The flooding killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, even creating a 100-kilometer-wide inland lake. The Pakistani government estimates the damage from the flooding to equal $30 billion.

Nehemiah with FMI says, “More than 2000 people have died because of the flooding. About 10 million people have lost everything. They are forced to live under the open sky.”

And the government is nowhere to be found. Nehemiah says, “Because of the financial and political instability in Pakistan, we cannot see any government official or any government effort.”

Get involved

Two FMI partners saw their houses and possessions washed away. FMI is sending help to these Christians as well as others who need help.

You can join the effort here. Nehemiah says, “Help our Christian brothers and sisters so they can help other people in the majority religion see God’s hand in their life and that there are other people ready to help them. Although it is not a good time, it is a good time to testify about Jesus Christ.”

Pray many in Pakistan will experience Jesus through the love of local Christians.

The header photo shows the effects of the flooding in Pakistan. (Photo courtesy of Ali Hyder Junejo, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

The vaccine will be cheap to make, and scientists hope to see 100 million made per year. It’s a crucial step in the fight against Malaria, a parasite that kills over 400,000 each year. Trials took place in Burkina Faso.

Christian World Outreach

Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “We see it a lot in Burkina Faso because of our mobile clinic there. But even in dealing with the young ladies at the Village of Opportunity, we’ve had them come down with malaria.”

“It becomes an issue, especially when they can’t get treatment or they can’t get to a mobile clinic out in the villages.”

Yoder says if someone comes into the clinic showing symptoms of malaria, they start treatment immediately. They don’t wait to get test results back.

The parasite, carried by mosquitos, can be especially dangerous for babies and young children.

How to pray

Pray the vaccine will be effective in slowing the spread of malaria, Yoder says. “And pray even for opportunities for us if it becomes available for us to use with our mobile clinic in Burkina Faso. And just pray that God will supply the funds that we need to purchase that if it does become available.”

Pray also that many in Burkina Faso would see the love of Jesus through this work. Support the ministry here.

The header photo shows a Anopheles stephensi mosquito, the only kind which carries malaria. (Photo courtesy of Jim Gathany, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

To make matters worse, the flooding has washed out several key roads and bridges, hindering travel and the delivery of assistance to those most in need. Thankfully, Cambodia has limited its COVID-19 outbreaks, with almost no cases in the country since the summer.

These pictures show World Mission distributing food and other essentials. (Photos courtesy of World Mission on Facebook)

Greg Kelley talks about World Mission’s response. “In Cambodia, it was primarily the Buddhist community that was affected. As the body of Christ responds, which we’ve seen through our efforts, hundreds and hundreds of people are getting just the basic necessities of survival. I mean, we’re talking about food, shelter, clothing, blankets, and mosquito nets.”

All of these products will save lives, even the mosquito nets. As people lose their homes, they become very vulnerable to malaria. Read more about the devastating effects of Malaria on the modern world here.

New Christians

Kelley describes the impact of this ministry. “For the hundreds of people that we were able to minister to, it was unconditional. It was just giving it to them in love. Half of these people, and this was around 300 people in one instance, became followers of Jesus. Our partners, as they’re distributing this aid, share the Gospel message. And half of the people, half of them from unreached people groups, received Jesus just because they were so touched by the expression of love.”

Kelley says World Mission will focus on discipling these new Christians, providing audio Bibles in their language, and training Christian leaders.

Praise God for these Cambodian believers, and pray they would be safe after the flooding. You can support World Mission’s relief efforts by donating here.

The header photo shows the flooding in Cambodia in October. (Photo courtesy of World Mission)

Set Free also works in areas of East Africa, where witch doctors have an iron grip on the people. Dean VanderMey with Set Free says in these regions, it’s children and orphans who suffer the most.

One such region is Rakai, Uganda. VanderMey visited Rakai with Set Free for the first time in 2005. He says, “Rakai had 95 percent unemployment at the time. Fifty percent of the people that we were ministering to had AIDS and there were thousands of orphans walking around kind of hollow-eyed. I couldn’t even believe what I was seeing.

“For every 11 people, there’s one witch doctor. So, the witchcraft in that area is very, very strong and they hold everyone through fear because everyone has been abused by a witch doctor there.”

(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries)

Malaria and waterborne diseases are rampant in Uganda and other areas of East Africa. VanderMey says whenever someone falls ill, their first response isn’t always to visit the nearest hospital. Especially in remote areas, a medical doctor or hospital may be extremely difficult to get to, so they go to the local witch doctor.

