Longtime CMF missionary Gene Morden is asking for prayers to alleviate the severe drought in Turkana, a district in northwest Kenya. Morden reports that the area has not had rain in so long that some of the wells in the dry river beds that people use to water their animals are drying up, which means the people have to walk long distances to water their herds. People line up to use the wells that the CMF team has installed over the past few years because they are the only source of water available. The communities where the wells were installed have to monitor the water usage so that the wells are used only for people, not animals.

In addition, there has been an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Turkana, with some fatalities.

The importance of the CMF team’s ministry in Turkana is even more pronounced in times like these, Morden notes. Wells installed by the team bring life-giving water in a dry land. Clinics and preventative health initiatives such as Community Health Evangelism (CHE) help the people live healthier lives. And the churches that have been planted bring the message of eternal life and provide the foundation from which lives and communities can be transformed.

FAME, a medical mission based in Indianapolis and a CMF partner in several global projects, has organized a multi-site event to raise public awareness of the seven most preventable illnesses that affect children around the world. “Run for Their Lives,” a 7K run/walk and a 1K family event, will be held on Oct. 24 in Liberty Township, Ohio, and on Oct. 31 in Carmel, Indiana.

Preventable diseases such as pneumonia, dysentery, malaria, measles, HIV, pertusis and tetanus kill 29,000 children under the age of 5 every day, according to a UNICEF report. Globally, 10.6 million children are still dying from preventable causes every year. FAME is engaged in the battle to decrease the incidence of the seven most preventable illnesses through community health initiatives in developing countries and by mobilizing short-term teams of American workers to provide health care and teaching.

For more information about FAME and the “Run for Their Lives,” go to FAME’s website. To register for the run, click here.

Ryan Chapman, a staff member at International Disaster Emergency Services (IDES) in Kempton, Ind., will conclude a seven-day fast on Sunday, Aug. 9, to raise awareness for world hunger and the current drought in Kenya. In his blog about the project, Ryan writes: “Over one billion people are now hungry, according to the United Nations, which is about one out of six people. For less than the price of a value meal ($5) you can feed an entire family in Kenya for a month through IDES.” You can find out more about Ryan’s project here.

IDES recently donated $20,000 to CMF’s East African Famine Relief Fund for drought relief projects in Kenya and Tanzania. For more about that project, see the July 1, 2009, post to this column below, “IDES assists Tanzania Relief Work.”

IDES has partnered with CMF several times recently to meet emergencies in Africa, including funds for a water project in Turkana and Maasai famine relief.