Feeding Africa: Multiplying Meals

For most people, these last few weeks and months have been filled with unknowns and adjusting to the unexpected. Most of the adjustments have been challenging, but we hope you are also finding the unexpected blessings in the midst of a difficult time. We began the Feeding Africa project 7 weeks ago in a small attempt to help feed a family in Kenya that we knew was struggling with the changes brought on by the COVID-19 crisis. We plunged into the unknown and were met with the unexpected. Through the generosity of many of you, we have gone from feeding 1 family of 9 each week to feeding 125 families…875 people…each week, a number that would have baffled us at the beginning. Since April 23rd, Feeding Africa has provided around 60,000 meals to people who are struggling. We are beyond thankful and praise God for those who have donated to help make this a reality. So much has changed from the beginning stage of feeding 9 people to where we are now; we hope you find this update helpful and get an even better picture of the impact your donations have had. 

“Providing food to people in Africa” is a pretty broad statement and we want to give you a better idea of what we are providing. Currently (in this second week of June) we are providing what we call Food Bundles to around 125 families each week…the cost for this is around $1,060. Each bundle provides a family with food for two meals a day for a week. The bundles include corn meal, flour, sugar, rice, milk, salt, cooking oil and soap (for washing dishes, clothes and bodies). These ingredients allow the families to make common foods such as ugali (a thick cornmeal “paste” that they dip into stews and veggies like a spoon and eat it along with the bite of stew), and chapatis (a flat bread thicker than a tortilla, sort of like a pocketless pita). These bundles are assembled and distributed by Kenyan volunteers in Nairobi and in Kijabi (you can read about Margaret and Nifah in our previous update). 

We are so grateful for what we have been able to provide so far, but there is still a strong and continued need. Each week there are more hungry people that show up hoping to receive a Food Bundle for their family. Many of these families have sent messages of gratitude expressing how the provision of food has saved the lives of their children. In Addition to the growing number of people in need of food,  Nifah has informed us that their lockdown has been extended for another 30 days, leaving many of these families with no way to work and even those who can are forced to work fewer hours due to an enforced curfew and no transportation outside of walking. Our hearts are joyful for the people who have been able to receive meals through Feeding Africa, and yet heavy knowing there is still so much need. 

If you are interested in being involved with Feeding Africa, here are some ways you can help. First, Pray. Please keep the families in Kenya and us in your prayers; we believe that God has answered so many of our prayers along the way. We have been blessed and amazed at how Feeding Africa has grown and we so appreciate those of you who have prayed for us and with us. Secondly, Give. If you are able to give, consider donating to Feeding Africa. 100% of donations are used to provide food in Africa.Third, Teach and Share. If you have children, teach them to give and be generous, teach them the importance of caring for others in whatever ways we can. Share with your children and your friends about Feeding Africa. Thank you to the many of you who have journeyed with us so far. Please know your prayers and donations are making a positive impact on the lives of so many others! God Bless you Richly!

Kingdom Partners, COVID-19, and the Call to Care for Others.

Hello Family and Friends, 

This is a crazy time in the history of the world, and we are desperate for your prayers as Tammy and I move forward with Kingdom Partners Global.  There are so many opportunities for God to use us all and we want to be listening carefully and obeying immediately. We want to fill you in on what He is doing through Kingdom Partners Global and, therefore, us. If you read Tammy’s updates, some of this will be repetitive, but we thought we would give you the complete history to fill in the gaps. This will be lengthy, but please read it to get the full picture.

Over the past two weeks Kingdom Partners has been able to help provide food for more than 500 people in Kenya who are struggling during this COVID-19 crisis.

Margaret provides food for 25 families in Kenya, a task that has become difficult with the new challenges of COVID-19.

There are really two stories here that need to be told. (some names have been changed for the sake of those we are serving*) The first story is the story of Margaret. We met Margaret in 1992 when we were living in Kenya. Margaret, a widow with four children, including one with special needs, would come and help us in our home. It is important to understand that in the culture Margaret lives in, women are second class citizens and widows especially are looked down on and rarely treated well. As a widow, she had nothing to pass on to her family. We felt strongly from the Lord that we should buy her a small one-acre piece of land; this would give her something to be able to pass on to her children. Back in the mid 1990’s, an acre of land in Africa was dirt cheap for Americans to buy and caused us very little financial burden. We thought that was the end of the story, but God had different plans. Margaret is a woman who loves Jesus and she shows that love to the people she encounters. Over the next 20 years, Margaret was wise with what she had been given. She grew food and sold what she grew and with her money purchased two additional acres of land around her farm. Then with the help of her business-minded daughter Beth, she began to grow a lot of produce and also raise livestock. Among her livestock is a sheep named Tammy (name not changed.) God blessed Margaret’s harvest and Margaret was generous. In 2000 Margaret began to use her produce as well as extra items she traded for to be able to feed a primary school of 25 children lunch every day. Then in 2015 she expanded from feeding 25 children to feeding their families as well. Because of problems created with shutdowns related to Covid-19, funds are getting very tight for Margaret. Through donations to our Feeding Africa goal, we were able to assist her this last week in continuing to feed those families. 

