Pray for Yemen as Crisis Deepens.

As the crisis in Yemen continues to unfold, a major appeal has been launched by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). Christian agencies including CAFOD, Tearfund, World Vision and Christian Aid are among the DEC members responding to the situation, which has been named the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

The war in Yemen has now been going on for 20 months, and more than 18 million people living in desperate circumstances. Nearly three quarters of the population is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and more than seven million people do not know where their next meal will come from.

According to the UN, 1.5 million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished, and children are dying from lack of food. The chief executive of Oxfam UK last week warned that Yemen was “being slowly starved to death”.

In total, more than 1,425 civilians have been killed since the conflict escalated last year, with the majority of these deaths caused by Saudi-led coalition airstrikes, according to the UN. Since July, conditions in Yemen have also significantly worsened as a result of severe flooding and landslides.

CAFOD’s director, Chris Bain, said: “We see immense suffering in the faces of people in Yemen, of the children whose young lives have been stunted by malnutrition, and of those who find themselves homeless, because of the conflict, and in need of the basics of life – food, clean and safe water, and shelter.”

DEC member charities are reaching millions of people across Yemen with lifesaving aid, but more help is desperately needed.

“CAFOD is supporting a partner in Yemen, and as a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), we support our DEC colleagues who have a strong operational presence in Yemen and are well placed to reach vulnerable families most in need,” Bain said.

“When a family receives a blanket, food parcel, hygiene kit, or medical attention, dignity and a sense of hope is restored. We hope and pray that the human suffering will end. Let us continue to keep the people of Yemen in our thoughts and prayers.”

• Pray for Yemen, for an end to the conflict that has shattered so many lives. Pray for a desire for peace on all sides of the conflict.
• Pray for those trying to bring aid and relief to the people of Yemen. Pray for all sides of the conflict to allow aid convoys in to where it is most needed, and for fair distribution of aid and relief to all in need.
• Pray for the Christian organisations seeking to bring relief to Yemen. Pray for a strong response to their appeal, for the resources needed to provide food, shelter and medical aid to so many desperate people.
• Pray for the Christian workers on the ground in Yemen, that their compassion and love will draw many to encounter Jesus Christ, and to know His hope and healing.

Psalm 9 vs 18: “For the needy shall not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor perish for ever.“

Source: http://www.christiantoday.com/article