RELIEF

Waliwana children in Kenya's North Eastern Province 

receiving lunch at their village's daily feeding program

Among the many initiatives of Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) in Africa, emergency relief is a crucial one. When a crisis hits a community to the point where people are no longer able to cope, relief is an important first step on the road to recovery. Relief actions are designed to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain and protect human dignity in the aftermath of a crisis.

Currently, CBM is involved in several important relief efforts in assisting displaced communities in Kenya's North Eastern Province, Syrian refugees in Lebanon and communities affected by military insurgency and insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At the same time our team in Rwanda is launching a new relief initiative to address hundreds of refugee families that are moving into Rwanda.

Relief projects require a great effort, as local churches, the national CBM team, partner staff and our Canadian colleagues work together to assess the situation, collaborate with other government and non-governmental organizations that may be working in the same region, design the most appropriate intervention, and mobilize the necessary resources.

Implementing takes place as CBM's team works with local people to deliver specific interventions to the targeted households, or community, in a given time period. Helping a community get back on its feet (to the level it was at pre-crisis) is the immediate goal, but as a faith-based organization our over arching motivation is to see people experience a full and abundant life. Beyond bringing emergency water, food, shelter and health care is our first response, but working together with local churches our long term response is to help people achieve food security, experience peace and reconciliation with their neighbours, and embrace hope. Ultimately, poverty is about brokenness: Social, Economical, Environmental and Spiritual.

In each of CBM's African Relief projects, local churches are responding to the needs of their neighbours. Presence is an important aspect of our work as followers of Christ demonstrate their faith in word and in deed. 

In Kenya's North Eastern Province, CBM is helping three local congregations who are currently walking with their neighbours through daily feeding programs that are serving vulnerable families and school children affected by the the severe famine of 2011, that displaced thousands of people in the Horn of Africa. In partnership with the Garissa-based Sister's Maternity Hospital (SIMAHO), the churches are providing basic health care and nutritional support to communities that the CBM Kenya team is assisting with food security programs that are improving sustainable agriculture, public health and education. You can read more about this ministry in our latest update letter: Click Here to Read