Fighting Desperate Hunger in Sudan

Letter from Franklin Graham

Dear Friend,

Samaritan’s Purse has been working in Sudan for decades, and I’ve been there many times. The country is once again in chaos, devastated by three years of civil war. Tens of millions have fled the fighting, many of them now living in sprawling displacement camps. Famine is widespread. Women and children are especially at risk of starvation.

We are trucking in emergency food to the South Kordofan region of Sudan. Last year, we gave out over 15,000 metric tons of food, along with many more tons of nutrient-packed peanut paste to combat malnutrition. Each food bundle we distribute has corn, oil, beans, and salt—enough to sustain a family of seven for three months.

Sudan’s dry season just ended, and the food from last year’s harvest is gone. The rainy season is fast approaching and will turn the roads into mud, making them impassable. It’s critical that we continue our response before the downpours begin.

In the next 100 days, we are preparing to deliver nearly 13,500 metric tons of emergency food, including 450 metric tons of ready-to-use-supplementary food, enough for over 675,000 vulnerable people.

One child we helped is 7-year-old Asim,* who was extremely malnourished when he was brought to a hospital we are supporting in Sudan. Our staff gave him supplemental food to help nurse him back to health. We praise God that his condition is improving each day. One of our nurses said if he had gone without nutrient-rich food much longer, he would have died. Asim’s case was severe and all too common.

I encourage you to continue reading and learn more about how God is at work through Samaritan’s Purse Canada in Sudan, saving the lives of many like Asim. And thank you for your prayers and support. Your faithful partnership makes this urgent work possible. “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, and He will pay back what he has given” (Proverbs 19:17).

Sincerely,

Franklin Graham

A 7-Year-Old Restored from the Brink of Death

Asim was swollen from head to toe. His fragile body— deprived of protein and other nutrients for so long—was now filling with fluid. The condition is called “kwashiorkor” and it is a death knell for children with severe malnutrition.

“Such kids are going to die in the next minute if you do not give life-saving food,” said Mercy. As a Samaritan’s Purse nurse at a hospital in Sudan, she witnessed Asim at his worst. He arrived at the facility with his grandmother Naima* after they fled on foot from dawn until dusk.

“We left because there was no food,” said Naima. “There was war and lots of shooting and bombs.” Mercy and the medical team sprang into action. They carefully gave Asim milk-based formula that his failing digestive system could absorb. Hope and life were in every drop.

Though Asim is around 7 years old, he looks like a toddler because chronic hunger has severely stunted his growth. His condition—though critical—is not uncommon. As Sudan is torn apart by civil war, thousands of children are hanging on to the last threads of life. Famine has been declared in this region twice over the last 18 months.

“This is a place where hunger is present almost everywhere,” said one of our staff members. “Samaritan’s Purse is providing critically needed items—interventions that are life-saving to help bring these children back to health.”

With your prayers and support, we are working to bring nearly 13,500 metric tons of emergency food to feed 675,000 people before the rainy season makes roads impassable. The food bundles for families living in desperate conditions in displaced people’s camps contain corn, oil, beans, and salt to sustain a family of seven for three months.

This vital relief includes 450 metric tons of nutrient-dense peanut paste to combat severe malnutrition among more than 50,000 children like Asim.

“Asim has been improving so well,” said Mercy about two weeks after his arrival. “We will keep him here until he loses all his [excess] fluids. At that time, we will discharge him into an outpatient therapeutic feeding program for further care.”

“I am very grateful. I appreciate the improvement I’ve seen in my grandson,” said Naima. “I hope we have a better life. I hope we can settle down and Asim can go to school.” Amid the chaos of war, we want people to know that God loves them and hasn’t forgotten about them. Our teams are sharing the Gospel in everything they do. “We have trained evangelists speaking to people throughout the camps and we provide families with Bibles and audio Bibles,” said our staff member. “Some people responded and came to faith, and we’re connecting them with the local church.” The humanitarian crisis in Sudan is shocking. But God cares for each child who is caught in the middle with a love that “hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).