Hunger—it is something most of us simply can’t relate to as we daily eat full-course meals from well-stocked pantries and freezers. But hunger is a grim reality for much of the world. In fact, it is an increasing reality for millions more people than several years ago. World hunger is on the rise!
We live in an imbalanced world. While Americans throw away more food than any nation, multitudes of people in impoverished countries wonder if they will have food the next day.
In India, Karuna and her 7-year-old daughter prayed as evening came, asking God to provide food for them. They entrusted their need into the Lord’s hands and went to bed. Later that night someone knocked on the door. A local pastor stood there, holding a bag of groceries. He apologized for coming at that late hour and said he had some groceries for her and her daughter. He prayed for them and left. Karuna’s eyes filled with tears as she praised God for remembering them.
In Kyrgyzstan, Christians delivered food items to a large, needy family. With tears, the recipients said, “We ran out of money a long time ago, and yesterday we ran out of supplies. Today we did not eat anything and we did not know how to continue to live. God must have sent you.”
A woman from Turkmenistan said her children sometimes eat only bread and water because they have nothing else available. “We are barely making ends meet,” she said. When Christians brought food for the family, her children shouted with delight, “Are these gifts all for us?”
Larisa, a former atheist from Turkmenistan, says her Christian neighbors frequently talked to her about God. After her husband died, she had no income to care for her two children. Through the love of Christians who helped her, Larisa’s heart softened. “I slowly began to believe in God again,” she said. “Thank you for the [food] packages. We just ran out of groceries, and God showed His love for me.”
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, CAM supporters provided millions of pounds of food for the needy through the Coronavirus Crisis Care program. Although the pandemic has largely subsided in many parts of the world, we continue to see an increasingly desperate need for food. Supply-chain issues, worsened by the war in Ukraine, and various other problems are driving the increasing cry for food. Because of this, we are transitioning from Coronavirus Crisis Care to a new program—World Hunger Fund. This will enable us to respond to ongoing requests for food.
Why is world hunger increasing?
The long-term fallout of COVID-19 crippled economies in many parts of the world. The New Humanitarian reports, “COVID-19, with its lockdowns and layoffs, increased the rate of extreme poverty—those surviving on less than $1.90 a day—by an estimated 97 million people.”
The recent war between Russia and Ukraine is causing a spike in the cost of food. These countries are some of the world’s top producers of wheat. Grain prices are soaring! “The bullets and bombs in Ukraine could take the global hunger crisis to levels beyond anything we’ve seen before,” says David Beasley of the United Nations.
Unusual inflation around the world is increasing food costs. For the poor, most of their income goes toward providing a most basic life necessity—food. In some countries, basic food items have doubled in price! While we may need to make minor adjustments in our food budgets due to inflation, many people will simply go hungry or even starve.
Where do we plan to help?
We are working with contacts in India and countries once part of the Soviet Union—such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan—to provide food aid in Jesus’ name. India continues to be crippled by the fallout of COVID-19 as well as dramatically increased food costs. “The need is so unbelievable,” reports an India contact. In the former Soviet Union, a contact says, “Many families are worried about the danger of hunger since they are unable to work to provide for their families. Many businesses are closing.”
In addition to the countries mentioned in this mailing, we want to be prepared to respond as needs come up in other locations. While most funds will be used to purchase food, we also plan to support projects that enable people to grow or produce their own food.
As always, our goal in distributing aid is to encourage God’s people and reach out with the love of Jesus to unbelievers.
God bless you!
Christian Aid Ministries | April 2022
