You can make a difference! The children in the picture to the right are eating rations provided by the US in air drops. But, as winter approaches these people will need more than food. They will also need a way to stay warm. Read the article and see how you can help.
Christmas in Afghanistan
Good and dear friends,
Here is a vision which we hope you will embrace and make your own. We would like to send 200,000 blankets and food to the people of Afghanistan who are suffering so terribly. Winter is fast coming to this ravaged region. Last year thousands died. This year, the situation is far more grave. The UN calls this the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time. Take a moment to allow that to set in. Rwanda, Haiti, Iraq, Somalia -- worse than all of these. Eight million of God's children are at immediate risk of horrific deaths. Last year in one particular refugee camp in Northern Afghanistan, the death rate for children under the age of two was 100%. Can you imagine? Every child died, every one of them.
The United Methodist people in North Carolina can do something about this. We have it within our power and resources. We can avert a significant portion of this nightmare. During this course of Advent, we are hoping that throughout your districts, congregations will collect new and good used blankets to ship to Afghanistan and will collect funds to pay for the shipment and food. On December 15th , we are hoping that each church will deliver these blankets to a central drop-off point at some UM Church in each district. We will have a container placed at these drop-off points which should be named in the next day or two. [Mebane UMC will serve as the central drop-off point for the Burlington District.]
We are partnering with Stop Hunger Now, which has already been in Afghanistan and has established the warehouse and distribution system in country.
My friends, we really can avert much of this. We have it in our power. It will not even be something which is truly difficult to accomplish. The only question is 'Will We?' We should have more information to you in the next two to three days. This is a fast train. Please jump on and let us work together to save lives.
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Mebane United Methodist Church
200 S Fourth Street
Mebane, NC 27302
(919) 563-4301