Zimbabwe
October 2011 Update:
On October 7, 2011 our 40ft container cleared customs in Harare, Zimbabwe and was moved to the Joseph Project storage facility, The 42,582 pounds of dried vegetable soup was off-loaded into their secure compound. The distributions have started. The food is being delivered to the churches, orphanages, schools and feeding stations where the children will be receiving the hot soup.
June 2011 Update:
Approximately 1,000,000 servings of protein packed vegetable soup were loaded for Logos Rhema Trust on June 29, 2011. These meals will be distributed through churches, orphanages, Christian schools and feeding stations in Harare, Chiota, Shurugioi, Mtoko, Mrewa, Matebelland, Warren Park D, and Chibvumba. Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the first and foremost objective for Logos Rhema Trust as they distribute food to their nation that has been rocked by super inflation. Buying a loaf of bread costs one day's wages for most poor people. Many parents have died from AIDS, cholera, malaria and TB resulting in the children running the streets looking for food. The orphanages do not have enough beds or food to take in large groups of children. So when the kids find out there is food at the feeding stations they come to eat. Logos Rhema Trust feeds them until the food is gone for that day. It is the only meal some children receive that day. This soup is bringing hope in a time of great need and despair.
December 2010 Update:
The 270,864 MannaPack™Rice and Soy Protein Fortified Meals to Celebration Centre and Celebration Health in West Harare, Zimbabwe arrived on December 13, 2010 and are now being distributed to those in need.
Baby Sarah: Before and After
Often we report on numbers and statistics, but it can be difficult to understand the personal side of our mission. You may wonder: who is actually benefiting from our efforts? Sweet baby Sarah—a malnourished infant whose father ate well, saving little or none for his children.
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Baby Sara before |
Baby Sara just 2 months late |
Often we report on numbers and statistics, but it can be difficult to understand the personal side of our mission and see who is actually benefiting from our efforts. For example, we have given Zimbabwe a whopping 15 million meals over the last few years. While that number sounds great, what does it really look like? The face of sweet baby Sarah. When the workers at The Joseph Project first saw Sarah, she was a malnourished infant. Unfortunately she lives in a large household with a father who eats well, saving little or none for his children. For two months, The Joseph Project regularly fed Sarah servings of the specially formulated rice casserole meals we provided. The feedings took place away from her home so her father could not take the food from her. The results have been astounding. As you can see from her before-and-after photos, she has gained weight and her health has immensely improved. We praise God for supplying her with the nourishment to make this growth and development possible. And we thank all of you who had a hand in reaching Sarah, giving hope to her mother and sharing the love of Christ.
JULY 2010 UPDATE:
On July 22nd, Feeding The Nations joined hands with World Children's Fund and Global Assistance to ship 270,864 MannaPack™Rice and Soy Protein Fortified Meals to Celebration Centre and Celebration Health in West Harare, Zimbabwe.
JUNE 2010 UPDATE:
On June 1st, Feeding The Nations partnered with Global Assistance to ship 924,000 servings of nutritious vegetable soup to the Logos Rhema Ministries in Harare. The soup is a special blend of dried lentils, beans, carrots, corn, garlic, green peas, yellow peppers, onions, potatoes, soy protein, pasta, parsley and seasonings which supplies the much needed proteins, vitamins and minerals missing from the children's diets.
APRIL 2010 UPDATE:
The following letter was received from Tom Deuschel with Celebration Centre in Harare after receiving and distributing 270,864 ManaPack Rice meals to over 12,550 people in 26 different institutions:
Children's homes and orphanages were the main beneficiaries of this particular container of rice meals. Many homes have written to us letters of appreciation for the rice meals explaining what a big difference this food is making to the children. Some have said they use the meals as breakfast, lunch or supper; others have said they also use them as a form of packed lunch for school going children; still others say the fortified rice provides variety to the children's meals. Jairos Jiri was one of the beneficiaries of the rice meals. It is a rehabilitation and children's home that caters for disabled and blind children.
Other beneficiaries were old people's homes, prisons, blind students from the University of Zimbabwe and the Rural Women's Advancement Trust (RWAT).We have found that all the mentioned institutions are in continual need of food and can never have too much.
Thank you for donating these nutritious fortified rice meals, and feeding the underprivileged in the Nation of Zimbabwe! You are making an indelible mark in people's lives!
Tom Deuschel
Celebration Centre
DECEMBER 2009 UPDATE:
Feeding The Nations partnered with several ministries in 2009 as God opened many doors to help the hurting and hungry of Zimbabwe. In total of 9 x 40 foot containers were sent to Zimbabwe. This provided 2,439,000 meals and 378,000 pounds of food. With your help and commitment we were able to help so many during the cholera outbreak.
SEPTEMBER 2009 UPDATE:
Feeding The Nations joined hands with World Children's Fund and Global Assistance to ship two containers totaling 541,728 fortified rice and soy protein meals to the Celebration Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe. The first container was loaded on May 28, 2009 and the second on August 28, 2009. The Celebration Centre disburses the food through 16 children's homes and orphanages, 3 old people's homes, 6 hospitals, 15 prisons and various programs throughout communities that assist individual orphans, widows and child-headed households. Outreaches are accompanied by preaching the Word through the local church, one on one ministry, medical and evangelical outreaches.
JUNE 2009 UPDATE:
On June 2, 2009 Feeding The Nations teamed up with Cross International to send an additional 270,864 fortified rice and soy protein meals to the Logos Rhema Ministries Joseph Project in Harare, Zimbabwe. This food will be distributed through churches, orphanages, schools, clinics/hospitals, and crusades. With a 94% unemployment rate in Zimbabwe and 70% of its people needing food aid, every bite of food is precious.
