BURKINA
FASO
Your prayers and generous gifts to SIM are a tremendous
blessing to tens of thousands of hungry people
in Burkina Faso.
This spring, SIM alerted our supporters to the
needs of desperate families in this West African
nation where many crops were lost to insufficient
rains and a locust plague. The compassionate response
of donors like you has, to date, enabled SIM to
deliver 59 tons of grain to needy people in eight
regions--an outreach of care in Christ's name
that has helped feed more than 15,000 families!
The loss in these areas was tragic, as subsistence
farmers with no food reserves watched their crops
wither from drought and fall to the worst invasion
of locusts since 1988. The locusts stripped entire
harvests bare, eating every green leaf in sight.
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Effective
Response
With large numbers of people facing months of
hunger, SIM has responded quickly and effectively
to the crisis. We are working in cooperation with
SIM related churches in Burkina Faso to distribute
emergency food to many who need special assistance
until the next crop can be planted and harvested.
"This effort is another example of
SIM's ministry at its best," says
SIM USA director, Steve
Strauss.
"Our distribution network is solidly
established through local churches in
Burkina Faso. This not only helps assure
that the grain reaches those who need
it most, but also provides a great witness
of Christ's love to the people in these
areas." |
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The reports coming back from various regions tell of
the extent of the devastation, but also of the life
sustaining impact that you and other SIM friends are
having in Burkina Faso. Church leaders in the Koalla
region say that before the arrival of food from SIM,
the widows in their area "had lost all hope and
resigned themselves to eating leaves because there was
nothing else to eat."
Another encouraging report noted that leaders of the
SIM-related churches who are in charge of distribution
made sure that widows, children, the ill, and others
of the most vulnerable people received food first.
And food recipients in the Liptougou region sent this
message to our caring SIM supporters: "Our hope
has been renewed like a beautiful rain which ends a
terrible, unrelenting drought!"
The needs are still great in Burkina Faso, and the people
there ask for your continued prayers. Thank you for
helping with this project, which continues to be a powerful
witness for the Lord. Project
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