“My children were becoming weaker and weaker day by day,” said Kanwal, a widowed mother-of-three in Pakistan. Their growing weakness was because the family had so little to eat. Kanwal’s job as a restaurant cleaner had stopped when lockdown began. Her church gave the family a small amount of cooked food each day until lockdown grew stricter and this was no longer possible.
“I tried my best to register myself in the different schemes of relief and support but for unknown reasons I was never selected or qualified for receiving any relief through the government’s schemes,” Kanwal explained. Then she received a package of food and hygiene products, funded by Barnabas. “I feel myself so loved and blessed by God for receiving such timely support … in the ongoing most difficult time in my life,” she said.
“I can smile now because I will not die”
Five years ago in Bangladesh, Fulmoni and her husband left another religion to follow Christ. But last year her husband died. Her two sons then rejected their mother because of her Christian faith, and made her live in a separate little hut. They gave her no practical help but Fulmoni (now 67) managed to support herself by working as a maid and a day labourer. Those jobs stopped when the Covid-19 lockdown came, and Fulmoni got no help from the government.
Praying to God, “the husband to the widow and the father of the fatherless”
Alice used to work on a flower farm in Kenya, earning £1.90 ($2.35; €2.10) a day but all the employees lost their jobs when the Covid-19 lockdown came. Widowed Alice has four school-aged daughters to support, some of them sick. She was in desperate need. Then help from Barnabas arrived.
“I have received support from the church in the form of maize and wheat flour, fresh maize, beans, vegetables, cooking oil … and pray to God to bless the hand that gave support for us the needy,” said Alice.
Covid-19 continues; help Barnabas continue to save forgotten lives
Only God knows the future, but right now Covid-19 needs continue for poor and persecuted Christians around the world.
By your gifts, Barnabas has helped over 300,000 Christians in 32 countries, chosen by our partners as the most vulnerable. Many of them are widowed women and fatherless children.
Kanwal prayed: “May God continue to provide for our needs and bless each and every in [her church in Pakistan] and Barnabas Fund.”
Will you be an answer to Kanwal’s prayer?
Your gift of £20 ($25; €22) could provide a food parcel to help a poor or persecuted Christian family survive another month of Covid-19 lockdown.
