Malnourished Children Receive Warm Meals Thanks to GNV Church

               
     
In prayer, these children in Guatemala give thanks for a plate of food.
The Gainesville Church of God is raising funds to continue their travels to poverty stricken regions to serve the hungry. They're doing this through "Buy a pumpkin, feed a child."
Student Pastor Josh Lounsbury says hes food is not always accessible for the children living in the highlands of Chiquimula, Guatemala. 
”The Parents tell us how much of a blessing it is and how excited they are that their kid finally gets to eat something healthy. Where we serve on average they have one small tortilla a day and that’s it, that’s their whole meal. ”
 According to the World Food Programme, 7 out of 10 children under the age of five are chronically undernourished and 47% of those kids face stunted growth. Registered nurse, Heather Goodman says the majority of the kids they reach suffer from with their health.
”They don’t have a pharmacy there, they don’t have a doctor there that they can go to. A lot of the kids have respiratory illness so we bring medication for sinuses, allergies, infections. ”
       With about 2/3 of the population living on less than $2 per day, any funds help create food security. The sales of the pumpkins around me feeds about 500 children in Guatemala through 7 feeding shelters. 100% of the proceeds will go towards the cause.
 The ministry says the kids usually don't have toys, so they make sure to incorporate play time. Anne Groves who is part of the children's ministry team says spending one-on-one time with the kids is her favorite part.
“Arts and crafts, we also do skits, and songs, we play games, we do jump rope.”
Pastor Chris Chrisopulos says his team has a lot of fun with the kids so it’s a very uplifting exciting time when we come and so the reaction is always very positive.”
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I decided to blog about this to inform my audience about the malnourished children of foreign countries. The work the church is doing with the Guatemalan community is incredible, and the best part of it all is that Gainesville residents can help!


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