“The first thing he will do is he pulls the curtains and that’s where you’re going to be sexually abused as a child,” VanderMey says. “After that, he will give you the herbs to cure you. So the witch doctors hold everyone through fear and terror, and there’s demonization that goes with it.”

Set Free knew if they were going to make a difference, they need to be invested in East Africa for the long haul to address emotional, physical, and spiritual problems.

The ministry met with local pastors and proposed a partnership to get kids and orphans into a safe environment where they sense Jesus’s love — namely, Christian schools.

“We said, ‘We have funds, we have money. You have time and talent. If we do this together as the Church universal, then this will work as we combine our efforts.’ So we co-joined in ministry together and the results have been astonishing,” VanderMey says.

“January 1, 2006 was our first school with 42 kids. Now we’ve founded or supported 17 schools and there are 4,800 children.”

(Photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries)

Set Free started building a new high school in January 2019 called Light Academy. VanderMey is pleased to report they now have enough buildings to invite the first group of 200 students to attend.

It will still take another four years to finish the Light Academy project. Ultimately, their hope is to have 1,200 boarding high school students and another 800 students in the vocational training center.

There are several ways you can get involved with Set Free in East Africa. First, pray.

“We have a lot of testimonies that need to be shared and we have a lot of witch doctors that really hate us there,” VanderMey says. “So pray for spiritual safety for our teams and also a covering, that the angelic host would go before us. Also, [pray for] the witnesses who have their stories to tell, that they could tell them and give God the glory and praise due His name.”

Also, to complete Light Academy and have a profound spiritual impact on vulnerable kids in East Africa, Set Free needs more believers to link arms with them financially.

“We need $5 million to build this new high school. That’s more money than we’ve ever even ventured to raise. In fact, we had to double our budget to do it. So we need some donors who are willing to step up to the plate and say, ‘Hey, I want to be a part of this.’”

Click here to support Set Free Ministries!

Header photo courtesy of Set Free Ministries.

Malaria Facts

The recent WHO’s world malaria report says that between 2015 to 2017 there were “no significant gains in reducing malaria cases”. In fact, in 2017 alone there were an estimated 219 million malaria-related cases. The cases spanned 87 countries with an estimated 435,000 malaria-related deaths. Children under the age of five made up 61 percent of these deaths (266,000) worldwide.

Kakinada, India (Photo courtesy of India Partners)

India was home to four percent of all malaria cases in 2017. However, India did report progress from 2016 to 2017 in reducing malaria-related cases. Out of the top 11 countries where about 70 percent of malaria cases and deaths occur globally, India was the only country to reduce its malaria cases in this specific time frame.

This year, on World Malaria Day, you can get involved and help prevent Malaria by teaming up with India Partners. India Partners’ vision is an India rich in hope, justice, and compassion. Part of accomplishing this is malaria prevention. Why? Because part of compassion means wanting others to be whole and healthy, and malaria prevention is key to that vision.

Impact in India

India Partners helps people in India prevent the transfer of Malaria by providing mosquito nets to families. These nets protect children and adults from mosquitoes while they sleep. It is an inexpensive way to prevent malaria and protect families from sickness and even death.

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

“People may not be able to afford either the prevention or the long-lasting insecticide nets that we help to provide because it’s $10 for a net. When you’re working day-to-day and earning just a couple dollars, maybe working in the field, then you can’t afford $10 for a net,” Programs Coordinator with India Partners Donna Glass explains.

For families who do have members infected with malaria, this often means time off of work or school, provided the families can purchase anti-malaria medicine to heal. However, a net prevents this domino effect.

Glass says nets also provide a sense of relief from fear and anxiety for families just in the knowledge that their probability of getting malaria is greatly reduced. This also means families can rest well at night, knowing they’re likely not going to wake up with a mosquito bite which could drastically change their lives for the worse.

Be the Solution

“Prevention is so much more effective than curing people. If you can prevent an illness, then that’s where you need to step in before people get sick. And before people are missing work and losing money, not only from not getting wages but then there’s the cost of the care,” Glass says.

On World Malaria Day 2019, you can help people in India prevent the effects of Malaria by giving just $10 to provide a mosquito net. For the cost of a pizza, will you give someone the opportunity for a full life?

To donate a mosquito net, click here!

Header photo courtesy of India Partners.

