As we have been praying for India, India has been praying for us.  Our nation is in great distress from the pandemic, racial unrest and social upheaval.  Now is the time to pray for our country like never before.  5 Rivers is joining partner ministry SEAPC in their Pray Americas campaign this summer.  The goal is to saturate America with people prayer walking in every county, especially at the local government centers.  If you would like to be a part of this prayer strategy for America, find out more at: PRAYAMERICAS.COM and get a great prayer walking guide. 5 Rivers plans to continue this initiative in AZ long term in conjunction with BridgeBuilders, so please contact us if interested in learning more about this home missions endeavor.

We are happy to report that after nearly 70 days of lockdown the state of Himachal Pradesh has fully reopened!  This is the main area where our partners have been working to distribute food.

Thanks to your prayers and generous giving, 5 Rivers was able to donate nearly 14,000 USD and feed nearly 1000 families that were literally starving.  Not only were they able to receive food but they also received personal ministry in the name of Jesus.

Because of this ministry our partners have been given great favor with the local government leaders and police.  Now there are even more doors open for future ministry.  Our God does all things well!

At this time there are still other parts of India that have not opened and people continue to suffer.  We are working with our ministry partners in Delhi who continue to distribute groceries to needy families in four different states. YES, I want to help

Thank you for caring.  Thank you for praying.  Thank you for giving. We pray that God will give you great grace and be your provider for everything  you need physically, emotionally and spiritually during this season.

For a heart-wrenching glimpse of the BIGGER PICTURE, we are sharing some pictures and links to videos we have been sent by our friends in India.  Thank you for praying with us for these precious ones throughout India, and thank you for helping us reach the ones we can with food and the love of God where He has opened the doors. If you want to give to this need, please designate “Food for India.” Thank you!  YES, I want to help

Death and Despair as Migrant Workers Flee Cities (click here for 7 min video)

The men, women and children that are trying to get home, with hundreds of miles to walk – we can’t even imagine their reality (we weep just seeing these images). So much pain. 

Ballu Ram and his wife watched as their 3 children rummaged through the bags of food laughing and squealing with delight as they pulled each item out. Rice, dhal, bread and vegetables came tumbling out of the bags.

“Who are you? Why have you come? No one comes here.  No one has cared about us.” They stood in shock and disbelief.  “How can this be possible?” “We come in the name of Jesus Christ,” answered Daniel.  We come because we want to give you food and tell you about the God who loves you.”

This family is one of many very poor day laborers. They are not beggars.  They ask for nothing, but because of the shutdown there has been no work and there has been no food.  Each day they work collecting garbage and plastic bottles to sell for recycling.  They make $2-$3 per day.  They live in the slums of Solan in a hut made of sticks and plastic tarps.  They dug a hole into the dirt floor for a place to cook their meager food.

Most days they have found enough rice for one meal.  Other days they have no meals at all.  Daniel and his team told them about Jesus and prayed with them.  They not only were given physical bread but also the Bread of Life.

This story is being multiplied in five different regions of India as we are able to send money to our partners who are distributing food.  The poor are being fed.  The gospel is being shared.

Sometimes I weep over these stories.  Sometimes I weep that I can’t physically be there myself ministering during this time of suffering.  But through people like you who pray and give, our ministry partners are reaching those that have never heard.

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!  THANK YOU FOR GIVING. Together we are changing lives for the Kingdom.  As you partner with us, our partners in India are able to become the living Jesus that the people can see and experience. You have no idea whose life is being changed because you chose to say yes. We pray that God will bless you, comfort you and provide for each of you above all you can ask or imagine.

If you are able, and would like to give toward this project, please designate “Food for India” when you give. We thank you in advance for partnering with us, and we thank all of you who have so generously responded to this need.

YES, I want to help

A Simple “Yes” by Shema Kallimel

Their eyes widened as the man asked the 2 sisters if they could cook a simple meal for him and the 2 others with him. The men had been out all day long distributing groceries to far flung villages, and as the thunder rumbled overhead so did their stomachs. The girls haltingly explained that their mother who was the sole bread earner of the home had been ill for a few months, and because she had not been able to get to her daily-wage job due to the national lockdown, there was no money or food. Their supplies had run so low that they would forego 2 meals and eat just once a day….

Remind you of something? Someone, rather. That odd prophet in the Old Testament who went to a widow during a national famine and demanded some bread. What a rude thing to do. Especially after she embarrassingly explained that she and her son were going to eat their last meal with that fistful of flour. And yet, despite what she may have thought, the widow baked some bread and fed Elijah – not just for that day but for as long as that famine lasted. Somehow it didn’t remain just a fistful of flour. Somehow, it was always enough to feed her and her son and the prophet of God.

The 2 girls and their mom up in the hills around Shimla were given a month’s worth of supplies. Their eyes filled up as they picked up the bags from our friend’s hands. They could scarcely believe what was happening to them. Ashish was able to spend a little more than an hour with them, sharing a meal and telling them about a God who loved them and would go to great lengths to save them.

Another person who they were able to help was a man who was stranded in the woods for over a month. He was almost paralyzed in both legs and had lost his job about 3 months ago. When he decided to go back to his hometown which was over 150 miles away, suddenly the government imposed a nation-wide lockdown. Having nowhere to go, and no way to get there, he decided to live in the woods, in a temporary shelter where they used to keep dogs. The place was filthy beyond measure. He had a little food that would last him a few days. He had put together a makeshift stove with some sticks and bark and had a small bowl with some lentils that he kept boiling over and over. Ashish was able to provide him with groceries and when asked if he had any other basic need, the man asked for a small oil stove to cook food. (At present, it is cold and rainy in Shimla and it gets hard to light a fire with damp twigs.) This man has a wife and 3 daughters waiting for him back home, but because his existence had become so miserable that he was sleeping on an empty stomach several nights in a row, he had begun contemplating death. What rocked Ashish was that if they had not reached him in time, that man probably would’ve died right there in the woods. Ashish told him about the love of Jesus and the man wept as shared his brokenness with him.

For people like Ashish, as it was for Elijah, they are not concerned with who gets the credit. Numbers don’t matter to them – is it for the one, is it for the nation? And after all, isn’t the nation held within the one? And so, they appear on the horizon of the famine with no prior announcement or warning. They just land up with Heaven’s assignment in tow. And because the ink flows with ease from the pen offering no resistance to the Master’s authoring hand, they are used with a flourish. And to be used by God in times of great need, is probably one of life’s greatest rewards. All it takes, is a simple ‘yes’.

If you are able, and would like to give toward this project, please designate “Food for India” when you give. We thank you in advance for partnering with us, and we thank all of you who have so generously responded to this need.

YES, I want to help

Thank you for praying and giving towards this ongoing need in north India. This video gives you a “boots on the ground” perspective, bringing their world into ours for just a few minutes.

We have three different contacts that are distributing food now, able to reach 600 families this week.  Lives are being touched in the deepest way possible. The gospel is being preached and the love of God is being manifested in very tangible ways. You and I may not know each individual but God knows…and loves. I am so thankful that you and I get to be a part of that manifestation of His love…THANK YOU!!!

If you are able, and would like to give toward this project, please designate “Food for India” when you give. We thank you in advance for partnering with us.

Donate Now.