The Need is Great — 18,000 Rice and Soy Blessing Bags Shipped to Honduras

April 25th, 2025 Newsletter

We will preface with this: This newsletter is not meant to be political in any way. We are blessed to be in the position we are to fill in the gaps. We are simply wanting to convey the reality of what many people are facing, and what you can do to help.

As many of you know, there have been hefty federal cuts to grants, as well as the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Midwest Mission has never received federal grant funding, so we were blessed to be unaffected in this way.

However, we are beginning to see the effects play out.

During our time in Honduras in May, our team was met with a real truth — food is about to become a major need for many schools and nonprofits in Honduras.

We were at an elementary school that was built by Food For The Poor and Cepudo, our partners. As everyone piled off the bus, and stepped into the yellow classroom. Smiling kids surrounded us sharing hugs.

Even better, the classrooms were filled with Midwest Mission desks! Two to three students sat at each one, and laughed and giggled as we played games with them, and gave them handmade spinning tops made by a long-term supporter.

It was beautiful to see how much joy was held in these kids’ eyes. 

When they go to school, they don’t just leave with knowledge, they leave with full bellies. For some, it might be their only meal of the day. Getting families to value education or work can be a challenge. Food For The Poor started feeding programs at many of the schools, as a way to keep kids coming back. 

As we walked around the school, we noticed a 50lb bag of rice on the ground near the kitchen with an organization's name printed on the front. The supply of  rice that feeds the children comes on a quarterly basis.

After our team commented on how great that was, one of our tour guides spoke up with a comment that really changed our perspective on what the future might look like. He said, “Unfortunately, that is likely the last bag of rice the school will receive from them.”

We looked at him with shocked expressions, and he continued, “With the funding cuts,, that organization is unable to continue on with their mission. And so, this is likely the last bag the school will receive.”

It’s difficult, even now, to think about it. To think about the joy-filled eyes of the students, the laughter-filled classrooms, and the food-filled bellies of the children, and know that their future is uncertain.

Again, we are not here to say what is right or wrong about decisions that have been made. This is just the reality. Things feel different when you see the people affected — and it certainly affected us. 

But we are blessed to be in the position of being part of the solution — and so are you.

Our mission is to bring the hearts and hands of God’s people together to transform resources into humanitarian relief. By partnering with Midwest Mission, you are bringing hope to the hopeless, empowering those in crisis, and even bringing food to the hungry.

Upon returning, we knew that Midwest Mission would need to be ready to step up and help fill in the gaps in humanitarian relief.

This recently came to fruition.

Food For The Poor requested our Rice and Soy Blessing Bags for Cepudo in Honduras. Thanks to many churches around the Midwest who did Blessing Bag Packs, we had more than enough meals.

On Tuesday, April 22, a 20-ft container was loaded with solely Blessing Bags and puzzles (toys were recently donated by a corporate donor!). 18,000 Blessing Bags were stacked into the container. This will feed 108,000 people in Honduras, who need a new food source! Praise God!

We don’t know, yet, if the meals will go to the school we visited, or another school or children’s home. 

But the reality remains the same — there are now gaps in humanitarian aid, and people will be in crisis. Together, we can help.

What can you do?

• Host a Rice and Soy Blessing Bag pack at your church, organization, or school to keep up the supply of meals, so we can continually send them. Learn more at midwestmission.org/off-site

• Make a monetary donation so that Midwest Mission can continue to quickly adapt to changes that are happening, and requests that come in. Donate at midwestmission.org/donate

• Pray. Most importantly, we need to be praying for the world. For those that are no longer receiving aid, for the organizations that are scrambling to figure out funding, and for Midwest Mission — that God will lead us to fill the gaps that he wants us to fill. 

Thank you for your generosity and your loving hearts that care deeply about people around the world and around the corner. We can get caught up in the situation, or we can be a part of the solution — we can confidently say that the latter will make you feel better, and make a bigger impact in the world, in Christ’s name.