How Hungry are You?

It is a wonderful thing to sit down to a full meal three times a day. That is, if you have a good appetite. True hunger is a sense that most of us have little aquaintance with. To eat until we are satisfied and renewed in energy is a great blessing. How often do we take it for granted?

I was reminded of what hunger means as I viewed some recent photos from the ministry in Makindu. Last Sunday a group made the trip out to the Kalembe settlement to hold a meeting and bring some food supplies. "Famine has now began to bite in this area as they did not harvest enough food last season," Brother Lawrence reports. "The congregation has to depend on donated food."


Daniel, along with his wife and four children, are the contact family for this area.


Here Brother Benjamin measures out the "relief maize" (white corn) which is a staple in Kenya. They will grind it into flour to cook as a porridge (called Ugali) to be eaten with vegetables, or cook it with peas, beans, and bananas as a hearty stew.


A group picture of the children. Many are priveleged to have others carry the burden of providing for their needs. A few are not.


Josphine and James are siblings that have been abandoned by their single mother. They are under the care of their old grandmother, and waiting in line for their share of maize.


These families have received their rations. "How grateful we are to have some brethren who care and love us. May the Dear Lord bless them more and more."


"Bidding us farewell after service and sharing of the relief food."


Not far away stand Josphine and James. It is noted: "They are clinging to their share of relief food given to them by the saints." Do we value our spiritual food as much, no matter how simple the truth or rough the packaging? May these precious little ones learn to claim the promise: "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up." (Psalm 27:10)


In Makindu the work on the center progresses slowly as they await timber for the rafters. Here is a gathering for a Bible lesson in the yard of one of the families. "Studying under a tree is normal here when there are no houses of worship," we are told. "The resident houses are so small that a congregation cannot usually fit in. So we hold services in the open."


As seen in the far right of the previous picture, here is "a man and his family who are keen on knowing the truth. But they are not yet saved," the brother writes. "Please, pray for them."

Yes, let us be praying. Is it not a time to be hungry, dear ones? Hungry for those lost in sin to receive the light. Hungry to see God's work prosper in our midst. Hungry to take hold of the words of life and live off of them, as Jesus did. Did not He say, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6)? The Father holds the eternal supplies. The question is, How hungry are you?