Rice Changing Lives

Koniba from Dara is a widow and has 6 children, 5 girls and a boy, who are all married. Three years ago Koniba's only son left to try to make it to Europe through the Mediterranean sea. She never heard from him again, and she does not know whether he is dead or alive.

When one of her daughers died, her husband remarried, and as his new wife did not want to keep his children, he simply dumped them on his late wife's mother who now struggles to take care of them all. Life with her grandkids is really difficult. Sometimes they go two days without any food. When we gave her a bag of rice, she was so very thankful, saying saviors had come to her. Koniba now attends one of our Bible Discovery groups.

This is Djeneba from Dara. One day three years ago, her husband left the house and simply did not return. She found herself alone with 4 children without any income.

Every day Djeneba goes out into the bush to cut branches she then sells at the market. That provides barely enough money for her and the children to eat twice a day, in the morning and at night. She went to the local mosque, asking for help, but they refused to help her. When our local Bible Discovery group heard about her need, we gave her a bag of rice. She started attending the group, saying she'll never miss a single meeting, and has now started a life with Jesus.

This is Djeneba from Dara. Her husband is paralyzed from birth. In Mali handicapped children are thrown away or hidden away, and their only career path is to become a beggar, and what he makes that way is what they live on. They are outcast, treated horribly, constantly being cursed and mistreated. They have four children. When we gave them a bag of rice, they said that that was the first time ever they had received a free gift like that.

This is Baroh. A year ago she came to Dara with her husband and 7 children (4 boys and 3 girls), as they had to flee the north of Mali, where the jihadists had killed their whole big family.

After some time, her husband decided to return to their village so he could sell his cattle and bring the proceeds back to Dara to provide for his family. However, he was also killed by the jihadists while there.

Now Baroh is alone with her 7 children and no means of income. When we gave her a bag of rice, she started crying, saying "thank you" over and over again. She has started attending a Bible Discovery group.

This is Kadja. She is from the Dogon people and has 9 children. She fled  her village, when the jihadists came and burned everything down. They came to Dara, but her husband never found any work and could not afford any land to farm on. They are having a very difficult time trying to find enough food to survive.

After we gave her rice, Kadja said, "The Muslims kill us, but the Christians bless us." Then she received Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

This is Awa from Dara. Four years ago her husband died. Just recently her only son died, and so she found herself raising his little children. She has been attending our Bible Discovery Group and has put her faith in Jesus. When we gave her a bag of rice, she was extremely thankful.