Relief and Development – Mercy in Action
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Matthew 25:35-36
We believe God’s love transforms the whole of life—spiritual, emotional, physical and social. Our relief and development workers demonstrate this love by addressing people’s immediate needs, building for a better future and offering eternal hope in Jesus.
Immediate Response
Faced with emergencies such as earthquakes in Asia or the AIDS crisis in Southern Africa, our response is to bring relief to those who are suffering. This means feeding the hungry and providing medical care for the sick and injured, building shelters for the homeless and comforting those who are bereaved.
Lasting Change
Development workers bring about long-term transformation in lives and communities by eliminating the causes of poverty, disease and injustice through education, micro-enterprise and employment projects. Educating street children in Sudan, teaching about the prevention of AIDS in Southern Africa and establishing small businesses in Tajikistan are among hundreds of development projects across the world.
Stories
About 200 students attend our various vocational and computer training centres daily to learn new skills. These courses run for a minimum of three months. Over this time, close relationships are established between our trainers and the participants, giving many opportunities to share about God.
(Mercy Teams International, a partner organisation, reports) Four team members trekked through a mountainous area, crying out to the Lord for those they encountered and to “loosen the hard soil and plant seeds”. Such remote, extremely poor villages have never had Christian witness. The guide who led the trip has believing relatives and listens to Christian worship songs on his mobile phone. The team leader gave him a Bible.
A short-term team working with OM USA’s Medical Ministries held a rural clinic where, despite tropical heat, 100 people waited for attention. The supply of medicines was quickly depleted. “I ordered limits on medicines while our country leader explained the situation to the dentists,” says Dr. Pat Railey. “God knew this was coming—a half hour later, a group of medical students and their faculty member from Puerto Rico appeared, seeking to provide care in a poor area! They spoke fluent English, and had large bags full of medicine that they were willing to share freely. When we asked how they found us, they said they came because someone prayed.”
(Operation Mercy, a partner organization, reports) “One day some teachers came to the street, looking for lost or broken-hearted children; I was one of those children”, says Emmanuel, 25. He came to one of the live-in centres and now studies at the university. He continues, “I found people who thought of me as a human being, who gave me a reason to be happy. In the centre, away from the streets, I found rest and I knew there was hope. Whatever happens in my life, I can know that there is someone who respects and loves me and I have value in His eyes because He loves me.”
Operation Mercy runs four live-in centres for street boys in different parts of Sudan and has recently completed the building of another in war-torn Darfur. Twenty boys have been brought in aged 4–10.