Families in Nifah’s community are overjoyed to receive food

The second story began in 2016. We met Nifah* when we visited an orphanage in Kenya. In Kenya children can end up in orphanages even if their parents are still living but cannot afford to feed or care for them. Eventually when Nifah finished high school, she returned to her family. During our visit Tammy and Nifah made a strong connection and have stayed in contact. With the spread of COVID-19, Tammy sent Nifah a simple text, “How are you doing?” Nifah told her “we are struggling but God will provide for us.” After more conversation Nifah admitted that her family had no food. Nifah and her family live in one of the largest slums in Kenya, typically they go out during the day and take odd jobs so that they can have money to buy food in the evening. With social-distancing guidelines in place, they are unable to go out and earn money which means no money to buy food or water. Tammy immediately felt strongly, “This is not okay, we need to do something!” We discovered it takes only $5.60 to feed a family of 9 for a whole day (less than $40 for a week)!!! I agreed that we should send them enough money to supply them with a month’s-worth of food.  We found a secure app that does not take fees out, and since we have been to Kenya and have personally met Nifah (which we had to prove by sending photos of our passport and Kenyan visas), we qualify to use this app.  We sent the money and she received it immediately. When Tammy followed up the next day, she felt led to ask, “How are your neighbors doing?” Nifah sheepishly replied that some are doing great, while others are still struggling. It turns out they could not live with the thought of having so much food while others around them were going to bed hungry so they gave to the 10 neediest families in their neighborhood. We shared out of our abundance, but they shared out of their poverty leaving them with only a 3-day supply of food. This completely broke Tammy, and she shared with her Bible study and put a post on FaceBook…God touched hearts to give generously, and we were able to provide enough food for a week to 10 more families making it 20 families being fed! Yet God was not finished! We eventually became aware of the fact that there are 50 families (all single moms with a combined total of nearly 400 children) in Nifah’s realm of influence, and we prayed and watched God supply enough to feed all 50 families for a week! A few days later, we were made aware of the fact that none of these families have running water in their one-room homes. They had to purchase water for drinking, cooking, cleaning purposes and no one could afford to buy water!

Women filling as many containers as they can with clean water.

We were able to purchase water for a week for all 50 families and the “water people” were so astonished that they gave Nifah a key for the week to allow anyone to get water at any time for the 7 days! They filled up every possible empty container with water! We are continuing to send money weekly and have now fed them for 2 weeks and we will be able to feed Nifah’s 50 families and Margaret’s 25 families next week! In the past two weeks, God has provided for and allowed Kingdom Partners to provide food for upwards of 500+ people!!! He is the God Who Provides! There are MANY more families in this area… how many do we feed? In the midst of feeding these people they are faced with more bad news creeping towards their doors. The government just demolished the homes of 700 families who lived in the same slum only 5 minutes from Nifah and her community leaving them all homeless!  The timing couldn’t be worse for these families as it is tragedy on top of pandemic.  Where and how do these people shelter-in-place to ride out Covid-19 with no money, no food, and now no home?

Many homes like this one in Kairobangi slum, are being demolished by the government, leaving hundreds of people without shelter during a time of crisis.

Many questions are rising up in our minds… Do we feed more and use up all the money we have collected in one fell swoop?   Do we feed fewer and take care of them longer?  Also, it is getting colder there: as our weather warms up theirs is cooling down …do we help provide blankets, shelter…? The needs seem endless as Nifah lives in the 2nd largest slum in Kenya with 600,000 people living there. How do we fulfill the scripture in James 1:27 which says, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” God knows the whole picture and started these relationships between us and these precious ladies many years ago knowing that there would be this great need now! He is using the MEANS of His children here to provide the NEEDS of His children there! WE COVET YOUR PRAYERS as we continue to ask God how much He wants us to do as each day presents more need, and we want to be faithfully obeying God and staying within Kingdom Partners’ mission, “…to unite the Church and to inspire her to action, providing help to those in need, both locally and globally, and to encourage and equip those who are about God’s work.”

You may be asking, “What can I do? How can I help?” First and foremost, PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for us as we try to be good stewards of what God has entrusted to us and make wise decisions, and pray especially for all those in huge need around the world…that God will meet those needs. Second, give out of the abundance of what God has given to you either here or anywhere else that God lays on your hearts. If you choose to give through Kingdom Partners, 100% will go to helping these families and you will get a tax deductible receipt. A little bit can go a long way, especially with how far our dollar goes in third-world countries. This last week, we were able to send $550, for food and water, divided among 75 families. That’s about $7.33 a week, or $1.05 a day! Third, teach your children to be generous and share. Include them in your giving by telling them what you are doing and why. Finally, thank God for His Providence and care and please pass this information on to anyone you know who would be interested in helping. Thank you all, or as they say in Kenya “Asante sana!”

The destruction of the homes in Kairobangi slum

- Roger Myers
Executive Director