Women attend a demonstration on how to prepare SEJO.

In close partnership with Zimbabwe's United Baptist Church (UBC), the Zimbabwe Famine Relief project has provided food for thousands of families and has demonstrated God's love to the Zimbabwean people. The UBC volunteers have been trained and resourced to be the "hands and feet" that bring good food and the good news to Zimbabweans who are in need.

The project continues to help the sick, elderly, orphaned children and people on anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) with an immune enhancing porridge called SEJO and an energy giving drink called Mahewu. The people on ARVs and other sick people are depending on those two food products in order to keep taking their medicines. Food production is still low in Zimbabwe, and the country depends on imported food which the targeted population cannot afford to buy.

Accomplishments resulting from phase one of the distribution:

• 182 tons of SEJO were distributed to 2262 vulnerable families.
• HBC (Home-Based Care) and OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) families received regular deliveries of Mahewu.
• Children in 35 schools and 47 local churches received regular Mahewu as they met for HIV prevention clubs.
• 14 tons of SEJO were distributed to thousands of Zimbabwe refugees in South Africa.
• 247 OVC households, 263 HBC households and 179 elderly were each supplied with 10 Kg of maize seed (or sorghum in drought areas) and 50 Kg of fertilizer.
• Every distribution started with devotions and worship, and every volunteer was involved in weekly visitation, Bible reading and prayer for beneficiaries.
• 2000 Shona Bibles were purchased and distributed. Community leaders and beneficiaries praised the holistic care as both genuine and unique.
• 153 people gave their lives to the Lord; many churches and preaching-points were revitalized.
• Community teachers testified that school enrolment had stabilized. A local chief reported reduced criminal activity due to a corporate community conscience sensitized by God’s Word and love.

Selina Tembo is one of the many who have benefited from the project. She has been a widow for 15 years. Her husband passed away in 1996 due to the AIDS pandemic. She is 45 years old and lives in Muzenda village in Chiredzi. She used to live in town but the economic hardships forced her to move to the rural areas after her husband died. She could not afford the town life considering that her income had been provided by her husband. She became very sick and was tested for HIV in 2005. She tested positive and was immediately put on treatment. The kind of food she could afford was not good enough to fight her illness together with the medication she was receiving. When the Famine Relief project came, she says that is when she started to become stronger and fitter than she had been. According to Seline, SEJO is easy to cook and also easy to swallow even when has a sore throat. Now she can take her medication and SEJO and be able to work in the fields or in her garden. She is also one of the beneficiaries who came to know the Lord through the Famine Relief efforts.

Get Involved

You can also be a partner in this work by praying for God to continue to touch the lives of all involved and by giving a donation to the Zimbabwe Famine Relief project today.

Thank you for partnering with us to impact lives in Zimbabwe!