Somalia needs our sincerest prayers. There seems to be a lot of news in the press lately regarding Somali Refugees. The United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report from today estimates that there are 100,000 Somali’s fleeing from drought and famine trying to reach Mogadishu. There are additional large numbers of Somali’s fleeing to Kenya. They are all searching for food, water and shelter. The number 100,000 isn’t just a number. It represents thousands upon thousands of precious lives. Each of those lives has a name and a story.

If I think about my refugee friends from Somalia, I am overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many more just like them who are in desperate life threatening situations grasping for a chance at life. I think about the fact that some of those left in Somalia trying to make their way to refugee camps are the family members of my friends. So many have been displaced by the treacherous conditions in their native land. Some have been separated from their family. Most of them have not had a chance to education. Many were born in a refugee camp and know nothing different. They want so badly to have better opportunities.

The food crisis has caused many to die from malnourishment or disease. Record keeping in Somalia is poor so the exact number of the deaths are unknown, but it is estimated to be very high. The young children seem to be the ones that are most affected. Unsafe drinking water has been what has affected a great number of the children. In Nairobi, Kenya, it has been reported by a US official that famine in Somalia has killed more than 29,000 children under the age of 5. (That immediately makes me think of specific names of Somali children I know that are 5 and under.)

When I hear of the famine crisis’s around the world it’s hard to put it into perspective. If I just think of the numbers I hear: 100,000. The media and news reports try and help us emotionally understand with photo’s of the actual children. CBSNews.com posted these pictures of some of the malnourished Somali children on their site:

Are we compelled enough to help? What can Americans do? What should we do? So many people feel terrible for the Somali’s but they somehow put the thoughts in the back of their mind and go on about their day. I mean, what else can we really do? We can pray. Please pray for Somalia.

The pictures remind me of some of the pictures of starving Ethiopian children I used to see on the TV in the 1980s. The children however are closer to my heart this time. Any one of these faces could be the face of a family member of one of my Somali friends. They could suddenly show up in Memphis, TN as a refugee and I could have an opportunity to encourage, love, cloth and feed. God willing. I’m also a mother now and I just cannot imagine having to watch my child starve. I wonder though, if the doctors or aide officials know about the nutritional miracle peanut butter paste my church youth has been involved in raising money for and sending to the Zambia children which has literally saved little lives that were on the very edge of death’s door. (I sent an email to UNHCR trying to find out who to talk to about getting the peanut butter paste to refugee camps, but I’ve not gotten a response yet. I’ll keep trying.)

I won’t ramble any longer. Asha’s Refuge wants to help. We will first pray, but we want to act as well. Maybe we can find more ways to fundraise for this nutritional peanut butter paste, Plumpy Nut, and get it into the bellies of the hungry. Perhaps there will be opportunities for us to one day get it into refugee camps all over the world. As my friends like to say, “God willing”.