It's lunchtime in Bhandup, India, and its narrow streets lined with shops are bustling with bicycles, ox-pulled carts, auto rickshaws and waves of people dressed in extraordinary colors. This suburb of Mumbai is a place where women throughout India come to find work. But if they don't find work, then they find themselves trapped. Out of desperation, many turn to prostitution, leaving their dreams behind...and leaving their children without the very necessities of life.

Every day this familiar story is played out in cities all across India and around the world. Hundreds of thousands of children who need help the most are often the ones who have the very least. That is why at Joyce Meyer Ministries, we have made our worldwide feeding programs such a priority.

Two years ago in 2004, you helped us provide more than 3.5 million meals to the hungry. One year ago we were able to increase that number to 5 million. And this year, through your generous support, we are excited to announce that we provided 11.5 million meals—more than double—to the poor and hungry across the globe!

Your support has allowed us to establish feeding centers in the nations of Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Swaziland, Vietnam and so many other locations worldwide. In addition, this year alone we launched successful new programs in Egypt, Ethiopia and Nicaragua...and we have plans to begin even more feeding programs in 2007!

For approximately five dollars a month—or nineteen cents a day—you are making it possible for us to feed, educate, and share the Gospel with a child six days a week.

"Many times the enemy tries to make people believe their contribution is too small to accomplish anything—but that's not true," says David L. Meyer, CEO of World Missions for Joyce Meyer Ministries.

"For every five dollars that someone gives, that's one more child who gets to eat...that's one more child who gets a chance to be educated...that's one more child who will learn about Jesus. We are so grateful for the incredible support of our friends and partners, which is literally changing the lives of these children forever."

Over the years, what began as simple feeding programs has transformed into so much more. For many children, these outposts are a home away from home. They are provided with not only satisfying meals, but also the basics of a good education.

They learn how to read and write—skills which most of them aren’t being taught anywhere else…skills which will give them a greater opportunity to have a better life in the future. And most importantly, they are taught about God’s Word and His personal love for them.

Many children, like eleven-year-old Mousram in India, must work just to help their families survive. Mousram works as a mechanic in a scooter workshop to support his parents. But after work he rushes to our feeding center in Chennai, where he is learning how to read and write. His teachers say that slowly but surely he is making progress. Like numerous others, Mousram is not only grateful just to eat, but also for the opportunity to learn and to be loved by friends and teachers at the center. And there are so many more just like Mousram...so many in need of love and a safe refuge from the streets.

Some children who come to our centers have experienced the nightmare of neglect and abuse. Others are loved but forced to work due to extreme poverty. Still others come from homes with parents who are physically disabled or who make their living by prostitution. In fact, for many young girls, the care and education they receive at our feeding centers are the only things that stand between them and a similar fate.

And our impact goes far beyond the lives of the children. Because of our compassionate outreaches, many of their parents accept Christ and begin to attend the local churches as a family. In fact, we are seeing whole communities gradually change as we focus on simply providing meals for the children and meeting their needs.

And it all starts with you. In 2006 your generous support allowed us to help heal the pain of the past and provide new hope for the future—11.5 million times. For tens of thousands of children around the world, your partnership was the one big difference between enjoying a regular nutritious meal and having no meal at all.

So, on behalf of Mee Lu in Thailand, Sarojit in Bangladesh, and the thousands upon thousands of children worldwide whose lives you have touched—thank you for your love, your compassion, and your heartfelt prayers. And thank you for supplying the one thing they simply can't live without.

Click here for more information about our feeding programs.