After sending out an emergency appeal for $25,000 to help PPF receive a large medical consignment valued at $2.2 MILLION, you gave– and gave generously. After only a couple of weeks, PPF raised $28,581.34. Praise the Lord!

And it gets better.

While awaiting the arrival of the shipment in question, one of our partners, Voice of the Martyrs, sent us an additional medical consignment valued at another $2 Million!

Because of your generosity, we were able to quickly put together a distribution plan. Tomorrow, those meds begin their transit! We will try to send you an update next week with more details. Because of security concerns, we will not yet disclose the destination. Be assured that the communities receiving these medicines desperately need them. So, God’s timing could not be better (as always!).

We continue to receive offers of medical consignments that allow us to stretch every penny of donations to the maximum. By God’s grace working through your generosity, we will reach more refugees and displaced families before the end of the rainy season.

The Bible says much about the poor, and our responsibilities towards them. One thing I have noticed is that there is a class of poor and destitute who simply need immediate, unconditional intervention.

Emergency medical relief is given without hesitation to those who need it.

Recall the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30). A man was beaten, robbed, and left for dead on the road. Two “pious” fellows passed by and did nothing. But the Samaritan acted. He did not investigate why the man was on the road in the first place. For all the Samaritan knew, the victim could have been a thief himself who was successfully repelled by a caravan he attempted to rob. The Samaritan simply saw that a man needed help, felt compassion, and acted.

Remember when Jesus and His disciples approached a blind man, and the Apostles wanted to know if the man was blind because of his sin or the sin of his parents? (John 9:2).  What did Jesus say in response? He said, “Neither.” The man was blind, so that in God’s Providence, His glory would be revealed through this man’s disability. Jesus then healed the man.

But there are also other ways of handling the poor in the Bible. Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth were impoverished. So they took advantage of the “welfare safety net” in Israel at the time. The poor were allowed by law to follow behind the harvesters in a field and glean what crops were not picked. Also, the corners of fields were not harvested specifically with the poor and hungry trailers in mind.

This was not unconditional charity. It required the poor to work for what they received.

Later in the story, the young widow Ruth approached her cousin, Boaz, and asked him to do his duty as a kinsman to marry her, which was a principle in the Law. Boaz agreed to “go to court” as it were, and fight for Ruth’s rights. When the nearest kinsman refused to marry Ruth, Boaz agreed to do the job himself. This is a beautiful story of love and sacrifice to help those in need. It is a picture of Christ redeeming His bride. In fact, Christ Himself descended from the lineage of Boaz and Ruth.

What all these examples show is that giving and dealing with the poor must be done with wisdom and sacrifice. In some cases, the poor need unconditional help. In other cases, the help is given with conditions.

PPF supports certified nurse Majzoub Abass (center) in further education so he can continue working with patients.

But in both cases, the presence of love, compassion, and advocacy is always present.

Persecution Project Foundation has several program categories that are modeled after what we believe are Biblical patterns for giving. We have funds that focus on “crisis relief” and medical needs. These are designed for the “Samaritan” type need where the victims are lying in the road needing immediate assistance.

Crisis relief items include food and shelter materials.

But we also have programs for clean water and discipleship and evangelism. These programs require participation from the people we are trying to help. The activities promoted in these programs seek to build people up, build relationships, and to help those in need eventually become givers themselves.

Safe Water Projects open the door for agricultural programs, which lead to discipleship and training opportunities and increase recipient self-sufficiency.

Clean water is not just about digging wells. Providing a dependable water source to a poor community opens the door for agricultural initiatives that lead to greater and cheaper food production. This brings self-sufficiency, wealth and greater health to a formerly impoverished community.

Discipleship and evangelism is not just about Bible studies. It opens the door for teaching and mentoring that go beyond the “lifeboat” salvation message that focuses on getting an initial profession of faith from a convert. It equips the new believer for the rest of his life.

Students who graduate from our pastor training program strive to bring the gospel to the people they serve.

PPF’s Transportation and Logistics fund is not just about paying for the transportation of relief items to get them from point A to point B. It opens the door for vocational training programs that help the poor and persecuted overcome three of their most difficult challenges: isolation, lack of infrastructure, and getting their products to market.

Our desire at PPF is to give — but to give wisely. That sometimes means giving like the Samaritan. At other times, it means giving like Boaz. As you pray for the ministry of PPF, please pray that God will continue to give us wisdom in how to give, so that His Name is glorified and people are changed — including us!