Today is World Malaria Day which is dedicated to finding solutions, together, to fight malaria. This year’s theme is “Ready to Beat Malaria.”

While most malaria cases take place on the African continent, we can’t ignore that it’s also a very real issue in India, as well. WHO noted earlier this year that India has made great strides to fight malaria in the last 18 years, but that the state of Odisha, for instance, was still struggling. In other words, the fight against malaria is not over in India. This is particularly true in rural areas where poverty also is prevalent.

Donna Glass of India Partners says, “The greatest problems exist in rural villages because the people cannot afford to have what’s called a long-lasting insecticide net.”

(Photo courtesy of India Partners)

Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) are a recommended form of malaria prevention. And, as the name suggests, these nets are treated with insecticide and can last for many years. They are extremely effective at protecting people from mosquito bites while they sleep.

But just because it’s a simple, long-term solution does not mean it’s attainable for everyone.

“When you’re living on less than $2 a day and you’ve got a family, [these] nets that are about $10 becomes out of your range of what you can afford for your family,” Glass explains.

In urban areas, the government steps in to help with controlling mosquito populations. Glass says during the monsoon season when water begins to pool in parts of the city, the government will spray or bomb insecticide throughout the cities.

“That helps to reduce the incidences of malaria within the cities. But, when you live out in a rural village, you don’t have that option, it’s not available to you.”

Malaria is well known to be a treatable and preventable disease, and many decades ago, it was almost eradicated from India. But there’s a reason that impoverished people are at greater risk of getting seriously ill. First of all, they typically cannot afford prevention tools. And when they do get sick, they can’t afford medical care. Furthermore, when adults are sick, it means they aren’t earning a wage, restricting their ability to get health care for the next ailment.

And, Glass says, “Children, if they get sick, they can’t go to school. So, the lack of education—that cycle just continues to spiral down when you’re affected with malaria, or any kind of illness. So, it definitely contributes to the poverty issues.”

In places like the United States, $10 is a relatively low cost to be able to save lives, especially when you consider that these LLINs are not only preventing malaria, but they’re also preventing people from sinking deeper into poverty.

India Partners works with several indigenous Indian agencies who are operating in high-risk villages. When you come alongside India Partners in this project, you’re allowing these agencies to purchase nets within India and distribute them where they are needed.

“Sometimes several members of a family will sleep in the same bed in India. And, so, several people are being protected with one net because the mosquitos are most active at nighttime. And, when we give folks a net… they are taught how to… use it properly over their beds,” Glass says.

So, what about you? Do you want to make an impact for World Malaria Day? Would you consider helping India Partners realize their vision of an India rich in hope, justice, and compassion? Consider walking alongside India Partners to provide a net or two for people in India. You can give, here.

“With the summertime coming, and some of the monsoons will be coming up, this is really a time, a preventative time to get the nets in place before we have these incidences of standing water and… greater numbers of these mosquitos being active at night.”

Tasos Ioannidis of AMG International said his organization is hoping to change that.

“The medical care in Uganda is very primitive in a lot of places,” he said. One of the most dangerous diseases in Uganda is malaria, a very treatable disease.

“There is one nurse for every 5,000 people in Uganda, so there is a great lack of nursing professionals who can can offer basic medical services in the local villages.”

(Photo courtesy of AMG International)

Students at the new school will be coming from all over the country to participate in a two-year program. “As part of the selection process and the training, we are looking for people who are also followers of Christ,” said Ioannidis.

AMG cares about more than just the medical help. Many believers lament that they don’t have the training to minister to their communities, so the nursing students will get a two-fold education. “We provide both the medical training they need and also give them some practical help as to how to share the love of Christ with people who aren’t interested in the Gospel.”

By giving families an alternative to witch doctors, “we’ll help fight the spirit of darkness that exists today in the country,” said Ioannidis.

The school will open its doors this May, but there are still a few things to take care of.

In addition to financial barriers, “We need people to be praying that God will bring all the the right individuals who will invest in the lives of the students who will come there, so please be praying for personnel.” If you want to help, we can connect you right here.

Ioannidis is thrilled to see the way God will use the new school. “When you can see lives can be saved and patched for this earth and for eternity, that is exciting.”

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

As the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is also plagued by economic, development and public health challenges. These issues mean Haiti, along with neighboring Dominican Republic, remains one of the few places left in the Caribbean where malaria runs rampant.

Debbie Lammert, is an RN and director of Blessings International’s Mobile Medical Clinic for orphans in Haiti. She explains, “There are not public health situations [or] control measures in place, so many people come down with malaria every year.”

