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When I talk to people in relief and development organizations, I find them frustrated by these realities. They want to make a lasting difference but, by and large, they cannot. By feeding people, they are putting off problems to another day. Drought will come again. Donors will groan and ante up again—we hope.

To make a lasting difference, they must help people change their lives. They know it can happen. They see it happening here and there. But the work is slow, unspectacular, and difficult to fund. As John Kisimir of World Vision tells me, "It is hard to interest the media when no one is dying." Donors say, "Show me the pictures," according to Beatrice Mwangi of World Vision Kenya. These communities require a coordinated plan, not piecemeal efforts. If the government can't provide security, for example, building a school, drilling a well, or offering a micro-loan won't help much. All the pieces need to work together, and they need to work together for a generation.

For the foreseeable future, we will continue to feed hungry people, because they are our neighbors. Yet somehow we have to go beyond the cycle of disaster and short-term response—a mode that is appropriate for tsunamis or earthquakes but not for food emergencies or chronic epidemics like AIDS. We must go on to long-term engagement. Organizations like World Vision, Oxfam, and Compassion are ready to do just that. They have the people and the programs. Mechanisms like child sponsorship help to humanize our connection. The volume, though, needs to grow dramatically. There is just not enough money for programs that require patience and long-term, hands-on involvement.

Traditional Africa is crashing at tectonic speed into the modern world. At the edges, where Africa strikes modernity, societies crumble. Urban slums, AIDS, food emergencies, corrupt governments, wars: All reflect the disruption of colliding unevenly with global realities.

We think of global economics, climate, and disease as the prime realities. But there is also global compassion. It provides food, but it should go on to open up dead ends and offer people the possibility of finding a new way to live. That kind of compassion takes in-depth commitment—as it should. If the parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us anything, it is that true neighbors go the distance.

Massive amounts of rain fell on Kenya in November and December of 2006. "There will be enough food in Kitui and neighboring districts," Haron Wachira wrote.

"In Turkana," John Kisimir wrote, "floods literally swept off farming communities along the River Turkwel. The rains have not subsided yet. Feeding is still going on."

Tim Stafford is a CT senior writer.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

World Vision and the BBC's section on famine in Africa have resources on famine and aid to famine-prone regions.

USAID keeps track of what countries are experiencing or at risk for food shortages.

Other Christianity Today articles on famine include:

On the Edge of Famine | Politics hinders aid to 11 million East Africans. (June1, 2006)

'I Never Thought I'd See Anything Like that Again' | A famine worse than that of 1984 threatens Ethiopia (May 1, 2003)

Redeeming Sudan's Slaves | Americans are becoming instant abolitionists. But is the movement backfiring? (August 9, 1999)

Famine Toll Exceeds 1 Million | More than a million people have died in North Korea during three years of floods and drought. (October 26, 1998)

Editorial: North Korea's Hidden Famine | The poor and the weak should not have to starve due to the policies of their government. (May 19, 1997)

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May 2007, Vol. 51, No. 5