FACE OF HARVEST HORN OF AFRICA BENEFIT CONCERT…

WHEN: SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH, 2011 @ 3 PM EST.

WHERE:
ASBURY METHODIST VILLAGE
ROSBOROUGH CENTER THEATRE
409 RUSSELL AVE GAITHERSBURG, MD

CONCERT THEME: A TRUTHFUL WITNESS SAVES LIVES!

FACE OF HARVEST is hosting an awareness benefit concert to support its response to the drought and food crisis in East Africa that has left about 11million people in need of immediate humanitarian assistance. The FACE OF HARVEST HORN OF AFRICA FAMINE BENEFIT CONCERT will feature multiple recording artists and humanitarian advocates who will address the current crisis taking place in the ‘Horn of Africa.’

Should you not be able to join us for the event, we would still encourage you to help fund initial efforts to provide supplemental food for at-risk groups in the Eastleigh community of Kenya and select refugee camps (on the Somalia/Kenya border region). To make your donation select the “FOH Relief Program” in the secure donation form. In the comments section, feel free to add “For Horn of Africa Famine.” CLICK HERE.

Featured artists and speakers will include (but are not limited to):

• Ntambo & African Band, Recording Artist & Founder of African Night of Worship, Maryland, USA
• Elva, Solo Recording Artist, FOH Co-Founder, California, USA
• Elva Diaz, Recording Artist, Arizona, USA
• DJ Joash Okare, NxT LvL Music, New Jersey, USA
• Isaac, FOH Founder, Executive Director, Washington DC, USA
• Please visit our FACEBOOK Event Page @ FB EVENT PAGE.
  
• For more information visit the Event Main page @ EVENT MAIN PAGE. See you there!

Famine in the Horn of Africa…

Any reasonable observer of global humanitarian affairs will know what ramifications severe and prolonged drought can have in a given region. Unfortunately, I would surmise that most folk in the Western world are unaware that their brothers and sisters in the Horn of Africa are in the middle of the worst drought they have faced in more than 60 years with up to 12 million people facing famine. A prolonged dry season has led to crop failures and food shortages in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti and Somalia. The U.N estimates that 10 million people are in need of immediate food aid.

In that vein, you can imagine the humanitarian need that has emerged for many of the residents in Eastleigh, Nairobi, where we conduct medical operations. Below you will find a report from one of FOH’s ground coordinator’s on the current situation in Kenya. In response to their prayer request, we have launched a new initiative: the FOH Food Distribution Program (which will function as an extension of our FOH Relief Program). This initiative will serve to alleviate some of the current effects of the famine in the community. The operational mechanism of the project will be quite simple: FOH-USA will work on raising awareness and securing funds. Secured funds will be disbursed to local FOH ground staff for the bulk purchase of staple food items, which are to be distributed at select distribution centers within the community at least on a monthly basis.

Easleigh will serve as a test ground and pilot from which we hope to launch similar programs in the near future throughout Africa and the Middle East. Please consider supporting our efforts through ongoing prayer, volunteer, and or financial contribution (simply visit our site’s give/contribution page). Thank you!

Sincerely,

Isaac Moonzwe

Executive Director

P.S. In addition to the report below is a link to remind you of our previous news issue from Elva, Co-Founder, concerning the fundraising efforts taking place for our medical operations in Eastleigh. As of today, about a quarter of the funds needed for the expansion initiative have been raised! Also included is a secular news link which touches on the drought crisis cited in this update. Report from the ground: We request you to pray for Kenya.

About 5,000,000 people and the number could be more than this, are facing food shortage. For three consecutive seasons there has been lack of enough rain hence the country is in acute shortage of food. In May 2kg maize flour cost was 70 Shillings (Sh) and now it costs 150 Sh, Sugar 1kg cost was 90 Sh, now it costs 140 Sh. And the prices of all other essential commodities have gone up. The Bible says that the righteous shall live by faith and we have faith in Him. Brethren there are no words that are able to express our gratitude. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you, and God Bless you. Greet all the Brethren.

Christ’s Bond Servant,

Pastor Simon

Help Needed in Pakistan

It has rightly been said that “RAIN IS A BLESSING IN DISGUISE.” However, the monsoon rains of this year in Pakistan bring with them a bad omen for millions of Pakistanis. The Northern Areas of Pakistan are seriously affected due to the heavy and stormy rains. The Province of Khaibar Pakhtun Khuwa, Punjab & Sindh have been declared disastrous areas. The whole of city of Nowshera, District Mianwali, Dera Ismail Khan, Muzaffar Garh, Kabirwala, Multan, Dera Allah Yar Districts,  Gilgit Baltistan areas, and many others villages/towns have been destroyed. All this is mind blowing. Millions of people are living in conditions of misery. They are homeless. They have nothing to eat and nothing to wear. Food stuff, pure water, clothes, blankets and tents are their most immediate needs. Many diseases have broken out due to the standing of dirty water. Medicines are also urgently required to save and protect these precious lives.

