Mark Crea, Executive Director/CEO of FMSC, along with two additional FMSC staff members, recently visited our feeding partners in Uganda and Kenya. He shares this report from the field.

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.” (Psalm 56:8 NLT)

Violet, a 12-year-old from South Sudan, is one child out of thousands that have fled their homes in Southern Sudan and The Democratic Republic of Congo to safety in Uganda.

Most have seen and experienced trauma that no child should endure. This is her story told to me by Pastor Solomon:

Violet was at home with her younger brother and cousin when conflict broke out near their home.

Her father had already died in the war. Fearing for their safety, Violet’s mother instructed them to “run and hide and then keep on running”. So they ran. Thankfully the next day they found their Aunty who was also fleeing.

“We heard shooting, then we started crying. Aunty told us, ‘Be quiet or they might kill you!’”

Together they made the 400km journey from South Sudan to the Ugandan border—constantly on the run with almost nothing to eat.

By God’s grace they made it to Camp Kiryandongo. That is where our partner, Feed The Hungry, feeds 7,500 young refugees each day. For six months Violet did not know if her mother was alive.

Three months ago she learned that her mother was alive and she will soon be reunited with her. All three children are now in a Christian boarding school run by Feed The Hungry.

Violet is a great student. She loves math and wants to be an accountant and business woman. She is strong, but the tears are always close to the surface.

I did make her laugh though when she was looking curiously at my grey hair. I said, “It used to be all black, but then I had four daughters!”

Violet told me, “Please ask people to pray and help other children like me from South Sudan.” Feed My Starving Children will continue to pray, and we will help these children.

On every trip there is always a child’s pair of eyes that stays with me. Violet’s eyes are that pair of eyes for me on this trip.

You make this work possible. We’ve seen some of the best and most difficult work our partners do. Pastor Solomon looked directly at me and said, “We could not help these children without your food. Nothing happens until they are fed.”