Trusting God in a Time of Reset

 

I continue to be amazed at how quickly a new month rolls around, and it’s time once again to write my monthly blog. I don’t view these updates as a burden, but rather as a meaningful way to communicate with the friends of Blessman International and share what they are a part of in Africa.

This past month has been something of an emotional rollercoaster. We had the joy of hosting our son Dustin and his wife in our home as they returned to the States for our annual gala and to attend an important meeting at Convoy of Hope’s international headquarters.

Our gala was the best we have had in 15 years of hosting this event, as we celebrated 25 years of ministry. I can’t take credit for its success, as all four of us Blessmans had spent the previous three months in Africa. Our U.S. staff did an outstanding job planning and producing the evening. God has truly blessed this ministry over the years. Simply surviving 25 years is a miracle in itself, but we have also grown substantially. Our first-year budget was $36,000—most of which went toward airline tickets. This year, our budget exceeds $4 million. It may seem surprising, but raising a larger budget today is actually easier than raising those smaller amounts in the early years.

This month also brought an exciting and unexpected development. John McLaughlin and his family made a significant donation to launch an aviation component of our ministry. John was Dustin’s helicopter instructor many years ago, and they have stayed in touch over time. We had often encouraged John to visit Africa and fly with Dustin, which he eventually did.

Our family had previously purchased a small plane for Dustin, primarily to improve his quality of life in Africa, though it was occasionally used to assist the ministry. During John’s visit, he and Dustin caught a vision: with our ministry now operating across a wide area of Southern Africa, aviation could play a critical role in expanding our impact. After returning home, John felt strongly led to help, and he convinced his family to make a generous contribution to help launch this new program.

One key moment that influenced John was seeing Dustin rely on his iPhone GPS for navigation because the plane’s avionics were outdated and not fully functional. While aviation was not something we had planned to expand, God has clearly opened this door, and we believe it will enable us to accomplish even more in Africa.

This week, Dustin drilled our 110th well in honor of Beth’s uncle, Don Cramer, who passed away several months ago. Don had been a mentor to Dustin during his early working years, and it was meaningful to recognize his legacy in this way.

While there have been many highs this past month, there have also been some difficult realities. During our meeting at Convoy of Hope’s headquarters, we discussed the ongoing challenges we are facing in feeding children in Africa. Over the past year, only one shipping container from Meals from the Heartland has successfully reached us. In response, many of our donors stepped forward to help us purchase food locally in Africa. Additionally, our Mountain View Farm has helped provide eggs and produce, allowing us to feed 15,000 children.

Even with this support, we had to reduce the number of children we were feeding from 50,000 to 40,000. For feeding hubs located far from our main campus at Del Cramer, we also reduced feeding days from five to two per week. This was a painful but necessary decision to help sustain the program.

However, during our recent discussions, it became clear that what we initially hoped was a temporary delay in food shipments is actually a longer-term issue. As a result, we have made the difficult decision to “reset” once again. Moving forward, we will focus on feeding 25,000 children—but ensuring they receive a full, balanced meal five days a week. We believe it is better to fully support a smaller number of children than to partially feed a larger number during this challenging time.

Meals from the Heartland is planning a major meal-packaging event in mid-May, with the goal of sending thousands of meals to Africa. I want to encourage many of you to get involved and help pack as many meals as possible. These meals will be transported to Convoy of Hope in Springfield, Missouri, loaded into shipping containers, and sent overseas to South Africa. It will take more than two months for the food to arrive after the packaging event.

I am confident that God will provide and ensure these children are fed. At the same time, I feel a deep responsibility, having started feeding so many, and now having to ask their leaders to wait a little longer. Please join me in prayer, asking God to guide us and show us how He wants us to respond to this great need.