On the day we arrived at the camp, a friend working with the UN warned us that protests were planned. News that their meager food ration was going to be cut in half left refugees wondering how they would survive. It was already hard enough.

A couple of days later, a protest turned violent. Police took over the area and made it a no-go zone – even for UN and NGO workers.

The truth is that the UN simply doesn’t have the funding to provide the growing global refugee population with enough of anything. Donor nations are not coming through. The cries of the affected people go unheard. Despair is taking hold.

Growing despair

During a conference for church leaders from the refugee camp and the surrounding local community, a Sudanese pastor came up to me and told me that 3 people he knew have committed suicide this year. Just days after we left, he sent me a photo with tragic news. A mother of ten had not been able to feed her children anything for 4 days. On the fifth day hope failed completely. She took her own life.

Churches are doing what humanitarian agencies cannot do.

While there I visited many of the refugee churches that have received building materials from IAFR this year. They now had a roof over their heads. The pastors and church leaders expressed their deep gratitude for this provision.

We also met with a church that lost its building to flooding at the end of 2023. They showed us the land on which camp authorities said they could rebuild. But they need help to get needed building materials.

The rain began falling again while we were there in April. Shortly after we left, flooding swept through the camp. As most buildings are made from sun-dried mud bricks, many were destroyed. Eleven churches were among the victims.

This matters because the churches in Kakuma are doing what humanitarian agencies cannot do. Against all odds, they are keeping hope alive by offering welcoming and supportive communities that embrace a life-giving worldview.

What can we do to help?

As I fought off the tears and shared this with my friend, she asked, “Is there anything we can do to help?”

I encouraged her to consider helping provide building materials to churches in need. The average cost of putting a roof over a church is $2,000. Any contribution to the IAFR Church Building project will help strengthen hope in that challenging place.

Our forcibly displaced friends need our prayers. We know God sees, hears, and cares for them. And so, we join our prayers to their cries for help – and look for opportunities to partner with God as God answers their prayers.

CLICK HERE to help put a roof over the head of a church in Kakuma.