God's provision and protection in the Horn of Africa

More than 10 million people are affected by drought in the Horn of Africa. Thousands of families in desperate search of food and water have trekked long distances for many days from Somalia to refugee camps in eastern Kenya. During the trek many children have become acutely malnourished. The drought has raised a humanitarian emergency for East Africa, where the United Nations has officially declared a famine.

When we see a humanitarian crisis of such scale, aside from helping the agencies that are caring for their needs, what can we do? We can support them through our prayers. Prayer is the most powerful tool we all have to access and utilize a law that is already operating and is ever present. That is the nature of God, the divine Principle that is all Love – a Creator that is not separate from its own creation.

So many material predictions routinely follow observations of seasons and rainfall. Assessing our well-being from that basis leaves us vulnerable; we have no control of our lives or our well-being. Our destiny is left up to luck and providence, which inevitably leads to fear, anxiety, and worry.

Prayer can acknowledge the stable and sure laws of God that have always existed from the creation of the universe. Changing our standpoint from the material view of things to the unchanging divine Principle enables us to recognize our true being. Praying from this enlightened consciousness – knowing the nature of God and His love for His children – heals and blesses.

The Apostle Paul asked the Romans: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Then with assurance he wrote: “I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35, 38, 39).

God’s love was with the children of Israel when their water dried up. Water poured out of a rock when God told Moses to strike it (see Ex. 17:6). God answered Moses’ prayers for the children of Israel.

God is Love, who is always with His loved children. He has sovereign control over all things regarding our lives. He cares for us and loves us. In prayer we can acknowledge the truth of this fact for everyone – for our brothers and sisters around the world. We can pray even when circumstances look bleak and frightening.

Just as He cared for the children of Israel, God will care for the people in the Horn of Africa also; they are His children and He loves them.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, wrote, “Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 332). This is the basis of all our supply for every need. The tenderness of divine Love, which is ever present, has no limits. Being aware of divine intelligence and our continuous unity with our Father-Mother God brings the insight to know what needs to be done – and how it can be done. These solutions can have lasting results and benefits. Our prayers open the door for wise decisions, intelligent care, and provision for the immediate need.