What’s more, since malaria is easily treated, it gets less press. Then, add in a different viral threat, and monies earmarked for malaria campaigns get diverted. “The international media coverage of Zika has sort of overwhelmed things and so people aren’t talking as much about malaria, although it is still here and hasn’t gone away.”  The thing is, notes Lammert, while “Zika is an important virus and it needs to be addressed…Zika generally doesn’t kill and malaria does kill.”

Why is malaria such a problem?

Haiti’s 2010 earthquake created great places for mosquitoes to breed and spread the disease. When coupled with a weakened infrastructure, there were few tools available to resist either malaria or cholera. Yet, Haiti wants to eliminate malaria, one of the top five killers in the country, by the year 2020.

With a regular rainy season, prime breeding grounds, and few resources to combat the pests, what you get is a cyclical disaster. “We’re just now, the past couple of weeks, starting up for rainy season again. So, once again we’re starting to see many more mosquitoes, just within the past two weeks that I’ve been here. Of course, with that, more malaria–more of every kind of mosquito-borne illness.”

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

Now, take the quake, the loss of life, the loss of jobs, and consider that hundreds of thousands of orphans were created by the disaster, according to UNICEF.  Lammert says the government was hard-pressed to find places for all the children. ”Many of these orphanages, they don’t have the money to be in a nice place, so they’ve got a thrown-together building…They’re generally in areas that are less-desirable areas, and those are the areas that are going to collect standing water and have a higher mosquito population.”

Lammert observes that children’s homes, orphanages, or any other areas where there’s a crowded living situation, seem to give rise to more malaria cases. ”The malaria itself is carried by the mosquitoes, and often, it’s a mosquito that’s bitten someone else that carries the malaria to you. So, by the very fact of living in situations that are group situations, the risk of transmitting malaria is quite a bit higher.”

Into this context comes Blessings’ Haiti Challenge, and your chance to make a difference.

The Haiti Challenge

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

Today, in recognition of World Malaria Day, Blessings International is partnering with Kairos 10 to give away anti-malaria medicine to any team ordering it during the months of April or May.

To find out details on this offer, click here.

Blessings also encourages you to consider ordering jewelry from Kairos 10. As part of this offer, anyone who orders a jewelry with Kairos 10 will not only be providing a treated anti-mosquito bed net to someone who needs it, but also a full course of anti-malarial medicine. The bed nets are in short supply, adds Lammert. “Currently, I’m in need of about 300, but soon we’re going to need a thousand.

“The orphan medical clinic project is a new program and it’s one that is growing. As we see more kids and more orphanages, of course, that’s going to be a big need for us, as well.”

She goes on to explain that her team looks for small Haitian orphanages to partner with, because they want to make sure that their kids don’t fall through the cracks. “These are often the ‘grassroots’ kind of Haitian people. Often, they’re pastors, and the vast majority of them are motivated to take in the orphans because of their love for Christ.” It’s a long-term commitment that they don’t take lightly, adds Lammert.

“We come, not just as someone who is going to hand things out to them, but as someone that is going to partner with them to further the body of Christ by raising these kids to know Christ.”

(Photo courtesy Kairos 10)

Malaria is a serious disease caused by a parasite that commonly infects a certain type of mosquito which feeds on humans.  The World Health Organization reports most deaths occur among children living in Africa, where a child dies every minute from malaria. This disease is preventable and curable.  The solution is simple: a mosquito net.  A net can be bought in America for about $20 but costs a Ghanaian one week’s wages.

If a product could be sold, then the proceeds could be used to buy mosquito nets to be sent to an underdeveloped country. The idea was birthed and Kairos 10 jewelry would be the vehicle. Kairos 10 co-founder Kathryn Pennington says, “Kairos is a Greek word and it means ‘God’s provision’ or ‘God’s appointed time’.”

Now that the co-founders had the idea and a business plan in place, it was time to find the pieces. Pennington says, “Ghana, West Africa is very famous for glass beads that they make from recycled glass bottles. We could buy the beads and hire women there in Ghana to make the jewelry.”

(Photo courtesy Kairos 10)

Kairos 10 then pays Ghanaian women four times the minimum daily wage to make the jewelry.  African fabric is purchased, and a local woman is paid to sew gift bags for the jewelry.

