Responding to famine

In response to a large food shortage in Somalia and northern Kenya, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is responding with an initial $5,000 in immediate relief to help provide food to famine victims.

“This is expected to be the worst famine in the last generation,” said David Harding, one of CBF’s field personnel in Ethiopia and the Fellowship’s international disaster response coordinator.

Significant drought has led to the famine, prompting thousands of hungry Somali refugees to spill into neighboring countries such as Kenya, where CBF field personnel Melody and Sam Harrell have served since 1999. 

The Harrells are currently traveling in the United States, but prior to leaving Kenya in early June, they anticipated the drought would escalate and thus staged for the distribution of 60,000 doses of a children’s chewable multivitamin supplement. Additionally, the Fellowship’s relief funds will purchase three tons of food specially formulated for individuals with compromised immune systems. This special porridge, made in nearby Nairobi, is a blend of natural ingredients that individuals can fully cook in less than 10 minutes. The food will be delivered to the Garissa area of Kenya, where the Harrells’ trusted partner in ministry, Sisters Maternity Health Outreach, will distribute the food.

Harding said the Fellowship’s next efforts will be to help address the root causes of the famine, such as water and agricultural development, allowing large non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to focus on major food relief.

You can give online now or send a check with “#17007 – Sub-Saharan Africa Response” in the memo line to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, Ga., 30392.