Providing Essential Humanitarian Supplies for People in the Toughest Places
By Emily Pyatt
People in the toughest places need basic care to help them build a better future. Unto® team members distribute critical aid — provided by businesses and partners like you — to meet the specific needs of suffering families, expressing the kindness of Jesus when they need it most.
Critical aid includes a variety of humanitarian supplies like , mobility aids, eyeglasses, and tarps for temporary shelter. The supplies are given to people who need help most — families who cannot afford basic items like blankets, children who do not have access to hygiene supplies, or refugees who need tarps for shelter. As people’s physical needs are met, local staff members also share about Jesus at the right time.
A Blanket for Anton
On a humanitarian missions trip to Eastern Europe, Unto team members met Anton* and his mother Ivanna at a wheelchair distribution. Anton lives with a disability that makes him unable to walk or talk. Ivanna had brought him to the distribution hoping he could be fitted with a wheelchair that would give him support and mobility. As our team member talked to Ivanna about Anton’s needs, she noticed that Aton was very stiff, unable to bend his body to sit in a chair.
The team had brought along other critical aid supplies including clothes, shoes, and blankets. Realizing Aton was cold, our team member gave Ivanna a blanket. She wrapped Anton in it to keep him warm. After a few minutes, his muscles relaxed, and he was able to sit in a wheelchair. Our team made sure to provide him with just the right chair that fit him well and met his needs.
For Anton, a blanket is for more than just snuggling with at night. Ivanna uses it to keep him warm, help his muscles relax, and protect him from laying on the hard ground. The blanket also serves as a tangible expression of the kindness of Jesus and His care for little ones like Anton.
A Hygiene Kit for Ameena
Ameena and her four siblings live in the Middle East. Her dad, Mahir, struggles to find work to provide for his family. In the country where they live, it is hard to make enough money for necessities like food and clothes. There is simply not enough left over to buy things like soap or toothpaste, even though hygiene items are very important.
Mahir met our local team members, and they provided him with hygiene kits for everyone in his family. They were all so happy. Mahir told our team member, “After receiving the hygiene kits, my children rush every morning before going to school to brush their teeth and wash and dry their small faces with the soap and towels. They have started to acquire new hygiene behaviors which will certainly keep them clean and healthy.”
For Ameena, the gift of a hygiene kit meant more than soap and toothpaste. The supplies help protect her health and restore her dignity, showing her that Jesus really cares about her every need.
A Tarp for Nabil
Nabil’s house was destroyed in a war. His family, including his father, two brothers, and two sisters, now live in a tent far away from their hometown. As a refugee Nabil’s father, Ubaid, is unable to work in the new place where they live. It is very difficult for him to provide basic care for their family.
Unto team members met Nabil’s family and gave them critical aid items like clothes, shoes, and a tarp. Nabil was most excited about the tarp because his dad used it to strengthen their tent and protect the family from harsh weather conditions.
For people like Nabil, tarps are an essential critical aid item. Many families like his live in make-shift shelters built from highly flammable materials that do not weather well. As a result, families are exposed to rain, cold, heat, and more. Tarps can replace these flammable materials and be used as flooring, temporary shelter, or a covering over a tent for longer-term protection.
Ubaid told our team, “I want to say thank you … these materials to show us that God loves and cares about us.”
For Nabil tarps mean more than just temporary shelter. They mean protection from the elements and serve as a reminder than God shelters us in the storms.
You Can Make a Difference
We cannot end suffering around the world. But each of us can do something to help a child or family in need.
People like you make it possible for Unto to provide humanitarian relief and coaching to local staff members in the toughest places, relieving people’s suffering, restoring their dignity, and revealing the hope of Jesus.
You can help by providing lifesaving supplies to people in the toughest places on earth. Your gift to supply critical aid items will meet the physical need of families in the toughest places and provide opportunities for them to hear about the eternal hope of Jesus.
*Names changed for security purposes
Teach children how to share help and hope!
Our Humanitarian Quest is a FREE interactive series designed to help you talk with children about the suffering so many people around the world experience and how they can make a significant impact.
Discover real-life stories from people in the toughest places, study the Bible together, and take a walk in someone’s shoes as you explore activities and crafts that illustrate what life is like for people in need. Throughout the activity you will find discussion questions to help children process what they are learning and plan out practical ways they can care for people around the world.
Published June 23, 2021
Emily served on staff with Cru® as a Communication Specialist at Unto®. She holds a B.S. in Rhetoric and Public Communication from Northern Illinois University.
