“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4

In the 2018 calendar year, FMSC sent 1,289 shipments to 82 partners in 61 countries totaling 352,685,352 meals.

Okay, that was a lot of numbers.

Here’s the most important one: these meals have the potential to feed more than 966,000 children a daily meal for an entire year. And we still have a few days of 2018 left!

We couldn’t have done this without you. Your two hours spent packing nutritious MannaPack™ meals means that children around the world can dream of a future. Food is the foundation for so many incredible things, and YOU make it happen.

This year has been all about how hope is greater than our circumstances, and we hope you've been encouraged by this theme as we brought you story after story of how hope is greater than war, poverty and hunger.

1. Teaching Gender Equality in Nicaragua

Grade school children practice their reading and writing in a small, tidy classroom in Kokomo, a village in the mountains two hours north of Nicaragua’s capital.

Behind the children, a poster hangs on the wall. It reads:

Theme: educating our sons and daughters in gender equality

Goal: that parents understand that children need to be treated equally

The after school program is part of FMSC partner, ORPHANetwork’s, mission to break cycles of poverty by working through the local church.

Read the full story HERE. 

2. No Borders Series: FMSC Meals Change Lives in Burundi

Much of Burundi’s history has been turbulent, and the country continues to face many political and economic challenges. Around 30 percent of children under age 5 are underweight, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Vincent’s family is one of many that ran completely out of food.

Several of the five adults and six children were so malnourished they couldn’t walk. Vincent said they were just waiting for death.

“We had just spent several days without eating,” he said. “We were going to starve. If they had not come two days later, we would all be dead.”

Read the full story HERE. 

3. In Ukraine: Hope is Greater Than Conflict

With a fistful of crayons, Bogdan sits down with his sister Vera inside their home in a small village in Eastern Ukraine. The siblings are about to do one of their favorite activities – drawing.

This activity is also a way for the second grader to help his mother care for Vera, who suffers from serious stomach issues.

Bogdan’s father works two jobs to provide for the family, but Vera’s health care is expensive and their mother has to stay home to take care of her.

Bogdan loves helping his mom cook MannaPack™ Rice meals, which they receive through Mission Eurasia from a church in their village. They use a wood burning stove and well water to cook the meals because they don’t have gas or running water.

Even with the challenges and stress created by the conflict in their nation, Mission Eurasia told us that Bogdan is still filled with happiness. He brings great joy to his family.

“None of these things can crush his spirits,” Mission Eurasia said.

Read the full story HERE. 

4. A Story We Can Never Understand

Our partner, International Children’s Fund, titled their report to us “Saved by the Clock.” They literally stumbled upon Margaret just a day before she was to sell her children into slavery.

They gave this mother boxes of MannaPack Rice™ and one of their partners has promised to put all four of Margaret’s children back in school and to provide for all education materials that they would need.

Because of this timely intervention, Margaret has already been able to reinstate her business selling a cereal called koko.

This was a difficult story to write, because we wanted to tell you about Margaret in a way that doesn’t pass judgment and doesn’t encourage our audience to pass judgment. It’s easy to villainize a parent who essentially sells their children into slavery isn’t it?

But it’s so important that we honor Margaret and embrace the complexity of her story. Poverty and hunger rarely present us with simple stories and clear cut solutions.

Read the full story HERE. 

5. No Borders Series: Hope in Venezuela

Feed My Starving Children has sent food to more than 70 countries around the world through existing partnerships, and it is through these amazing partners that our food gets distributed to those in need.

But shipping and distributing meals can be more difficult in some regions because of volatility and conflict, which has been the case in Venezuela. Feed My Starving Children recently got more than 270,000 lifesaving meals into Venezuela through a combination of local partnerships and one miscellaneous donation.

Read the full story HERE. 

6. In Nicaragua: Josefa Shares Her Story

Every Saturday night, 16-year-old Josefa stands on the streets of Nicaragua and preaches to a crowd of 50 people. On Sundays, she’s in charge of a church of 60 kids, who she visits throughout the week.

This spunky preacher didn’t get here by way of an easy life. She shared her story with FMSC staff over a meal of chicken and rice. Kendra, a missionary with FMSC partner Feed the Hungry, translated.

Kendra met Josefa when she started attending a Feed the Hungry feeding program at church at 8 years old. The two are close. Josefa often partners with Kendra in missionary work and lovingly calls her Aunt Kendra.

We are so honored Josefa shared her story with us. She said she loves sharing her testimony.

Read the full story HERE. 

7. In El Salvador: Hope is Greater than Difficulty

Mariela’s story is one punctuated by change, loss and survival.

Not too long ago, the mother of four had it all – a degree from private university, a great job, husband and beautiful house in the capital of El Salvador.

But one by one, these things started slipping away. She decided to become a stay at home mom after her second child was born and after her third child was born, she and her husband got divorced.

Read the full story HERE. 

8. 'Hunger Doesn't Exist Here Anymore:' FMSC in the Sugarcane Fields

Chimi is one of hundreds of children in this batey of about 500 people in the eastern region of the Dominican Republic who won’t know hunger, who won’t even remember the pangs and who can dream of a future beyond cutting sugarcane. 

And Chimi was, in part, the catalyst for FMSC’s Project Based Food Assistance (PBFA), the program that has empowered the batey’s own community members to transform this once struggling sugarcane community.

Read the full story HERE. 

Let's do it all again in 2019. Sign up to pack meals TODAY.