as the heavy rains end, people can start getting food from their gardens.

Also, pray more food aid will reach Haiti soon. “The lady that got [our food] cleared through customs said she couldn’t exactly explain how our container got cleared. Because she has three others that were in there before ours, and she still can’t get them out. That is the hand of God. I don’t know what’s in her other containers. But God obviously felt that the food was a priority.”

DeHart says few things in the world hurt more than a burn. As For Haiti with Love cares for burn victims, pray their love would lead many to trust in Jesus.

Header photo courtesy of Kelly Lacy from Pexels.

In the region of Yakutia, temperatures have consistently hit -40 degrees Fahrenheit. Eric Mock of the Slavic Gospel Association says, “The churches we serve are very active in ministry, even in that bitter cold. In fact, I recently received an email from one of the men in Yakutia that said, ‘It’s a normal Yakutian season. It’s wonderful, and just right for ministry!’”

Ukraine

Destruction from the fighting near Adeevka in eastern Ukraine. (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Association)

Meanwhile, many Ukrainians continue to suffer from the cold as well.  Mock says, “In a lot of these areas, especially in the war zone of Ukraine, they have broken infrastructure. I’ve driven into some of the cities and villages there. The fighting has even destroyed the gas lines to these houses. So the best thing that they can hope for is a potbelly stove or some other source of heat, maybe a small room heater.”

Plus, the warm and dry summer already hurt the country’s crops. With the lack of snow cover, colder air could damage the crops even more.

Operation Winter Warmth

In response to the cold, SGA is bringing aid through Operation Winter Warmth. They fund local Christians, who then bring food, warmth, and the Gospel to those in need. Mock asks readers to pray for the safety of these believers as they go out to minister in hazardous weather. “When they’re driving out there, and it’s 40, 50, 60 degrees below zero, the visibility is greatly reduced: what they call ice fog. If their car breaks down, they may not survive.”

You can participate in this work. Learn more about Operation Winter Warmth or contribute financially at SGA’s website. Also, pray that as Christians share the Gospel, many would see their love and be drawn to Jesus Christ.

The header image shows ice fog over the Bow River in Canada. (Dburhoe, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)