Recently, I traveled near the Southern Darfur border to inspect a new clinic PPF supports. A shipment of medicine supplied by Voice of the Martyrs was scheduled to arrive any time, and our team notified clinics in the area of the impending shipment.

While our team visited the clinic, a Toyota Land Cruiser blew past our position, headed North. “Hey! That’s Billy White,” shouted PPF President Brad Phillips. “He must not have seen us. Go after him!” I ran to the motorcycle I had borrowed and took off through the bush to catch him. It took a few minutes, but I finally managed to flag him down. And that’s when I met the famous Brother Billy White.

Brother Billy White welcomes AIM pilot John McNealy to Jaac.

I had heard of Billy White but never met him. Billy is one of those amazing characters one often finds in remote corners of the world.

Brother Billy is 76 years young and has been living and working in South Sudan since 2004. When his wife died in 2003, Brother Billy knew what God wanted him to do next. He had read about the plight of Christians in Southern Sudan through publications like Soldier of Fortune magazine and several Christian mission groups.

So Billy White, who is a retired Green Beret from the Army’s Special Forces, packed his gear and took off for his next deployment. When he arrived in Nairobi, Kenya, he had no relationship with anyone from South Sudan. But that did not stop Brother Billy. Within a few months, he was in Southern Sudan, organizing an adult literacy program sponsored by the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army.

In addition to his work training people to read, Brother Billy has supported the establishment of several medical clinics in the “no go” areas where PPF has worked for years.

Brother Billy is as fit as a fiddle and has an iron grip that will pull your shoulder out of its socket if you’re not careful. “I exercise every other day – or I can’t move,” quips Billy, who always wears a big Texas grin.

I was amazed at how Brother Billy could live and travel alone so easily in a place with few roads and absolutely no road signs. Billy lives very modestly in a dirt floor tukel like most of the people he serves. His reputation and legend have won him the respect and cooperation of the local government.

“Southern Sudan is a lot like my home state of Texas,” says Billy. “It’s hot and flat; it has many rivers running through it; lots of cattle; and it’s full of friendly people (mostly armed).”

Brother Billy is a devout Christian who has focused much of his energy into training pastors how to read and study the Word of God. “When I started my first class, the pastors wanted to know if I would feed them lunch every day. I told them ‘Nope. If you are not hungry for the Word of God, you don’t belong here.’”

When the history of Africa’s newest country is written, I hope the author saves some room to record the exploits and adventures of Brother Billy White. It is people like this old soldier from Texas who not only make great ambassadors of America, but great ambassadors of Jesus Christ.

“I tell people when I go back home to America that it’s great to live in a country where the Bible is openly quoted by elected officials, taught in schools and the military, and public prayer is not only encouraged, it is expected of all who desire leadership. That country is South Sudan.” - Brother Billy White

What I just witnessed never happened. You won’t read about it anywhere in the news. No one is talking about it. Yet I just returned from seeing the biggest humanitarian crisis going on in Africa today… and most of the world is doing nothing about it.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about the tragic airstrikes in the Darfur refugee area called Jaac. Jaac is an administrative district in Southern Sudan on the Darfur border and has been home to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in the world’s only ongoing genocide.

Jaac is also the scene of one of Persecution Project Foundation’s largest ongoing relief operations. We first visited Jaac in 2005, and we’re still there today. When we first arrived, we found a few hundred refugees sitting under the trees waiting to die. The nearest water supply was a two day walk. The only food was leaves picked from the trees and boiled into a mush. It was horrible.

Current refugees are forced to once again eat leaves.

We took action, and began pouring into Jaac whatever God placed in our hands through the generous contributions of Christians all over America.

We built a base camp and began using it as a makeshift clinic while we built a permanent structure. We brought in shipments of food, blankets, medicine, mosquito nets, clothing, and other crisis relief items.

In December, PPF distributed medicine, food, action packs, blankets and Bibles in Jaac.

We supported the founding of a school to teach children to read. And we gave them Bibles in their own language so they could learn about the Love that sought them out in a wilderness.

And most importantly for their physical needs, PPF began drilling wells to provide a clean source of water to the now swelling population in Jaac.

Wells in Jaac are being stressed by the influx of so many new refugees.

Jaac is an area largely neglected by the UN and the NGO community because of its proximity to danger and its extreme remoteness. The roads are nothing more than glorified cow trails, which washout for half the year, cutting Jaac off from the rest of the country.

