OMS Outreach Outreach Online January-April 2020 | Page 19

soy snacks and drinks for the children. After purchasing the soybeans at a local market, the team cleans and then cooks the beans for about an hour and a half. Next, they are blended in a commercial blender with water, and the beans are squeezed to extract the mush from the milk. The milk is blended with fruit or oatmeal on a 1:1 basis to create a juice. They make five kinds of juices, a new one for each day. Next, the mush is mixed with flour, sugar, and other ingredients to make cookies, cakes, rolls, or cupcakes. Soy makes these high in protein to provide more nutrients to the children than just wheat flour. who attend a school in Colombia close to the Venezuelan border. One of the many harsh outcomes of the crisis in Venezuela is that thousands of students must accompany their moth- ers across the volatile border on the walk to and from school in Colombia each day. Many Venezuelan schools have closed or operate without electricity or running water. The journey can take up to two hours each way, and many children go without food the entire day because Colombia does not have the infrastructure to meet this need. In addition to the children receiving a daily nutritious soy-based snack and drink, the mothers receive training in sew- ing skills. This enables them to make pil- lowcases and other simple items to sell for income. Additionally, all of the moth- ers and children receive the Gospel and discipleship every day! In fact, none of the four Venezuelans making these soy snacks knew Christ when they started, but through the discipleship of leaders in SoySatura, each one has now accepted Christ, and they are learning how to disciple others so they can know the love of God too. How to Help For only about $1,000 more per month, SoySatura would be able to provide these snacks and drinks to at least 200 more children. The Colombian school that Mercy sponsors has 1,600 students. The Colom- bian government provides rations for 1,000 of the 1,600 current students. SoySatura currently provides snacks and drinks for 200 and another program provides for 100 more students. This leaves about 300 children go- ing without any food all day at this school. Would you consider giving to SoySatura today to help provide snacks for more chil- dren and spread more sprinkles of God’s love and the Gospel? You can give here at to account #408315. How Soy Snacks are Made Every day, a team of four Venezuelans, led by Ximena, make and deliver the food and teach the mothers the skills. In one year, this small team will make 40,000 healthy 19