The result: “We were employing the women so that they could be self-sufficient and then we were also giving women in the United States a beautiful piece of jewelry, that then, in turn, (makes me want to cry) to a bed net that then saves a child’s life.”

The idea to build on each other’s vision and strength was a no-brainer. For Kairos 10, says Pennington, “Since October 2010, with our first sale, we have been able to purchase over 42-thousand mosquito nets.” Blessings also provides one course of anti-malarial treatment to go along with each bed net.

Here’s the Gospel angle:  Blessings makes these supplies available to Christian medical mission teams, emergency relief teams, dental teams and others providing critical medical services. Kairos 10 uses bed nets as the entry point,” but also to be able to say that ‘we love you enough to bring you a bed net. But Christ loves you enough to die on the Cross for you.”

(Photo courtesy Kairos 10)

Together, they’re resourcing the Gospel-sharers to be the hands and feet of Christ to areas of the world where the need is greatest. Adds Pennington, “Pray for the message to get about Jesus Christ, because that’s really the only hope for real, true change that occurs inside someone, that then manifests itself, externally, to others.”

Countries that have received mosquito nets from Kairos 10 sales through October 2014 are Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Indonesia, and India.

Progress in fighting this deadly disease has been made. Yet still, a child in Africa dies every minute from malaria which can be prevented by using a mosquito net that costs just $20 in the United States.  Pennington says, “You have a significant impact on a life here on this earth for the eternal Kingdom. So I would say ‘don’t shy away from being involved. Embrace it.’”

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

International (MNN) — If you could help stop a disease that kills 438,000 people a year and keeps 150 million more too sick to work, wouldn’t you want to do that?

Thanks to Blessings International, you can help “End malaria for good” as part of World Malaria Day on April 25.

Blessings International is a mission an organization based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that provides quality, affordable medicine for mission teams showing and sharing the love of Jesus Christ in the U.S. and around the world. They are partnering with another Tulsa-based group, Kairos 10, to put a big dent in the number of people suffering from the disease.

Almost half the world’s population lives in areas at risk for malaria, which is a mosquito-borne illness. The costs of treatment keep poor families trapped in a cycle of illness and poverty.

The good news is that Blessings International can provide free malaria treatments for people in need because of a partnership with Kairos 10.

Kairos 10 sells jewelry handmade by African artisans and pours proceeds of their sales into the fight against malaria. For each bracelet Kairos 10 sells in April and May as part of this campaign, Blessings International will donate a full dose of malaria medicine and a treated anti-mosquito bed net.

Blessings International’s unique mission is to provide much-needed medicines for mission teams at costs well below the market price, says the group’s CEO, Barry Ewy.

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

“We are able to purchase medicine on the international market, and we are able to source that directly from the manufacturer. So we are able to control both the amount that we receive, as well as the quality of the product we receive,” Ewy says. “With that we are able to receive it at a very discounted price and able to pass that along to the teams that are traveling.”

In 2015, Blessings International was able to assist almost 3,000 teams that went to 99 different countries, as well as working in the United States.

“Blessings was founded on the belief that we want to share the love and compassion of Jesus Christ throughout the world,” Ewy says. “So we do that through having supplies and medicine available to teams that are traveling.”

But Blessings International also provides other items mission teams can use to meet needs and open Gospel conversations, Ewy explains.

“Unique things like reading glasses, coloring books–issues that you wouldn’t necessarily think of, if you are thinking of medicine for a mission trip, but things that certainly allow conversations to begin with people,” he says. “If these individuals in a developing nation don’t have reading glasses, they aren’t able to read the Word of God. So we want to put things in the team’s hands that will allow them to open up dialogue, to have discussions. They certainly won’t start out, most likely, as a discussion about Jesus, but that’s where we hope it ends.”

(Photo courtesy Blessings International)

Suffering and death caused by malaria can be prevented if Christians will step up to provide the needed treatments, Ewy says.

“We have the medicines available that so many people need throughout the world,” he says. “A disease like malaria is preventable. We just need to get the medicine into the hands of those who are going and those who are serving throughout the world.”

Please pray that God would bless this partnership between Blessings International and Kairos 10 and provide enough malaria treatments to truly “end malaria for good.” Pray that the distribution of these medicines will open hearts to the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ.

In this series on the anti-malaria partnership between Blessings International and Kairos 10, we are examining in depth the causes, effects, and solutions of the malaria scourge.

For more information about the anti-malaria campaign, visit www.blessing.org.

For more information about the global malaria problem, visit worldmalariaday.org.