Once again this year, Zion participated in Feed My Starving Children. Over 100,000 meals were packaged and sent out into the world with our prayers and love. The number is amazing, but this story becomes more impactful when we see the individuals who are touched by this ministry. This year, we had a group of volunteers all the way from Jersey City, who came to help and plan to do so again next year. Another group represented Caring for Cambodia. They work with 30 schools in Cambodia teaching 6,600 children. Many of those students are girls and these are the few schools they can attend. Each of these students receive food from Feed My Starving Children.
Of course, the most compelling stories are of the individual children whose lives are saved. For those who attended the event, you know the following story, but I would like to share it with everyone else.
YOU Gave Her a Name
.…you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.” – Psalm 25:5
A tiny two-year-old sat on her great-grandmother’s lap. She wearily gnawed on a hard vegetable root. Her yellowed eyes stared vacantly. The delicate toddler couldn't sit up on her own. At barely 12 pounds she weighed half what a healthy child should. The skin on her legs draped around her thighs. Her hair was almost white from malnourishment. The frail child’s mother abandoned her when she was a week old. Her 77-year-old great-grandmother Benareta is the only person who tried to care for her in the dusty Ugandan village. The best food she could provide was water and mashed plantains, which have little nutritional value.
The child wasted away, becoming weaker and weaker. There was no hope for the girl to live. Benareta expected her to die, so she didn't even give her a name. She simply waited for the little one to stop breathing. “I was just waiting for her to die,” Benareta said. “God knew I had done my best.”
Because of you, the story didn't stop there.
Because you provide funds for meal ingredients, because you pack the meals and because you pray, our partner African Children Today has FMSC meals on hand. They gave Benareta your FMSC meals so she could feed the little one. Suddenly, everything changed. After eating FMSC meals every day for three months, the child slowly grew stronger. She gained almost nine pounds!
As a result of the hope you give, Benareta finally named the little girl! Her name is Jascent.
“I believe God exists,” Benareta said. “He remembered me and my children and brought life to us through this food.” This is the difference you make when you give to FMSC. All it takes is a little food to give hope and life back to children like Jascent and their families. Every child YOU feed has a name and a future created for them by God.
For two special days, we here at Zion lived out the Gospel. I am grateful for everyone who participated, everyone who financially supported, and everyone who prayed for this ministry we have done in Christ’s name.
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