Feed the Hungry – Rebecca

Feed the Hungry – Rebecca

Photographer: Berlinda Fortin

Help hungry children like Rebecca to know a full life is possible in Jesus!

Lunchtime at school is Rebecca Atong’s favourite time of the day.

You can be satisfied here … you can be well fed,” she says. “We have a healthy mind, a healthy body, and we are all fine.

More than most, she understands the difference that a good meal and medical help can make. Just a few short years ago, her family’s village was attacked by armed men in South Sudan.

When the rooms were burning, people ran. There was shooting, people with guns. And people were afraid of their lives – that is why they ran. People were scared. I saw people being killed; I saw bodies [in the road].

There was no time to prepare or pack. Like thousands of others, Rebecca and her family fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Their homes were in flames. Their friends, their livelihoods, lost.

For four days they trekked south, desperate for the border and a place of sanctuary. They ate whatever they could find.

If you get an animal that can be eaten, [kill it and] roast it,” Rebecca remembers. “And you take water from the river.

But there were other dangers on the road. Days drinking unsafe water meant the risk of typhoid. Nights in the open left them vulnerable to mosquitos. Before they even reached Uganda, Rebecca was overcome by fevers, headaches and stomach cramps. Malaria. Yet she had no choice but to keep moving.

And she knew that her family was more fortunate than many: at least they were all still together. When they crossed the border, policemen took them to a refugee camp where they received medical treatment.

Photographer: Berlinda Fortin

That’s where Rebecca first encountered the work of Feed The Hungry, a Christ-centred organisation committed to fighting hunger caused by war and famine throughout the world.

She began to realise that a different future was possible: a future filled with hope and purpose.

Life in the settlement is far from perfect. The five members of her family share a small one-room home and when it rains, they plug the leaking roof with bubble gum.

Yet thanks to Feed The Hungry, she has the opportunity to go to class and re-establish her education. She has the chance to eat a decent meal, and to see a doctor when she needs to. And she learns about the hope of Jesus – the full, abundant life that is possible in His love.

Now, Rebecca has a new goal for her life.

I want to become a doctor, because I want to treat people, my brothers and sisters and old people who are sick.

You can give new hope to children just like Rebecca, by providing them with nourishing meals, an education… and the chance to live a full life.

By donating just $30 today, you can feed five children in crisis for a month. And in doing so, you can know that you’re providing far more than food for the children who are so hungry for hope.

You’re giving them an opportunity to know the God who is the Creator of life, the giver of all good things. The God of whom King David sang, “You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing” (Ps 145:16).

You can donate today by clicking here – or by calling 1300 005 514.

You will be making an incredible impact in the lives of hungry children like Rebecca, who says:

I’m very happy for what you have done. For five years up to now, we have been fed by the Feed the Hungry. I thank you so much [for the support]. May God bless you.