Joyce Meyer to Head to Ethiopia for Relief Work

By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter Sunday, October 12, 2008

Popular speaker and Christian author Joyce Meyer and her husband Dave are preparing to visit famine-stricken Ethiopia for humanitarian relief, the ministry announced on Friday.

The Meyers will travel with a mission team from the Joyce Meyer Ministries (JMM)'s humanitarian and disaster relief arm, Hand of Hope, and plan to visit established ministry outreaches. Hand of Hope is headed by their eldest son David Meyer.

Among the outreaches that they will be visiting include Hand of Hope feeding programs, a Hand of Hope Medical Clinic, and a Hand of Hope Women's Home.

"We know that our friends and our partners are concerned about the welfare of children around the world," said David Meyer, CEO of Hand of Hope and Joyce Meyer Ministries World Missions. "As a ministry, we are committed to feeding the hungry, providing medicine to the ill and hope to women and children who need shelter."

This past week, the United Nation's humanitarian arm warned that food insecurity is worsening in Ethiopia, with over six million people now in need of emergency aid to stay alive.

Notably, the figure marks a 40 percent increase since June, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Ongoing drought, rising food prices, shortages of medical supplies and increase cost of fuel have contributed to the current worrying situation in Ethiopia.

In May, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) of Ethiopia estimated that 126,000 children are in urgent need and at risk of severe malnutrition.

Since its official launch in 1985, Joyce Meyer Ministries has grown from two employees working in a basement to a ministry that provides millions of meals to the hungry every year, supports and operates medical outreaches in remote areas, operates and fully supports 46 children's homes worldwide and provides other humanitarian and disaster relief around the world.