Across the face of the earth, in every hostile environment, war zone, disaster area, famine and disease infested nation, there are Christians who have dedicated their lives to care for those in need. These servants pary for a blanket to keep an old lady alive or food to feed a child who is starving. They help orphans, widows, the eldery, the sick, the disabled and the impoverished, but almost always lack the necessary Bibles, food, medicine, blankets, clothing, literature and building materials to meet and satisfy the needs.
Every day, one and a half billion people go without enough to eat. Forty thousand of them starve to death. Every year, millions of children die from preventable diseases. Thousands have no clothing, no shelter, and no schooling.
Every year in North America and other developed nations, millions of tons of surplus commodities are produced, then hauled to the dump and discarded. Although these items are routinely distroyed because corporations have no means of distributing them to needy people in foreign nations, these damaged or excess foods, medical supplies, clothing and building meterials can be used to improve the lives of millions of people in need around the world.. The question becomes, "How do we gather and transport these goods to underdeveloped regions?"
The answer is FRIEND SHIPS.
FRIEND SHIPS is a supply line to meet the needs of those who are caring for the poor. A nonprofit corporation, FRIEND SHIPS operates a fleet of relief vessels staffed entirely with full time, 100% unpaid volunteers.
FRIEND SHIPS is supplied with humanatarian cargo by corporations and partner organizations and suppoted financially by private donors. Surplus commodities, volunteers, and ships are the tools that make it possible to collect, transport, and disperse humanitarian aid on a massive scale and to provide life support services to nations in an unprecedented and highly cost effective manner.
Latin America/Carribean
In 1990, shortly after Nigaragua voted out communism and voted in democracy, Friend Ship Spirit arrived at Puerto Corinto, the first American vessel to call at that port in ten years. On board was food, clothing, medicine, medical equipment, school supplies, building materials, and other gifts of love!
On a return trip to Nicaragua in 1991, the ship delivered a complete orphanage for the children of Puerto Cabazas on the Atlantic coast. The orphanage was moved by truck to Manague and flown from there to the east coast by C130 aircraft. In Guatemala, cargo was delivered by Friend Ship Spirit in 1990.
In 1991, follow-up container shipments equipped and supplied a hospital for the benefit of the poor in the heart of Guatemala City. Food, medical suplies, clothing and building materials were also delivered to the Guatemalan church community. In El Salavator, food and medical supplies were delivered and distributed among that nation's needy.
In 1994, as the U.S. carried out a military invasion in Haiti to oust an illegal leader, Spirit invaded Haiti's shores with love by bringing food, medical supplies, and clothing for those in need. Humanitarian goods were delivered to the Honduras for distribution througout the nation by several organizations that assist the very poor.
The Former Communist Bloc
In August of 1991, six hours before the now famous Soviet coup d'etat, Friend Ship Spirit arrived at the port of Riga, Lativia, loaded with food and medical supplies for churches throughout the Soviet Union. When Russia later became independent, Friend Ship Spirit was there with an Antonov 124 cargo plane full of food. That was followed with missions with containers to various areas of the Newly Independent States, including shipments to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Minsk, Siberia, and Tallin.
As Albania struggled in the first months of Democratic rule after forty years of hard line communism, Friend Ship Spirit ran three missions to the port of Durres, delivering food, medical supplies, building materials, and other life support items.
These goods were distributed by helicopter into rural villages. The cargo was even used to avert a coup when a region desperate for food secretly planned to overthrow the new Albanian government. As Croatia and Bosnia in the former Yugoslavia were deeply emboiled in the throes of a devastating war, Friend Ship Spirit delivered tons of food and medical supplies for the care of war refugees on two voyages to the ports of Dugi Rat and Rijeka.
Africa
When Liberia was torn apart by civil war Friend Ship Spirit was there with food, supplies and love. Bible schools in Sierra Leone received tons of books, food, medical supplies, and clothing. A complete hospital was delivered to the nation of Angola along with an entire shipload of supplies. The country of Ghana received humanitarian aid for its many refugees. Gambia received school books, food, and medical supplies.
At Friend Ships home base in Los Angeles, tens of thousands of pounds of nutritious fresh food are distributed each week through local church groups and organizations that assist those in need. Supplies go to thousands of families, elderly people, the homeless, and to many institutions that assist unwed mothers, battered women, and people recovering from alcohol or substance abuse.
Jesus says that when we give food to one who is hungry, drink to one who is thirsty, shelter to a stranger, clothes to someone in need, or visit a prisioner or one who is sick, IT IS AS IF WE DO THIS VERY THING FOR THE LORD HIMSELF!
Jesus tells us a story about a farmer who went out to sow his seed. The seed that fell on good soil produced thirty, sixty, or one-hunderd times what was sown. The seed that produces a good yield does so because the person hearing the word, understands it. It is hard to speak to people about the Gospel when they are hungry. It's hard for them to understand it. The gifts carried abroad FRIEND SHIPS are love. That love is visible in the forms of food, medicine, clothing, and other humanitarian aid. The ground is plowed and the soil is tilled with love, and it is prepared for the seed of the Gospel. When a man is fed by people who love Jesus and is told that God loves him and sent His son, the man hears these words and understands them because he has experienced, first hand, the love of Christ!
