On a recent trip to Central Asia I watched this lady baking bread in an outdoor oven. They light a fire and once the walls are heated and the wood becomes glowing embers they put the bread on the side walls and cook it. This idealistic picture is in stark contrast to some of the stories I heard about the life of believers.
I was told about 2 girls aged 22 and 23 who were beaten by their muslim father when he learnt they had been baptised. The stick broke and he then picked up a metal rod and severly beat them. He went to the mosque to pray and came back with the koran to beat them again but they had fled. They were so traumatised by the violent beating they could hardly speak and are still in hiding recovering from physical and emotional wounds.
However in contrast I would like to thank all of you who contribute to the charity which allowed us to sponsor 111 children to spend a week feeding on real spiritual bread and eating good food.
Bread is good but so are meat pies
One day we travelled with a pastor to a town with one of the highest suicide rates in the country. It is a town of great poverty with no running water in any of the houses, where they receive only two hours of electricity a day and alcoholism and violence are the norm. The first stop was a baker’s shop to buy meat pies and then we were off to distribute the pies to the families and children. Twice a week this group visit the town distributing food and the hope of a better life. We left funds for the group to run a children’s camp, for medical needs and to buy chickens to help provide for a widow’s family.