Yet, Jaac is the only refuge to an estimated 200,000 people who have fled their native homes to find safety from their enemies. But recently, the drums of war have touched this “Oasis in Hell” as the Sudan Mirror described Jaac in 2009.

A new Jaac refugee sits near his makeshift hut.

The ruling government in Khartoum, the National Congress Party, is angered by Darfur rebel groups who it claims are finding support and sanctuary in border regions in Southern Sudan. Consequently, the Sudan Air Force bombed two villages in the Jaac area three times in November, killing and wounding many and causing widespread panic among the local population.

Tens of thousands fled… and they ran to the only safe zone they knew: the PPF mission station in Jaac.

New refugees in Jaac wait near the PPF mission station.

I recently flew to Jaac to personally see with my own eyes what I had been hearing through numerous pleas for help from my contacts in the community. We landed on a Thursday in early December, and what I saw shocked and disturbed me.

All around the Jaac airstrip, which PPF had constructed soon after our arrival in 2005, were thousands of makeshift grass huts. I estimate 18,000 people were living in just the vicinity of the airstrip. They knew the airstrip had welcomed relief to the community for years. Now, they pitched their tents, as it were, to the only lifeline they had.

A small section of the new "homes" in Jaac.

The scene was heartbreaking. I walked around from hut to hut, interviewing the refugees. While surveying the scene, I saw a little eight-year-old girl named Aluet just arriving in Jaac after a two day walk. She was carrying a little bottle of milk and her twelve-month-old brother, Garang. When I asked about her story, I was told her father died last year and her mother was recently killed in the November 24th airstrike.

Aluet with her twelve-month-old brother, Garang.

But Aluet’s story of suffering was sadly not unique. I was also informed by medical personnel that 200 women had died giving birth in the last three weeks because of severe malnutrition.

Thankfully, the night before I landed, PPF’s relief truck, Mercy, arrived. It brought blankets, medicine, and action packs that the Voice of the Martyrs donated. As soon as the truck was offloaded, I sent it to the closest town where we could buy food, and instructed the driver to purchase as much as I had funds on me to buy. But it was a drop in the bucket compared to teh tremendous need.

PPF's truck 'Mercy' delivers much need relief supplies to Jaac.

Tragically, all we could do was select from among the refugees, 500 families who seemed to us to need the most help, and give them what we had. It may last them two weeks.

I also discovered that the swelling population in Jaac had stretched the wells to the breaking point. Twenty five wells out of the 62 we have in the entire area of Jaac were broken because of the stress of constant use by the new refugees.

I met with the local Administrator, who I have known for years, to discuss what could be done. I could see the worry in his face. He told me his district was being largely ignored by the government because of the fear that too much attention to the area would distract and even endanger the referendum on secession that is scheduled for January 9th, 2011.

Brad meets with local Administrator in Jaac.

The Administrator said the fighting was much heavier than reported by the government or the press, as witnessed by the growing refugee population in Jaac. But no one was doing anything. Most western aid organizations have already sent their people home for the holidays. They will be gone until the referendum is over.

This means that the humanitarian crisis in Jaac is being overlooked and is taking a back seat to the political issues surrounding the referendum. Jaac is basically a news void – a vacuum.

But the people of Jaac don’t know this. Little Aluet and her brother Garang don’t know anything about referendums, or interim peace agreements, or politics. All they know is that their parents are dead, and they are orphans in a wilderness.

In the same manner, we at PPF seek not to be distracted by politics. All we know is that a community we have served for the last six years is now in a state of crisis and extreme need. And we must do something.

The refugees in Jaac are not just statistics. They're people. They're friends.

These victims are not statistics. These are people we have known for years. I have watched their children grow. I have worshipped in their churches and helped baptize new members. I have seen the miracle your compassion has created in a wilderness of death and despair. This is my family. This is your family. We must do something. We cannot abandon them now.

Last week, PPF sent out a press release reporting on the recent bombing of Darfur refugees in Southern Sudan. Although these incidents were far from the worst behavior we have witnessed from the National Congress Party in Khartoum (formerly known as the National Islamic Front), it especially hit home to us because Jaac Payam, where the attacks took place, is an area where PPF has worked for six years.

The airstrikes were the latest in a string of violent actions in the Darfur border area, which began in August. The result has been hundreds killed and thousands displaced from their homes. More than 15,000 people have fled the border and moved further south, straining the PPF-sponsored resources like wells and medical facilities.

PPF's Medical Clinic in Jaac.

