First Person: Feed me till I want no more
- Nov 5, 2007 -
Around the globe, in places such as Africa and India, hunger often parades itself naked—exposed by gaunt faces, skeletal ribs and the paradox of bellies swollen to conceal their emptiness. We look at photos of the world’s most famished places and people, sometimes enveloped in clouds of dust and flies, and know for certain that slow death from starvation awaits them unless something is done.
The hungry in North America, however, may be harder to recognize. Although we see the need in homeless people digging scraps of food from dumpsters, many hungry people cloak themselves in the trappings of normal lives. They dwell among us in apartments or houses, go to school, work, raise families and live in retirement. The end result of their hunger pangs may not look like malnutrition as much as a puzzling failure to thrive.
Southern Baptists have learned, no matter where the hungry live: if you feed the belly, the soul often wells up for nourishment, too.
As a response to the plight of the hungry, Southern Baptists established the World Hunger Fund. In many parts of the world, hunger ministry takes the form of disaster relief, emergency rations delivered to people caught by famine, pestilence or flood. Here in North America, however, where 20 percent of SBC hunger funds remain, hunger is sometimes relieved in less overt ways. Traditional soup kitchens still address the problem, but so do block parties and kids clubs, tutoring programs and Thanksgiving dinners. These are ways to feed food-insecure people often not ready to admit their need. In 2006, $1.4 million was channeled through 2,200 domestic hunger ministries, according to Sandy Wood of NAMB’s ministry and servant evangelism team, all of it spent on food.
In Cincinnati, NAMB missionary Oliver Hawkins heads up the Greater Cincinnati Hunger Ministries. He distributes most of the funds to people in multi-housing communities, immigrants and African-American students through urban ministry.
Mike Wright, community church planter for Living Hope Community Ministries uses hunger relief funds primarily for special events and needs. Ever year, the ministry uses funds to cater a Thanksgiving dinner attended by more than 100 people. This single meal in the lives of people who are frequently food-insecure results in the growth of Gods Kingdom—16 people made professions of faith in 2005. By that measure, it’s bountiful.
Spending hunger relief funds through ministries like kids clubs often helps them reach such families’ children first. Wright cited one family who came to his attention that way. “We found opportunities to help their situation,” says Wright, and eventually a family member accepted Christ and was baptized.
Alpha and Omega Church, a Hispanic church pastored by missionary Bob Allen, hosts a weekly Sunday afternoon meal as part of its ministry to the hungry utilizing Domestic Hunger Funds. Most people who attend the church are employed, but they are first-generation immigrants working minimum-wage jobs. The weekly meal helps them make ends meet.
Just as Jesus once fed his hungry listeners fish and loaves so they would have the sustenance to hear Him out, those who minister to the hungry know the impact of hunger relief on evangelism is profound.
Wright points to the unknown effects of such ministry as identified by Jesus in Matthew 25. “I think that applies to how we use the hunger funds,” he says. “There are people who need Jesus Christ, and we may not know the outcome until we stand before the Lord.” Meanwhile, more than 30,000 professions of faith were reported in 2006 through hunger ministries in North America.
For immediate hunger-related resources visit ERLC.com/products/world_hunger. For more information about the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund, visit NAMB.net./hunger.
This article is reprinted from the October 18, 2007, issue of Baptist Messenger, the newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Further Learning
Learn more about: Faith, Ministry, Citizenship, Hunger/Homelessness