A global cost of living crisis: your response

Thank you for bringing hope

In the midst of a global cost of living crisis, you helped people like Richard to survive, thrive and have hope. Read on to find out how your gifts have helped families across Uganda, Lebanon, Nepal and beyond.

Relief, hope and delight. When Benon Kayanja first heard about the response of BMS World Mission supporters to our Global Cost of Living Crisis appeal, launched back in July, he couldn’t have felt more encouraged. Benon is one of BMS’ mission workers based in Uganda, and, like many of our workers, he’s seen first-hand the devastating impact that the Ukraine war has had on families around him. Fuel and food prices were on the rise, sometimes more than doubling. Wisdom from leaders was that the only way to handle the crisis was to live more frugally. But people like Richard, a farmer living in Gulu, were already struggling to feed their families, sometimes surviving on just one meal a day. With exploitative middlemen ready to make a tidy profit from farmers who could no longer afford to transport their crops to market themselves, it felt to Benon and his colleagues that bridging the gap to meet essential needs was impossible.

Benon Kayanja is one of BMS’ mission workers based in Uganda. — Benon Kayanja has seen first-hand the devastating impact that the Ukraine war has had on ordinary families.

Richard, a farmer in Uganda, stands in front of his crops. — Your gifts will help farmers like Richard to support their families through the crisis.

Wonderfully, BMS supporters read Richard’s story and responded with incredible generosity – despite many families in the UK facing their own worries about escalating living costs this autumn. You raised over £96,000 to support projects in Uganda, Lebanon and Nepal that are helping families to weather this crisis – as well as shoring up similar work right across the world.

“As the planting season begins again in Uganda, my team is excited for all the support we can bring to small-scale farmers,” explains Benon. “Thanks to the incredible amount raised through this appeal, we are able to increase the number of farmers we can provide seedlings to. This will have an amazing knock-on effect, meaning a greater number of farmers can provide vital food and help generate income for their families.”

But Benon’s plans to bring transformation don’t stop there. Together with his colleague, BMS Agriculturist Genesis Acaye, he’s devised a way to help farmers avoid exploitative middlemen altogether, protecting their precious profit margins. They’re calling the project Cek Cam, meaning, fittingly, ’abundant food’.

How does Cek Cam work?

Cek Cam cuts out the middleman and buys produce at a good price. Excellent storage facilities mean communities of farmers are able to store their produce, wait until they have a large enough quantity and identify when the market prices are high. Produce sold through Cek Cam results in a competitive price which is split fairly between the farmers so they can buy more seeds. In fact, farmers like Richard earn as much as 35 per cent more when they sell through Cek Cam. Thank you for making all this possible. The plans are to help over 1,000 farmers by the end of the first year!

“Seeing the farmers doing better gives me joy,” adds Genesis, who uses his extensive agricultural experience to mentor farmers out in the fields of Gulu, northern Uganda. “Richard is among the farmers who have worked really hard to help their communities. We have given him the skillset to grow his sugarcane, and I’m also really happy that we have been able to help him with transporting his crops to market at a reduced cost. Thanks to your support, initiatives like Cek Cam are really making a massive difference.”

BMS Agriculturalist Genesis uses his extensive experience to mentor farmers.

Doreen, Richard's wife, smiles with her crops. — Richard and his wife, Doreen (pictured), have been able to transport their sugarcane to market at a reduced cost.

But in a crisis with a truly global impact, your gifts have stretched beyond Uganda to support vulnerable families in places like Lebanon and Nepal, too. In Nepal, farmers have been given access to veterinary training and breeding goats that will boost their income. And in Lebanon, families are feeling hopeful for the first time in years. “I am 100 per cent sure that God is here and he listens to our prayers,” says Maha*, a Syrian mother whose family you supported through the appeal.

When Maha and her husband Mahmoud* fled Aleppo in 2013 with their three small children, they left behind everything they had ever known. Their first winter in Lebanon, the family of five slept on one mattress with a single blanket to keep them warm. Things haven’t been easy in Lebanon since their arrival, but there have been two big changes that have given Maha renewed hope. One is the presence of a BMS-supported Church Learning Centre that has given her children back the education that was snatched from them when they left Syria. The other is the family’s faith in Jesus. “The kids are still at the centre,” says Mahmoud, “and are very happy there. They feel valued and they love their teachers dearly. They’ve kept on learning English, Arabic, and mathematics, and they have art lessons. The centre has been our safe haven.”

A BMS-supported Church Learning Centre in Lebanon has given Syrian refugee families renewed hope.

“Jesus does not give up on us,” Maha continues. “Now I have faith that God has a better plan for me.” As the war in Ukraine continues and other economic factors add their own pressures, it’s clear the cost of living crisis isn’t over yet. And yet your generous response means that vulnerable people across the world will still be reached with life-changing help. Please pray that God would guide our finances and our prayers as we continue to support the most vulnerable families in Uganda, Lebanon and Nepal. Thank you again for your generous gift and for standing with Richard, Mahmoud and Maha in these desperate times.

Liking this? Click here