There is an immediate need for clean water, food, and medical care to help in this new humanitarian crisis. PPF has 62 wells in the Jaac area, but many are currently broken due to overuse by the swelling population. Each well is designed for 500 people, but several thousand are currently using each well. When one breaks, people move to another well, straining the new well and eventually breaking it, starting a domino effect on other wells.

The good news is that roads are finally drying, making the affected area accessible for relief shipments.

The bad news is, because of security concerns and the upcoming referendum in January, there are no other organizations operating in the Jaac area to help the victims. It’s just us. Jaac is very remote, and PPF has been the only permanent NGO presence in Jaac since its establishment as a refugee settlement in 2004.

The Northern Government hopes to spread mayhem all along the border prior to January. And the Southern Government has chosen not to retaliate, because it believes it would threaten the scheduled referendum. To the Southern government, the referendum in January is all-important. Western governments, including the US, have promised to support the outcome of the vote, which everyone knows will mean Africa’s newest country is inaugurated. When this happens, Southern Sudan will officially be free from Northern oppression.

But what about the Jaac residents, who are being treated as little more than pawns in a massive game of diplomatic chess? They have us, their brothers and sisters in America, who have consistently stood with them from the beginning.

I am writing to you today to let you know that PPF’s response is not limited to a press statement. We are doing something about it.

This great need requires our quick response, and we would like your help to make this happen.

Our reliance during these unexpected challenges has always been on God’s provision through your compassion and generosity. I feel bad when I have to make an outright appeal for support, because I know so many of you have already given sacrificially. I don’t want to take that for granted. Thank you for all you have done.

PPF's truck, "Mercy", loaded with medical supplies for Jaac residents.

I simply lay this need before you and ask for your prayerful consideration. In addition to our budgeted needs, we need to raise another $161,000 by the end of the year to help the victims in Jaac. Any part you play in this will be gratefully appreciated. Our pledge is to do all we can with what God puts into our hands to help our persecuted brethren in Jaac.

As I write these lines from Nairobi, Kenya, I am envisioning what things must look like back home in the States.

Doubtlessly, small towns are putting out Christmas decorations. People are taking down the lighted reindeer lawn ornaments from their attics. Retailers are pulling out all the stops to lure consumers in to buy, buy, buy, so they can finish the year strong. Sunday school classes at many churches are rehearsing the Christmas plays and pageants that typically mark the season.

PPF medical supplies are driven from the airfield to villages affected by recent violence in Southern Sudan.

These are things that happen every year like clockwork. They are things we take for granted. But sometimes we need to stop and wonder, “Why do we do all these things?”

I think we do them because they give us the illusion of stability in an unstable world. No matter what happens — war, economic collapse, sickness, or loss of family members — we know that Mrs. Miller’s lawn will be all lit up for Christmas. We like consistency, becuase it makes us feel secure. But real security only comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Aaron Phillips helps distribute shoes in South Sudan in November.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow — and much more comforting than man-made holidays and traditions. His appearance more than 2,000 years ago was a declaration of “peace on earth and good will towards men” in a world that, like today, had little of either.

Our job, as Christians, is to spread Christ’s peace and good will throughout the world. Our God is not a static deity. He is all about expansion. Not expansion by sword or capitalism or democracy. Expansion by love and reconciliation. Jesus Christ did not come to promote revolution, but regeneration — and that is truly “revolutionary!”

PPF President, Brad Phillips, greets students in Torit.

PPF distributes New Testaments provided by The Voice of the Martyrs.

I need your help to spread this message of love and regeneration now more than ever to our persecuted brethren in Sudan.

The year 2010 is turning out to be the bloodiest of Sudan’s six year “interim peace”.

At press time, we are less than two months away from Southern Sudan’s scheduled vote on secession. Tension is mounting, and tragically, the whole year has been marred by violence and bloodshed in Darfur and in southern Sudan.

What has made matters worse is monsoon weather conditions. This rainy season has greatly hampered access to all ministries and NGOs attempting to bring help to this year’s victims of violence.

In August, dozens of women were raped and more than one hundred and thirty Darfur refugees were slaughtered at the River Kiir (just a day’s walk from a PPF compound) by forces of the National Congress Party as they hunted for rebels in the Kalama and Kiirkow refugee settlements.

And just days ago, the Sudanese Air Force bombed villages within the administrative area of Jaac, a Darfur refugee community served by PPF since 2005. More than 300 families were displaced and made homeless by this provocative act. The Government in Khartoum claimed to be pursuing Darfur rebels connected with the “Justice and Equity Movement” (JEM) and that the attack was “accidental,” but no one on the ground is buying this story.

