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The Luxury of Rice

Nway Thida sits to eat dinner with her daughters, happy to be able to set down one item in particular on the table: rice.

While historically there is nothing uncommon in Myanmar about a meal with rice, for many in the country, rice has become a luxury. Due to the civil war that has been raging in the country since 2021, the food supply has been cut off to many areas of the country. Today, over 15 million people are living with food insecurity in Myanmar.

Nway Thida rents a plot of land in a small village. She and her daughters spend their days working the fields only to have most of what they harvest taken by the landowners, leaving very little to sustain themselves. Ongoing bombings and military activity make travel difficult and keep the family restricted to their small village. The schools that were closed during the pandemic have yet to reopen even after all these years, but now due to regular airstrikes. Without education, there is little hope for Nway Thida’s daughter’s to get decent jobs when they are older.

The family’s situation became even more perilous when Nway Thida’s husband died of alcohol abuse earlier this year, leaving her to care for her four teenage daughters alone.

For many families living in poverty around the world, there are seemingly overwhelming obstacles stacked against them. War, injustice, and lack of food, education, and work are just a few of the struggles they may face.

The rice on Nway Thida’s table was provided by the pastor of a local church, a partner of Children’s Hunger Fund. The pastor has been providing her family with nutritious food since her husband died. Without it, Nway Thida’s family might not have had enough food to survive.

Despite the constant presence of soldiers in the village and regular checkpoints on the road that make travel difficult, the church continues to show the love of Christ to the poorest families in the community, just like Nway Thida’s.

During these last six months, the pastor has witnessed an incredible change in the lives of Nway Thida and her daughters. This change has taken place because the pastor has not only been delivering food for the last six months, but he has also been sharing the hope of the gospel with the family.

Nway Thida first heard the gospel over twenty years ago, but only recently began to understand and deepen her faith because of the love of God she is witnessing firsthand. In the last six months, her youngest daughter, May Aung, is only beginning to understand how much Christ has done for her.

Through the faithfulness of our church partners, Nway Thida and other mothers like her can receive the help they need and share the hope they have in Christ with their children.

 

Recipients’ names have been changed to protect their privacy.

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