South Sudan, Full of Hope and Victory

Back in Yei, pronounced Y-A-Y! And it's an onomonopeia for sure... google the definition if need be.

It's the end of the rainy season in Yei; the market is brimming with home grown fruits & veggies, honey is in abundance, and the town and people always seem to look better & bigger & brighter every time I come back. Just to be fair & balanced, the mozzies are plentiful too, as are the grasshoppers (though we haven't seen the fresh-roasted variety in the market stalls yet).

New Generation Primary School is brimming with eager young students too. Pastor Stanley and Lady Vicki & staff are raising up a New Generation of faith-filled movers & shakers to be; and the vision of school numbers two and three is on track... now if we only had the resources to buy the bricks & get construction going right now...

Keep Stanley & Vicki and all the staff and kids in your prayers... life isn't always easy, but God is always good and he just has a way of doing more than we can ask or think.

You can see a few more of today's pics at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46775&l=6554a&id=702935874

FTH 'POD' Set Up in Galveston County, TX

Pastor Walter Hallam and the fantastic people of Abundant Life Christian Center in La Marque, TX are doing a fantastic job of getting resources into the hands of people & families who've lost homes and possessions because of Hurricane Ike. Feed The Hungry's POD (Point of Distribution) has been up and running since Wednesday. So far two tractor-trailer loads of supplies are being distributed at ALCC's gymnasium. Two more trailers full of supplies will arrive on Saturday to keep the POD going.

Everyone who comes by has a story to tell. In addition to putting family care bags into each car, ALCC volunteers lend a listening ear and an encouraging prayer. Let's keep praying for God's hand to bring restoration to those who have lost so much.

By the way ALCC's sanctuary was severely damaged by Ike, about 1200 sf of roof ripped off and rain waters poured in... many of the volunteers who are helping have had damage to their homes, clothes, and possessions as well... yet they've chosen to reach out and serve others even in their time of need. Isn't that just like Jesus.

A FEW IKE PHOTOS ARE POSTED HERE: http://picasaweb.google.com/sradelich/HurricanIkeRelief2008#

More on the way...

Seeing Ike's Aftermath Firsthand

Here are a few photos snapped today from Bayou Vista. As usual, photos & video cannot capture what you see as an eyewitness. Have you ever seen food shelves at a Super Wal-Mart laid bare?? We stopped by two Super W-M's today to see if they'd donate grocery bags so volunteers can break down the two tractor-trailerloads into family sacks... both stores donated lots of sacks! At each Wal-Mart, police manned the entrance, only allowing 30 customers into the gigantic stores at a time (because staff numbers are so low)... and in each Super Wal-Mart, several shelves had no food left on them.

Feed The Hungry's first truck arrives in La Marque, TX at 8:00 am Wednesday; the second truck had brake line problems and will arrive Wednesday night or first thing Thursday morning.

It's 1:00 AM and we're packed and ready to roll @ noon Monday. Our team of three will head to LaMarque, TX to set up a distribution center at Abundant Life Christian Center. ALCC is a partner church of about 2500 members located right off of Interstate 45 a few miles from Galveston Island. LaMarque is 23’ above sea level so the storm surge just missed it. They did have a lot of wind damage & rain water damage though—the church lost about 1,000 square feet of roof. We believe the location is ideal to serve a large number of communities as the area opens up after the flood waters recede & returnees start arriving in the next few days (or next week). FTH will have two trailers of food & water supplies arriving at 6:00 am Wednesday morning, a third trailer of food supplies will arrive on Thursday morning. Please pray according to what's posted @ FTH's site http://www.feedthehungry.org/2008HurricaneResponse.cfm THANKS!

Feed The Hungry @ World Pulse Festival

Wow... what a great day!! Have to honestly say this was the BEST World Pulse Fest i've ever seen in 13 years. Fantastic weather, huge crowd (50,000+), awesome music & worship. You can catch a repeat at worldpulsefestival.com

This year we promoted 64100.org--what's that??? Simply put $6 for 100 meals... for every $6 we recieve, Feed The Hungry can send 100 meals to hungry kids in Africa and Asia; kids that we get to bless, encourage, and see grow in Christ through the Every Child Every Day program.

