[Today's Prayer] "Can we live?"... Famine in Africa due to suspension of grain agreement

A refugee camp in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Africa. A mother, Halima Hussain, who is raising five children here, expressed her devastated feelings at the news of the suspension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was delivered on the 17th (local time). "Aid agencies try their best to sustain our lives. They have very little to give," she said.

Somalia, one of Africa's most famine-prone regions, relies heavily on food produced in Ukraine.

Somalia received 84,000 tonnes of wheat from Ukraine in 2022, up from 31,000 tonnes in 2021, according to U.N. trade data, as donors stepped up assistance to fend off a looming famine in certain areas.

In February of last year, Russia invaded Ukraine, causing wheat prices to double. However, due to the grain agreement signed in July of last year, the price of grain fell by about a quarter, and it provided some relief.

However, as Russia announced the end of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on the same day, the fears of Somali merchants, bakers and refugees are growing again, according to Reuters.

- Omitted -

The U.N. World Food Programme has also turned heavily to Ukrainian grains to feed people in countries suffering from conflicts and extreme weather, including Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan.

Shashwat Saraf, the emergency director in East Africa for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said the impacts would be far-reaching in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya, which have been facing the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades.

With higher food prices, aid agencies like the IRC would have to increase the value of the cash transfers they provide hungry people to buy food, thus forcing them to reduce the number of beneficiaries, Shashwat added. Source: Reuters

And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, “If you will, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, “I will; be clean.” (Mark 1:40-41)

God of eternal mercy and power, we pray for and lift up the land of Africa that is suffering from famine at this time.

Lord, we are hearing news that nations groaning in conflict, such as Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan, are now losing hope for life due to famine.

May the mercy of the Lord and the hand of salvation come upon these nations. Would you be the only living hope for those who are in the midst of despair due to endless hunger.

Allow the hungry to have their daily bread, and let them know the name of Jesus Christ, who saves not only the flesh but also the soul, so that they can enjoy the grace of eternal life.

We confess that only the Lord is the God of power who will fill these hungry nations with the love of the Lord. Would you fill the people of Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan with the spiritual food that revives souls.

We believe that when the precious blood of Jesus Christ comes, all the worries and concerns of the body will be cast away and the grace of the forgiveness of sins will renew all lands. Lord, would you command restoration in the midst of these lands that are full of sin.

With your grace, may the young people who are not afraid of poverty and hunger in Somalia, Yemen, and Afghanistan rise up and proclaim and praise the name of Yeshua, who is eternal love and living hope, in all nations!