By Carl Stagner

Their food supply has been reduced to roots and the occasional tree nut. If devastating, crop-destroying floods weren’t enough last year, extreme drought has now set in across Malawi, especially in the south, which is home to the densest concentration of Church of God congregations. Food sources have dried up, and even the bland water lily bulb root, which is collected from the swamp, has become scarce. Desperation is ensuing among families doing whatever they can to provide food for their children. The Church of God is responding, but the need for your support is immediate.

The need is not only immediate, but it is also enormous. Still, our God is bigger. To adequately provide for the 1,448 families suffering under this historic famine, a total of about $54,000 is needed to feed all of them over the course of a year until the 2017 harvest. Remember—this year’s harvest among an agriculturally-dependent society is essentially non-existent. Individually, the total may seem unattainable; together we can make a world of a difference halfway around the world. Considering the start of the schoolyear and the approaching growing season, the time for action is now.

Until then, it boils down to a few roots and tree nuts. “This is all the people at Chikwawa and Nsanje (the southern districts) are eating, because they have no food due to the drought,” said Pastor Kenneth. “The people have no maize [corn], their maize didn’t get the rain, and now they are going into the swamps and gathering these for food. They cook them, peel the outside off and eat the inside. For their children they add some of the Jolly Jus [local Kool-Aid] to give it flavor. But this is all that we have to eat. Can you please help us to get some food for the children and the people of the villages in Nsanje and Chikwawa?”

Will God’s people respond to the famine in Malawi? The thriving, multiplying New Testament church responded when famine struck the land:

“During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could” (Acts 11:27–29 NLT ).

Please prayerfully give as much as you can. Consider a generous donation to the Hunger Relief Fund today. Donate online at www.jesusisthesubject.org/disaster-relief/. Donations can also be mailed to Church of God Ministries, PO Box 2420, Anderson, IN 46018; please note that your gift is for Hunger Relief, Project # 45.04501. Thank you!