In early September I (Kellen) was able to take a quick trip out to Bright Vision to meet with a few groups of people. It’s nice to take the occasional trip without a big bus load of people, which inevitably draws a lot of people and a lot of attention. We met with all of the guardians of the infants that we support with milk-formula. We had been sponsoring 20 children, but that morning there were 22 children. Twins had been born a few days prior, but tragically, their mother passed away in childbirth. They’ve joined the program. Each of the (mostly) women shared the story of each infant- a handful were mothers who were not able to produce breastmilk. The remainder were relatives caring for an infant whose mother had died. As I looked around the room, I was thinking about the painful situations of each of these babies and their relatives. It was a good reminder of why this relatively new program is so necessary. Without it, these children would be under threat of acute malnutrition. I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with the group that day, and also sharing that The Grove Community Church in Riverside, CA will be sponsoring the formula program for 2023. We’re very grateful.
I was also able to meet a new women’s group formed by our ABC Interns last year. There are about 40 women who meet regularly to encourage each other and talk about issues in their lives. They’ve also taken some initiative in raising funds to help each other with small investments. In order to raise money they have been helping prepare our fields for the upcoming irrigation project. They recently purchased matching chitenjis and wear them to meetings.