Life has become a hell for the people in these areas. Their conditions are very pitiable. The children are dying of hunger. There are not sufficient facilities for sufficient shelter. Whole cities have been destroyed. Huge buildings have been reduced to heaps of death. Big bazaars have turned in to heaps of mud. All the affected areas are deserted. Life seems to have disappeared. The crops have also been destroyed by the rains; especially the crops of cotton, vegetables, and rice which is a staple food and national source of income.

The need of the moment is the rehabilitation of the people affected in these areas. Many people have been deprived of their relatives. This flood has taken away many human lives with it, and those who remain alive are still in danger of death due to the non-availability of basic necessities. There is a near possibility of losing more life if a conscious effort is not made to re-establish the situation.

I urge you if you can, please provide some contribution to console your brothers and sisters in this moment of gripped sorrow. No doubt it will take the long term for the circumstances to come back to normal; but our present aim is just to provide some relief to the victims this heavy flood. We just desire to save human lives, and we require your help in this matter. I hope you will help them as much as possible; the whole nation would be thankful to you for this good deed.

Sincerely,

Nadia
FOH Ground Coordinator, Pakistan

To make a one time or recurring donation toward the relief effort: Click Here.

Your donation will go toward securing the itemized list of supplies requested below. If you desire to directly secure any of the non-perishable items.

The itemization of items required:

FOOD:   Water, Milk, Juices, Rice, Lentils, Cooking Oil, Flour, Biscuits, Dry Spices, Salt, Bread, etc…

MEDICINES & FIRST AID SUPPLIES:  ORS, Anti-Allergy Tablets, Cough & Fever Syrups, Pyodine, Ointments, Calpol Syrup (Adult & Children), Gauze Rolls, Sterile Bandages, etc…

CLOTHES & MISC:  Shawls,  Slippers, Shalwar Kameez (National Dress), etc…

SUPPLIES:   Utensils, Blankets, Tents, Torches, Sleeping Bags, Water Storage Containers, Buckets, Mosquito Repellant Coils, Sanitary Napkins, Soaps, Candles, Matches, etc…

To make a donation visit: FoH Pakistan Relief.

A Closer Look at Eastleigh…

It was an early Wednesday morning in November, and the FACE of HARVEST  team woke up at the crack of dawn, ready to visit the community of Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya. It had rained the previous night and so Eastleigh was flooded with pools of muddy water all around. The hundreds of matatu’s (mini-buses) running through the congested streets, only made the situation worse; but surprisingly, business went on as usual. No one seemed bothered by the situation. We were especially taken back by the number of women dressed in ‘Hijab’.

As we approached the city, our matatu driver warned us to make sure that our windows were closed; otherwise, some street thugs could reach through the windows to steal our belongings. “In Eastleigh” he reiterated, “they will take every opportunity to rob anyone that seems foreign.”

Once settled, we walked through the overcrowded roads in Eastleigh, accompanied by our ground coordinator who has lived in the area for more than twenty years. We were amazed by the booming retail businesses along all the streets. There were a few small malls that were full of traders selling their goods. We came to learn, the businesses started as small scale trade carried out by the immigrants. The immigrants used to sell their goods from their boarding rooms in a lodge called “Garrisa lodge.”  Years later, the lodge converted into small business stalls, and traders from all over East Africa would come to the lodge to by in bulk.

The goods are mostly imported from Dubai and other European countries, making the whole enterprise very successful. It’s amazing to think that, Eastleigh, a dirty, dense, intense and striking neighborhood of Somali refugees, has become one of the main trading centers of East Africa. As a result, streets are blocked for hours on, and the traffic repeatedly comes to a complete standstill, as huge trucks stop in the middle of the streets to unload tonnes of imported goods.

Our ground coordinator went on to tell us about the religious commitment of the people in Eastleigh. He explained how all the businesses close down on Friday’s, as the people head to their local mosques for Friday prayers, known as ‘Jumu’ah’. He told us that, “those that are unable to make it to the mosque in time, lay their mats on the streets and worship… the city basically comes to a standstill during Friday worship.”

Eastleigh is such a beautiful place!

Nancy

Medical Programs Director