When we asked 30-year-old Richard what life would be like without the intervention of the church, his answers are clear. ‘I would be dead. I used to drink. I didn’t care if my wife and children were without food. When I was drunk I would beat my wife.’
Richard heard about the work of Tearfund partner Pentecostal Assemblies of God and visited the church.
‘They were teaching about cornerstones,’ he recalls, ‘saying that the cornerstone keeps the house straight. Inside I knew I wanted my life to be straight. On Sunday I went to church and was prayed for.’
Richard’s conversion has changed everything: ‘When I gave my life to Jesus my relationship with my wife improved. We started working together.’
The Tearfund-sponsored church training is teaching them about planting the right crops in the right seasons and identifying resources they already have. ‘I’m planning to buy two oxen when I have grown and sold enough crops,’ Richard explains.
However, the family lives in a grass mud house - which leaks and makes them prone to malaria. And, the erratic climate is affecting their harvests - preventing them from replacing the children’s torn clothes with new ones. The church has already stepped in to help once - and we are doing it again. Will you join in as we show the love of Jesus through sustained support?
Why not join us, and help share Richard’s story?