If you'd like to find out a little bit more about 64100.org just go there and check out the website. We hope to get an online store up and running pretty soon so the World Pulse Fest-goers are'nt the only folks who get to wear the cool t-shirts we had for sale that day (which say "my shirt fed 100 kids" on the back).

Back in Africa

Man, do I love this continent!! This past week we've had the opportunity to revisit a few FTH Every Child Every Day sites as well as some new outreaches where children are receiving a hot & nutritious meal courtesy of the friends and partners of Feed The Hungry.

Brian Bush, LeSEA's Middle East Correspondent and Meg Gorecki from Doug Shaw & Associates traveled to Kibera, Kenya (the world's second largest slum); Bulenga and Banda, Uganda; and even up into Yei, Sudan to chronicle how a simple daily school lunch program is making a huge difference in the lives of children that are hungry... for education. At New Generation School in Yei about 90% of the children have lost either one or both parents to AIDS or the war. Pastor Stanley has brought these precious ones under the shadow of God's loving arms and is creating a expectation of promise and hope by allowing them to dream again.

FTH President Pete Sumrall, Lamar Austin, Dr. Todd Coontz, and I followed behind Brian and Meg, touching base with our operational partners in each place. This has been Dr. Todd's first trip to Africa and he's travelled like an old pro and has learned the true meaning of the phrase 'T-I-A'... This Is Africa! If anyone needs an unforgettable lesson in the power of patience, just come to Africa with us sometime... you'll be glad you did.

Hope to post some photos shortly either here or on at feedthehungry.org; the expressions of the children are priceless and thier joy is nothing short of contagious!

June 9, 2008 4 Nations Africa...God works in Burundi!

Just a quick 1 am note before we head out to Uganda in the morning. Edmond is the leader (International Director) of ARM (African Revival Ministries) and is the Senior Pastor of Eglise Vivante, the largest evangelical church in Burundi; ARM has a significant outreach ministry with two schools in Bujumbura, several AIDS clinics, a medical clinic, a church planting network (about 220 churches at present), and a surgical hospital in addition to a host of other outreach programs. Pastor Edmond/ARM is recieving the food shipment sent by Feed The Hungry; the fortified rice meals will be used to initiate school lunch programs.

At dinner last night Edmond said, "When you came to service on this morning you looked so familiar. Now I know where I've seen you before! I see you on Harvest on FETV all the time!"

We had fantastic meetings with the President, His Excellency Pierre Nkurunziza, the personal advisor to the President on Education, the Minister of Youth and Sports, and the Deputy Ambassador and Vice Consul of the US Embassy.

His Excellency and the First Lady are both people of great faith toward God and love toward the people of Burundi. Some of the attached photos are of the President leading worship at his residence on Sunday night... we were invited to attend this meeting where he & his cabinet and invited guests thank God for the things He has done during the previous week, to intercede for the people and nation, and to thank God for the things He will do in the coming week. Pastor Edmond shared a message out of Nehemiah as well. The President's favorite song is My Redeemer Lives (Hillsong) and boy did they get to dancing on that one! The choir is made up of former fighters who stayed with him in the bush after he was shot and left for dead.

The President has made public education for primary school children free, which is uncommon, if not unprecedented, in Africa... as a result there has been a flood of new primary students in the schools, children who were unable to attend school because of poverty. He is building 120 new schools in the rural areas to accomadate the new kids and establish new schools.

None of the schools here have lunch programs... at the two public schools we visited (one had 1,090 students the other had 570 students) some of the kids walk to school 7km (about 4 miles) one way... about half of the kids had no shoes, where Feed The Hungry and Samaritan's Feet come in, and none of the kids brought lunch with them. The school operates from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm; the younger kids attend half day, the older kids (grade 4-6) attend full day. At the schools Feed The Hungry will be serving, ARM will coordinate leaders from local churches to conduct VBS style bible education for each class every week as well as oversee and administrate the food disbursements.

We also visited a Twa village today; Twa is the tribal name of the pygmies. They are an ostracized and neglected minority (1-2% of the population). They are VERY welcoming and hospitable and we had a great time with the whole village of about 65 families.

God Bless, it's on to Uganda in the morning!

Stefan