Over in the east, where PPF has worked for a number of years, the area has become the site of this year’s worst violence in Southern Sudan, as fighting erupted following the April elections.

Tragically, the majority of casualties were innocent civilians. I recently visited this area* with my two sons to bring in desperately needed medicine, and the eyewitness reports I received were sickening. Multiple witnesses confirmed to me the widespread incidence of torture, mass rapes, and extra-judicial killings. Entire villages were razed to the ground, and the majority of survivors — and estimated 27,000 people — were forcibly displaced and remain homeless and suffering up to today.

But there is good news.

An amnesty was recently signed, meaning the fighting has stopped for now, and we have the opportunity to minister to the victims. In addition, our partners have made available approximately 22 tons of emergency relief supplies, including blankets, action packs, Bibles, and life-saving medicines.

The rainy season was particularly heavy this year, trapping many vehicles in mud.

Because of the terrible weather, most of the roads are washed out. We plan to send a truckload of relief supplies to Jaac, but most of the aid will have to be delivered by airplane and boat. The cost of providing relief to these two areas will easily run over $100,000. If God provides the funds, the relief missions will take place in early December. In fact, I have already reserved the planes.

This is a leap of faith, but we have no choice. Planes must be chartered in advance to guarantee availability. It also takes time to plan all the logistics and coordinating involved with this massive project involving two completely different areas of the country.

In early November, PPF chartered the Samaritan's Purse DC-3 to deliver two tons of medical aid to victims of persecution in Southern Sudan.

You’ve heard the saying that “when it rains, it pours.” Well, we are in the middle of a downpour right now, and I need your help. But God is good — all the time! He has never left us alone. He has given us you, our brothers and sisters in America, to be His hands and feet in these depressed areas of the world.

Please pray for our brethren in Southern Sudan and Darfur, and consider making a special gift to PPF, so we can minister to God’s people during this very difficult time.

PPF must raise $107,500 over the next several days to immediately fund desperately needed relief flights to persecuted communities in Southern Sudan. Your generous gifts have made such a difference in the past; please consider giving again to our brethren in Sudan.

*Some names and locations have been purposefully withheld due to ongoing security concerns.

I just finished reading Brian Kluth’s book, Experiencing God as Your Provider. In it, he writes, “God our Provider has a plan to allow us to glorify Him and bless others. He promises to meet our needs as we labor in those things to which He has called us.”

Pastors in Kenya receive Bibles from PPF.

Later, he reminds the reader of the story of the recently widowed woman who is in jeopardy of losing her two sons to the deceased husband’s creditor (2Ki 4:1-7). Elisha the prophet desires to help her and asks a poignant question, “What do you have in the house?”

The widow’s initial response is “nothing,” but then she remembers her little jar of oil, which was probably tucked away in a corner somewhere.

By stepping out in faith and borrowing multiple vessels from her neighbors, she sees God multiply what little she has. She is able to pay off her debt and care for her family.

PPF's Ed Lyons delivers medical supplies provided by a children's Sunday school class to the Revival Medical Center in the Kibera slum of Nairobi.

A few weeks ago, I visited Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church in Lexington, South Carolina. Pastor Jeff Kersey was preaching from John 6:5-11, where Jesus feeds over 5,000 people with a young boy’s lunch. In doing so, He has reminded us that a little is much when God is involved.

He can magnify the smallest amount to meet the needs of multitudes. He can take the smallest seed and grow it into a tree large enough for the birds to nest in its branches.

Imagine what He can do with our gifts, talents, time and energy!

Pastor Kersey went on to say that one of the most notable aspects of the story in John 6 was that the boy hadn’t already eaten his lunch. He hadn’t already devoured the fish and the bread, satisfying only himself. Instead, the provisions God blessed him with were available to bless others.

Miller Orthodontics from Culpeper, VA donated shirts which were distributed in the Gomongo slum in Kenya.

What are we doing with the provisions God has given to us?

In the past few months, Persecution Project Foundation has been blessed with nearly 12 metric tons of relief supplies. These supplies include Bibles, shoes, action packs, blankets and medicines.

Twelve metric tons may seem like a lot, but the current need in Southern Sudan is so great that we wonder at times how those relief supplies will be spread to so many. Then we remember that God is involved, and He will meet the needs of His people. And it’s His good pleasure to use us in the process.

