“This gift of rice allows me to feed my family” – can you help feed poor and hungry Christians in South-East Asia?
”Without this rice we do not know how we will live.” "Jai" is a vibrant young believer from rural South-East Asia. Christians in remote areas like this often face persecution from the local non-Christian community.
Jai works hard at a local village food stall. But she often has to go hungry so that her mother and young child can eat.
"Jai", right, and her mother are grateful for the gift of rice every month from her church, thanks to your support
Many Christians like Jai struggle to feed themselves or their families. The food inflation rate is 40% in her country, mostly caused by limited supplies. China and other countries buy up all the best quality rice supplies from farmers in her country.
With funding from Barnabas Aid's food.gives programme, our project partners in the region purchased a rice mill. They buy rice from poor Christian farmers for a reasonable price and mill it. Then they sell it very cheap to needy Christians or give it free to the poorest Christians of all, especially widows and children. Jai now receives 20kg of rice through her local church each month.
A total of 91 churches (mainly in rural areas) have so far been helped through the initiative, feeding thousands of hungry Christians.
The rice husks and bran left after milling go to Christian farmers to help feed pigs and chickens. The pig manure is then used to fertilise their vegetable crops and the chicken manure is used in mushroom farms and fish farms. All of these projects help Christians earn an income. So one donation starts a whole cascade of help for needy Christians. With your gifts, the project can be expanded to help even more believers.
"Halia" outside her home. She earns 75p ($0.93; €0.84) per week weaving baskets, which is not enough to survive. She is grateful for aid provided by Barnabas, saying, “Thank God for this rice every month to help me live.”
“I can’t sell enough to buy rice. Thank God for this rice every month to help me live.”
"Halia" is a widow. She cuts bamboo from the jungle to weave into baskets to sell for 25 pence ($0.31; €0.28) each. She can make three baskets a week, earning 75 pence ($0.93; €0.84).
With so little income, it’s practically impossible for Halia to survive.
But thanks to your support, her church now provides her with 1kg of rice every day, so she knows she has enough food to eat. She barters any leftover rice for small scraps of pork or fat.
“Every day I have to try to weave bamboo cooking baskets, but I can’t sell enough to buy rice,” said Halia. “Thank God for this rice every month to help me live.”
How you can help
£9 ($11.30; €10.30) could buy 20kg of unmilled rice from Christian farmers
£45 ($57; €51) could buy 100kg of unmilled rice from Christian farmers
Twenty gifts of £190 ($240; €215) could provide an additional second-hand milling machine to increase rice production
