Daily life in Haiti is deeply challenging. Recent stats show that ongoing insecurity and gang violence have forced hundreds of thousands of Haitians to flee their homes, pushing the number of internally displaced people inside the country to nearly 1.3 million, the highest ever recorded. Many end up in crowded, makeshift sites without easy access to enough food and water, health care, or functioning sanitation systems. Hunger is commonplace. Education for children and work for adults have been severely disrupted for much of the population.
During the last three years, Nazarene churches in Burundi, Malawi, and Zambia have partnered with Nazarene Compassionate Ministries to address hunger and malnutrition. The individuals and families who have joined these projects are finding new hope after years of food insecurity.
Fabiola is a single mom who struggled to make ends meet before joining one of the projects.
"Before, we had no plans and were not saving for the future," Fabiola said.
It was nearing the end of 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the staff and members of Clearwater First Church of the Nazarene (CFN) decided they had to do something to reintroduce themselves to the neighborhood. Months of careful gathering required the congregation to focus primarily on the needs of those closely connected to the church. Now, they wanted to look beyond the church walls to the community. Health and safety measures required that whatever they planned had to be outside—but what would resonate?
“My family and I have faced very difficult times during the long crisis.”
Magalie, a mother of five, had just received a food parcel to help stave off the hunger that was growing in her home, after her crops and animals were lost in a flood—just one of many difficulties her family has faced in recent years. Though she was describing her own experience, Magalie’s words could have easily been uttered by many of her neighbors in this Haitian community.
In Vancouver, Washington, four tiny house villages—called Safe Stay communities—provide a safe place for people experiencing homelessness to find shelter and transitional housing. When Pastor Kevin Campbell-White and his wife Jeni drove by one of these villages several months ago, they had the passing idea to try to connect their church (Hillcrest Church of the Nazarene) with the city to support Safe Stay residents.
Across the world, food insecurity is an ongoing struggle that has been exacerbate
Across the world, food insecurity is an ongoing struggle that has been exacerbate
Across the world, food insecurity is an ongoing struggle that has been exacerbate
Across the world, food insecurity is an ongoing struggle that has been exacerbate
Across the world, food insecurity is an ongoing struggle that has been exacerbate