Johnson lives near Open Arms Village. Each day, he sets out to find manual work and hopefully earn enough money to buy the food he needs. But since the outbreak of COVID-19, he has had a hard time finding enough work to scrape by.
A few weeks ago, Johnson started on his Wednesday morning as he usually does. He met up with his friend and they each had half a cup of black tea for breakfast. They walked for miles up and down the dirt path, trying to find work.
Unfortunately, they were not able to find anything that day. They went home, tired and hungry. He knew he would go to bed without food, an event that was slowly becoming a trend over the past three months.
Then, his phone rang. He picked up and was informed that he should go to Open Arms Village the next day with two bags that he could use to carry maize (corn), beans and cooking oil.
Overcome with emotion from hearing the news, Johnson says that he suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. “It was as though the food was already in my stomach.”
He woke up early and walked to Open Arms Village to receive the gift. However, Johnson broke the rules. He did not bring two bags; he brought four.
He stopped along the road and poured some maize into one of the extra bags and did the same with the beans. He then gave these other two bags to his friend.
“I could not believe that someone somewhere thought of helping me. Just like they had thought of me at one of my lowest moments, I also remembered to share the food with my friend. Thank you all so much.”
Like Johnson, you are sharing what you have with others. Now more than ever, your generosity is changing lives.