“I would like to say to the Barnabas Fund you are so welcome here in our village and we thank you for this help! Since the disaster on the 14th no one has physically arrived in our area to help us until you came. Your food is a gift of life for our elderly and the orphans in our area. There are still so many villages in the surrounding area needing help. We pray that God will continue to send people like yourself to these areas to continue to help!”
Chief Antonio expressed his gratitude for Barnabas Fund’s aid after Cyclone Idai devastated large parts of Mozambique.
Cyclone Kenneth follows Cyclone Idai
Cyclone Idai, which struck Mozambique in March, was one of the worst tropical storms ever to hit Africa, killing over 600 people in Mozambique. But Cyclone Kenneth, which struck another part of Mozambique on 25 April, was even worse. Kenneth was the strongest storm ever recorded in Mozambique, flattening villages with winds of up to 280kph (174mph) and destroying tens of thousands of homes.
“God knew”
Rosa lived on her own in a small mud hut, growing her own food and keeping chickens. She had no other livelihood. When the Cyclone Idai floodwaters surged through her village in the darkness, rising to chest high, she thought she was going to drown. She survived the night, but her house was destroyed along with all her belongings – her blanket, clothes, cooking pots, food stores and chickens. The maize crop she was growing was also completely destroyed.
When Barnabas Fund’s local partners brought Rosa a month’s supply of food and miscellaneous kitchen items, she told them she had nothing and nowhere to go but God knew and she was so thankful for the gift!
Ten mouths to feed
Fransisco had a stroke three years ago and now struggles to cultivate the family’s plot of land. Yet there are still ten mouths to feed. Cyclone Idai blew down their home and the flood damaged their food store and other possessions. He is so grateful for a food parcel from Barnabas Fund.
Another food parcel went to a leprosy patient called Nene. After her house collapsed and was washed away, Nene spent two days on top of a tall structure used for storing maize. Because of her many health problems, Nene could not flee with her relatives and just had to wait until the waters began to subside and her relatives could return and bring her down to the ground again.
Cyclone Kenneth has doubled the need
Thanks to the gifts of Barnabas supporters we have helped Rosa, Chico, Fransisco, Nene and thousands of other victims of Cyclone Idai. But Cyclone Kenneth doubled the need.
Help us to keep helping the cyclone victims. Working through Christian organisations on the ground, we are focusing on the neediest, especially widows, widowers and disabled. A standard family food parcel, to last about a month, plus soap and water purification tablets, costs about £42 (US$55; €48).
Please give now.
