May 20, 2008
Nearly $10,000 was raised to feed the poor by members of WIRED, a youth group led by Alliance missionary Leanna Giesige, who serves in Burkina Faso. “When I finished [counting the money], I was dumbfounded,” says Giesige of the students’ generosity. “Due to God opening His storehouses through these teens, we were able to give grain to 600 families, which include approximately 5,000 people.”
Although all of the estimated 20 metric tons of corn was distributed, nearly 200 hungry Burkinabé people lingered, begging for food to be shared with them. “It was one of the most heart-wrenching scenes of desperation,” says Giesige, who seized the teachable moment. “I told my group that we need to praise the Lord that he chose us to feed 600 families and use the memory [of those who did not receive] as a reminder of the great need and the reason we sacrificed and gave.”
Approximately 45 teens participated in the food distribution project, which was facilitated by CAMA and ACCEDES, the relief arms of the U.S. C&MA and Burkina Faso national church, respectively.