Earlier this year our family collected cans of formula to send to Venezuela. It was something that had been running through my mind for a few months, until I finally had the courage to organize a drive and send to a church connection we had over there.
Unfortunately, after receiving the first box of formula cans (which had about 35 cans) we did not hear back much from our church connection in Venezuela. They did not give us any updates. When we asked for pictures of moms or families who had received the formula, they replied with ‘no that it would be too embarrassing’. Their lack of transparency made them untrustworthy, and I did not have a peace to continue to send them anything else.
I was so disappointed. I wondered if I had heard God right all along and if he had really asked me to do this? I had another large box of formula in our living room, that friends had so generously donated and nowhere to send.
That box sat in our living room for 4 months. During those four months I asked God would to open up a door for us to give out of the abundance we have here. A place to give consistently and that it would get to the hands of the right people. But for four months there seemed to be silence and I certainly wrestled with all of it.
Then in July of this year God very unexpectedly showed up. I was on the phone with Patrick Carberry, the founder and director of Joshua Cord which you can read about here. This is an incredible non-profit we support which focuses on supporting persecuted Christians in the Middle East and Africa. Patrick is former FBI agent, and through his line of work has made connections in all kinds of countries, including Venezuela! Long story short, I was able to find a connection through him and thought I would give it a shot.
On July 14th (I remember because it would’ve been Andrew’s 12th birthday) I mailed the box with about 50 cans of formula. We sent it to a pastor Pedro Pablo, a catholic priest in Caracas who said he would distribute to a local maternity center (over 80% of hospitals operate without formula) and malnourished children.
He has been wonderful to work with and incredibly transparent. Not just because he’s sent pictures, but all through the process he has kept a detailed log of the kids who have received the formula, has kept us up to date, answered any questions we had, and has even come up with his own ideas to make sure the formula is not resold (which happens over there). He has come up with some great ideas to ensure the boxes gets into the hands of the people that most need it. I am so incredibly grateful God opened up this door in his own time!
Here are some pictures from the last box sent:
