by Kerrie Young
Janet was three months pregnant with twins and was separated from her husband. In America and other parts of the world, there are services and help for single mothers in Janet’s position. But in Kenya, there are few, if any, resources for mothers and children in crisis.
Just before her twins were born, Janet had no other choice but to make the gut-wrenching decision to move her older daughters to live with their grandmother.
Despite having fewer mouths to feed, Janet still had her newborn twins, Alex and Mary, to provide for—but with no job. Janet was once again faced with an agonizing and unthinkable situation. Desperate to find work so she could feed her children, she had to leave the babies locked in her house while she went out to look for a job.
Jobs in Kenya are hard to come by. Decent jobs paying livable wages are even more of a scarcity. In this part of the world, people like Mary are lucky to make $1 a day—and that’s usually doing grueling physical labor. Experts call this “starvation wages.”
Imagine having to leave your babies locked in your house for long periods of time without food and care while you go out and work grueling hours—only to bring home one dollar for the whole day. Now imagine trying to feed, clothe, and house yourself and your children on that. Needless to say, it’s impossible! So when Janet eventually got evicted because she couldn’t keep paying the rent, they ended up staying with friends—and sometimes ended up sleeping on rugs in the cold.
The lack of food and other essentials eventually took their toll on the twins’ health. Thankfully, a local agency noticed the condition of the babies and contacted Feed the Children’s Abandoned Baby Center (ABC).
Because of the generous support of friends like you, our team stepped in. Alex and Mary were admitted to the ABC. They were acutely malnourished and developmentally delayed when they arrived.
“I requested Feed the Children to provide shelter and food for my children as I tried to stabilize myself,” Janet explains. “I am still grateful to them.”
Alex and Mary were able to make a full recovery, thanks to the treatment they received at the center. The center has state-of-the-art facilities for our children—including medical facilities, a modern kitchen and dining hall, a physical and occupational therapy room, and comfortable cottages to live in.
Children come to our center in all kinds of critical conditions. Some are orphaned. Tragically, many are discarded and abandoned. Some, like Alex and Mary, have loving parents who find themselves in desperate circumstances and they just need a place for their children to recover and thrive until they can get back on their feet and provide for them again.
At the Feed the Children Abandoned Baby Center, children receive 24-hour medical attention; daily, nutritious food; a compassionate home environment to grow up in; lots of loving care; and an education. Because of our compassionate and generous partners who support this lifesaving center, thousands of precious boys and girls have been pulled from the clutches of death and given a new life.
When possible, like in the case of Alex and Mary, we work hard to help reunite children with their families. Once the parents are working and able to provide for their daily needs—and once the children are nutritionally-stabilized and healthy—we are happy to see them reunited and on the road to a brighter future.
Today, Alex and Mary are living with their mother and doing well. They are healthy and enrolled in school. And with Feed the Children’s help, Janet even has her own business selling plastic basins. “For me, life has changed for the better,” says Janet. “You’ve been of help to me and my children.”
Won’t you share the transforming love of Christ this Easter—as a congregation, or individual—and help feed a hungry child? You can also help an entire impoverished community. Just visit our catalog at http://www.feedthechildren.org/churches to see the many ways you can bring lasting hope and change to struggling children, families, and communities around the world.
Without people like you sharing the heart of Jesus to reach “the least of these” through your ongoing support, we would not be able to continue the work that we’re doing at the Abandoned Baby Center.
Your partnership changes the lives of families like Janet’s and rescues their children before it’s too late. Isn’t that what Easter is all about? Life—hope—extending the love of Jesus. Just visit our catalog at http://www.feedthechildren.org/churches now to select how you’d like to start making a difference today.