He merely asks, “What do you have in your house?” 

One of the new wells.

I was somewhere between Gok Machar and Jaac with my team. It had already been a long day. What was supposed to be a three-hour journey had doubled. It was well past dark, and our vehicle was weaving in and out between trees and thorn bushes, trying to avoid the occasional stump protruding from the “road” that was really nothing more than a glorified cow path.

All of a sudden, PPF Director Matt Chancey yelled out, “Hey, stop the car! There’s our rig!” Off the road a ways, lit up like a Christmas tree, was one of our drilling rigs busily drilling another borehole to bring fresh water to the thousands of people in Jaac.

PPF's Matt Chancey washes a child's feet and presents the Gospel during a shoe distribution.

It was a beautiful sight. There was no moon, so the stars were very bright. It was a peaceful night, but not a quiet one, because the air was filled with the hammer-sound of the drilling rig as it pounded its way deeper and deeper through the dark red soil.

Although it was late, the noise of the rig had attracted a lot of attention, mostly from men and boys standing around watching the work.

I felt an overwhelming sense of peace and thankfulness at that moment. I remembered how difficult it had been to finish the first few wells in the community. Now I was witnessing the 41st well being drilled!

Residents of Jaac gather for a time of worship.

By the time I left Africa to return home for Christmas, the 45th well was completed. At the time of publication, the 52nd well was operational in Jaac. Our goal of reaching the half-way mark to 100 wells by Christmas was met. PRAISE THE LORD!

Of course, God uses means to achieve His ends, and that means I need to thank you, our ministry partners, for helping us achieve this aggressive goal in the middle of a world-wide recession. We know God is not worried about the economy, nor should we be. The year 2009 was filled with incredible challenges, but none were greater than God, and He provided for all our needs and many thousands of lives were impacted by the work you have chosen to support.

29 students graduated from our pastor-training program.

In addition to the water project in Jaac, we also witnessed the fruit of our other ministries to the community. It was my pleasure to be joined by my good friend and PPF ministry partner, Larry Warren of African Leadership. Larry and I were privileged to attend a graduation ceremony of 29 pastors in Jaac who had completed more than 500 hours of training sponsored by African Leadership. It had been two years since Larry had last been with me in Jaac, and he summed up the changes in one word: “health.”

Darfur refugees in Jaac eagerly await a PPF shoe distribution.

PPF’s medical clinic in Jaac was very busy, as we received the first of hopefully many shipments of shoes and medicine using our new truck, “Mercy,” to save us thousands of dollars normally spent on expensive relief flights.

It was a wonderful trip, and I felt so privileged to have been chosen to be a part of this vital work in a barren land forgotten by the rest of the world. It reminded me that the same God Who watches over the sparrows has remembered His suffering people in Jaac.

Medical ministry at the PPF clinic in Jaac.

I know most of you reading these pages will never have an opportunity to see this miracle for yourselves, but I hope my words and these pictures convey at least a hint of the magnitude your prayers and testimony of giving have made in the lives of the people in Jaac and other communities in Sudan.

As I write these words at the close of 2009, the words of a powerful hymn keep entering my mind – and I trust they will carry us all through a new and exciting year:

A village celebrates with PPF staff over the completion of a new well.

“To God be the Glory, Great Things He Hath Done!”

When we think of preaching the gospel, we don’t always associate it with feeding the hungry. Nevertheless, Jesus fed people on many occasions, and He was all about bringing people into the Kingdom of God.

John 6 tells of Jesus feeding 5,000 men with five loaves and two fish. When they had finished eating, there were plenty of leftovers.

A team from PPF traveled to Nairobi in late September and were told that the Soweto Academy located in the Kibera Slum had not been able to feed its students since August. The next shipment of food was due to arrive in November.

We prayed that God would meet the needs of the students and multiply the fish and loaves all over again. Our desire was to get enough food to provide for the children until their next shipment arrived… and God provided.

PPF was able to purchase 32 50-kg bags of rice for the school. Each bag will feed the students for one day. In addition, we bought a truck-load of firewood, so the rice could be cooked in the school’s kitchen.

Additionally, our team delivered much-needed medicines to the Revival Medical Clinic, and taught the Soweto students all about Daniel and his three friends. We encouraged the students to purpose in their hearts not to defile themselves with things or activities that displease God (Daniel 1:8). We also taught that God is able to protect them from persecution (Daniel 3:17), and that God delivers and rescues (Daniel 6:27).

We thank all who supported these outreach activities