Brook Felchle is an international programs representative for Feed My Starving Children. She recently went to Batey 106 in the Dominican Republic. Here, she shares her reflections.

While so much progress is being made in Batey 106 and through our CROPPS initiatives, I was hit with the fresh reality that there is still so much work to be done in this country and around the world.

We visited a community who was being served by one of our smaller partners, Happiness Now.

We were graciously welcomed into the home of a woman named Liline, who was a mother of nine children and whose husband was on the other side of the island in Haiti.
The living conditions for her family were truly unimaginable to so many of us.

All you can do in those moments is look straight past the conditions and into the eyes and heart of the family before you. They are beautiful, and they are worthy of our time and attention.

Liline went on to show us how she had been breaking the wood out of her child’s mattress just to build a fire for the little food they had.

This one, now broken, mattress slept four of her kids. All of her children had red tones to their hair, which is a sign of malnutrition. One of her sons barely had the energy to talk to us when we asked him his name.

We soaked up the little time we had with them, all the while our minds turning with how we can support this family for the long haul.

We were able to bless this family with some resources for their immediate needs, but we are now exploring how FMSC can provide more food to Happiness Now to reach families like this long term.

This was the family that captured our hearts on this trip, but these families are all over the world.

And these families are those that our amazing partners are reaching every day.

The food we pack and send is so much more than food — it really is Manna from heaven, a sign that God see’s and cares for His people. He has not abandoned them.

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever…” John 6:51

• Learn more about the CROPPS and PBFA programs.
• Support the work of our partners in the Dominican Republic.