APRIL 2009 UPDATE:
Cholera Outbreak Not Yet Under Control in Zimbabwe
April Update: Death toll hits 4.4% according to World Health Organization (WHO) standards. An epidemic is considered under control when the death rate is under 1%.
Cholera has struck 93,937 in Zimbabwe. An estimated 4,112 have already died. Medical supplies are on their way, but one vital component is missing: proper nourishment. So Feeding The Nations has sent 85 tons of food and vitamins to help the hurting victims and help bring this cholera outbreak to an end.
Currently the nation of Zimbabwe fights a horrific crisis. An estimated 75,000 Zimbabweans have been affected by a recent cholera outbreak. Reports show 3,600 people have already lost their lives to this preventable disease. All 10 of the nation's provinces have fallen victim to the outbreak and with no existing medical infrastructure, the government struggles to assist its own people.
Medical supplies are on their way, but they cannot heal the sick without the missing component of proper nourishment. To help complete this mission, Feeding The Nations (FTN) has sent $290,000 worth of aid as of March 9, 2009 with additional tons of food aid being scheduled for loading in April and May. Four 40-ft. containers with 85 tons of food and vitamins have been shipped to help in the fight. The relief will bring 921,000 meals to those in need. Celebration Center and Life Ministry in Harare, Zimbabwe, is ready to receive these resources and distribute them to the sick and hurting. But to make this happen, we need your help. Your support can complete the mission and get this vital nutrition to those who need it most. The suffering children in Zimbabwe need our help.
FEBRUARY/MARCH 2009 UPDATE: Feeding The Nations has shipped four 40-ft. containers with 85 tons of food and vitamins to help in the fight against cholera that has blanketed the nations of Zimbabwe. The relief will bring 921,000 meals to those in need and is worth $290,000. Celebration Center and Life Ministry in Harare, Zimbabwe, are ready to receive these resources and distribute them to the sick and hurting as soon as they arrive.
JANUARY 2009 UPDATE: Two containers laden with 87,000 pounds of food, planting seed and supplies arrived in July and August of 2008. These precious commodities were distributed to orphans and people in need throughout Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru, Mutare, Masvingo, Marondera, Chivi, Njanja, Chiweshe and Victoria Falls. The food and clothing went to orphans, vulnerable children and destitutes in Zimbabwe. There was very little reserve for extremely critical emergency cases which present themselves daily. The tomato seed planting began in January 2009.
Dr. Ephiel Mukamuri, our contact in Zimbabwe, writes to Feeding The Nations and its supporters,
"Thank you for your kindness and may the Lord bless you for helping orphans, vulnerable children and destitutes in Zimbabwe. More than 50% of our nation depends on food aid. Thank you for your help. We will continue to appreciate any help in the future as many children and adults in Zimbabwe's villages are starving."
The nation of Zimbabwe urgently needs our prayers and help. I have been receiving calls, e-mails and visits regarding the humanitarian disaster in this country. All reports say that millions of people are fleeing Zimbabwe in mass exodus to South Africa and surrounding nations, hoping to find a means to survive the economic downfall of the country! Of the nation's 12 million people, 3 million could face starvation in the next few months.
Zimbabwe has the world's highest inflation rate of over 11,000 percent with an 80 percent unemployment rate. Those who do work receive an average of a dollar a day wages - only enough to buy two loaves of bread a day.
The country hurtles towards economic and social collapse as hyperinflation leaves 60 percent of all store shelves empty. Prices rise so rapidly that when food can be found at a store, the price increases from the time it is taken from the shelf to the register! Rice, beef, chicken, cooking oil, and sugar are almost impossible to find. In desperation, people have scavenged the land for animals and plant roots, causing even those makeshift meals to become scarce.
Time is running out. If we cannot help, then God needs to forgive us if the nation of Zimbabwe has not crossed our lips at least in prayer. Matthew 25:40 tells us, "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Now is the time to act on behalf of the least of these.
A hard message, yes - I could barely believe the startling facts that a Christian brother from Zimbabwe gave me as he stood before me on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe, trying to save the lives of his own Christian sisters and brothers. Those lives will soon end without our help because as of 2006, Zimbabwe has the lowest life expectancy in the world with just 35 years for men and 34 for women.
We can not shut our eyes and ears to their desperate cries for help. In the movie, "Schindler's List" and during the time of the holocaust, people were ambivalent to the horror that was going on around them. Schindler did everything he could to keep on trying to save one more - to give one more family hope. He did not stop as long as there was one more out there that was in his ability to save.
Having just learned of the dire circumstances, Feeding The Nations has stepped up to help. Working with Logos Rhema Ministry International and through their feeding program, the Joseph Project, in Harare, Zimbabwe, we are urgently assembling supplies to send to this nation.
July 2007 UPDATE: On July 13, 2007, Feeding The Nations shipped 1 x 40 ft container with 43,000 pounds or 271,000 rice casserole meals. These individual packages that feed 6 people include rice, mixed vegetables, soy protein, chicken flavor, vitamins and minerals.
Feeding The Nations partnered with Michael Stosic Music Ministries and together we will reach out and bless the people of Zimbabwe.
As inflation tops nearly 5,000 % and unemployment at 80% our consignee partner in Harare, Pastor Tembo, executive director of Kingdom Support and Development states, "The needs are overwhelming, many people have lost their jobs and there is great poverty." Over 3,000,000 people have left the country to find jobs to support their families.
2006 YEAR IN REVIEW
UPDATE: FTN blessed Zimbabwe with $92,380 in miscellaneous vitamins.
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