nicaragua
5/2/09 - Hungry children sent away for the simple lack of money
Two learning centers in Nicaragua — one in Bluefields and one in Managua — have closed their doors for lack of funds. Hungry children were being fed and tutored every day, but now they’ve been turned back out onto the streets.
We plan to rush a huge shipping container full of food so these ministry centers can serve the children once again.
Your compassionate response right now will help deliver fortified protein rice meals, corn meal, corn flour, canned vegetables, prenatal and children’s multivitamins — along with Spanish-language Bibles and other necessities — and reopen the learning and feeding centers of Nicaragua.
These were not improvised, makeshift ministry centers — needy families had been sending their children here to receive education and a nutritious daily meal for three years.
But then times got tough. The money wasn’t there anymore. Food supplies dwindled. And the missionaries, who had given their lives to this cause, reluctantly closed the doors.
What will happen to these youngsters if these centers don’t reopen?
Some of the children may descend into the agony of malnutrition, damaging their bodies in ways that may never be remedied. Some may fall hopelessly behind in school, dooming their prospects for the future. Some may drop out of school altogether to work in the streets in order to keep themselves and their families alive. Some may go foraging in the dump.
Not a pretty picture. A picture of wasted young lives. But you and I have a God-given opportunity to repaint it.
Your gift can help the Bluefields center reopen — 150 children visit there every day — and serve many more children in need.
You’ll also help the Managua center reopen — there were 50 children there every day before — but today, between these two centers, if caring people like you will give generously, they could minister every day to 1,000 hungry children.
Please pray about giving a gift today, and act quickly.
Our contacts in Nicaragua are ready to move quickly. Our network is already set up. We’ve been serving in this country for two decades. I remember when we shipped more than 4,000 tons of beans, rice, and cooking oil in 1990 alone — medical supplies and equipment later on — and canned vegetables and more in 2003.
Our primary ministry partner there — missionaries Troy and Ginnette Doudy — are longtime church planters and trainers of national pastors. They are linked in to local churches.... This means the children coming to these feeding centers — the children whose lives you’ll touch through your gift — will receive strong spiritual support. So will their families.
Children and adults are going to come to Christ because of the gift you give today. Young believers are going to grow in faith because of the compassion you express today. Communities mired in poverty are going to experience the love of God — new hope, where there was none before — because you opened your heart to them today.
And none of this will come a moment too soon — because Nicaragua is in turmoil. The national government is under fire with accusations of fraud in recent elections. People have gone to the streets to protest. Violence is on the rise. This is a land that needs God. You can share His love by your prayerful gift of support today.
In fact, the effect will be instantaneous. The day the doors open, as many as 200 hungry children will be there.
Let me hear from you quickly. Let us feed body, soul, and spirit in Nicaragua, for the glory of God. Help me rush food and Bibles to Nicaragua so that the feeding centers can be reopened for hundreds of hungry children -- as we continue all our crucial ministry outreaches around the world!
Thank you for being such a friend. God bless you!
Serving the hungry,
Peter Sumrall
PresidentClick here to make a donation to help feed the hungry.
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