I was sick and in prison – and you busted me outta there!

Ok we may be paraphrasing Jesus just a wee bit … but still, that’s what we’ve been doing!

Elder Betty heads up our community ministry; a way of reaching out to the individuals and families that are suffering in our community. Some of these individuals include isolated elderly, vulnerable young children, parents that struggle to provide for their children, sick members of the church and many others. Meet Jacent from Mabeera, who at 37 years, has 6 children.
 

Hers is a tragic story, fleeing her first marriage after discovering a plan to involve her children in witchcraft, only to have her subsequent happiness marred by an economically crippling fire, followed by the sad and sudden loss of her second husband to illness. Now with 6 young children, little income, and overwhelming debt, she was really feeling the pressure. Finally, one debt collector had had enough, and reported her to the police. Lickety split, she was locked up with many other women whose only crime is losing control of a desperate financial situation.

Jail breaks aren’t usually our speciality, but in this case, on hearing that Jacent was sick and imprisoned, leaving her 6 children without their mum, River of Life felt the need to intervene. Helping her out of this bind is one thing (and an important thing), but we don’t want Jacent to end up back in a hole again.

 That’s why we hope to help her, and others like her, with our Family Empowerment Fund, which aims to equip families to provide for themselves, though microfinance combined with education and mentoring. Want to get involved? Get in touch!