East African Famine

As we give thanks for the rain we have received here in Texas over the last few days, I can't help but think about East Africa and the extreme drought the Horn of Africa still faces. This drought has destroyed crops and killed livestock. It has created record high food prices, internal conflicts and insecurity in the region. As families travel long distances in search of food, malnutrition and disease run rampant. As we pray for continued renewal for our land here in Texas we MUST pray for God's mercy on the Horn of Africa.

The most affected areas are northern and northeastern Kenya. Some parts of Kenya have faced two or three successive poor rain season leaving 2.4 million people in need of food aid assistance with a potential of up to 3.5 million people needing assistance in the near future.

Likewise, the drought has forced the UN to declare a state of Famine in two regions in southern Somalia, forcing tens of thousands of Somalis into Kenya's overcrowded Dadaab camps.

Somalis flee to the refugee camps of Dadaab, Kenya.
(Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)

An area on the outskirts of Hagadera Camp has been set aside for new arrivals at Dadaab, Kenya.
(Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)

Somali women and children await the distribution of food at a camp in Mogadishu, the nation's capital. Jumbo, a local organization, set up the camp for refugees fleeing southern Somalia. Thousands of people have arrived in Mogadishu over the past two weeks seeking assistance and the number is increasing by the day, officials say. (Farah Abdi Warsameh/Associated Press)

Somalis care for their young children who are being treated for malnutrition at a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Dagahaley Camp, outside Dadaab, on July 11. UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres said that drought-ridden Somalia is the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world. He had met with refugees who endured unspeakable hardship to reach the world's largest refugee camp. (Rebecca Blackwell/Associated Press)

A malnourished child is held in her grandmother's arms at Wajir District hospital, Wajir town, Kenya, on July 6. The worst drought in the Horn of Africa has sparked a severe food crisis and high malnutrition rates, with parts of Kenya and Somalia experiencing pre-famine conditions, the United Nations has said. More than 10 million people are now affected in drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda and the situation is deteriorating. (Sayyid Azim/Associated Press)

Please join us in prayer for the people affected by the East African Famine. Pray for the Lord's mercy on these people and their land, pray for their salvation, and pray that the Lord is glorified even through suffering. Let us not forget how incredibly blessed we are.

For more information please visit my sources here and here.