Explainer: What you should know about childhood malnutrition
By / Nov 8

What just happened?

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) recently published its flagship report, The State of the World’s Children 2019, examining the immense risks posed by malnutrition. According to the report, across the globe 1 in 3 children under the age of 5 is not getting the nutrition they need to grow well.

What is malnutrition?

Malnutrition is a lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to process the nutrients in the food that one does eat. According to UNICEF, the “triple burden of malnutrition” is undernutrition, hidden hunger, and overweight.

What is undernutrition?

Undernutrition is a lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having enough food or not eating enough food containing substances necessary for growth and health. In 2018, almost 200 million children under the age of 5 suffer from stunting or wasting because of undernutrition.

What is stunting?

Stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and/or inadequate psychosocial stimulation. Children are defined as stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median. Stunting can cause impaired growth and has adverse functional consequences on the child, especially if it occurs in the first 1,000 days from conception until the age of 2.

The effect of stunting can carry over throughout the child’s life and lead to poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages, lost productivity, and when accompanied by excessive weight gain later in childhood, an increased risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adult life. Stunting is both a symptom of past deprivation and a predictor of future poverty.

The number of stunted children has declined in all continents, except in Africa.

What is wasting?

Wasting is a reduction or loss of body weight in relation to height. It results from inadequate nutrition over a shorter period than occurs with stunting. Children are defined as wasting if their height-for-age is below minus two standard deviations from median weight for height of reference population.

Wasting can be lethal for children, particularly in its most severe forms. Most children suffering from wasting around the world live in Asia.

What constitutes overweight in children?

Overweight is defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health. Obesity is a severe form of being overweight. Depending on the age of the child, different methods to measure a body's healthy weight are available to determine whether they are overweight.

Overweight, long thought of as a condition of the wealthy, is now increasingly a condition of the poor, reflecting the greater availability of “cheap calories” from fatty and sugary foods in almost every country in the world. The number of overweight children has increased in every continent. Based on recent trends, the number of overweight under-5s will rise from 40 million children to 43 million by 2025.

Being overweight as a child can lead to a number of medical conditions, including gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and orthopedic complications, as well as the early onset of type 2 diabetes. Overweight can also lead to behavioral and emotional problems, including depression and stigmatization. Childhood obesity is also a strong predictor of adult obesity, which can have serious health and economic consequences.

What is hidden hunger?

Hidden hunger is a chronic lack of vitamins, minerals, or other macronutrients needed for proper development. Globally, at least 1 in 2 children under age 5 (about 340 million) suffers from hidden hunger. Hidden hunger can harm survival, growth, and development at every stage of life. Unfortunately, this condition is rarely noticed until it is too late to do anything to correct its effects.

What are the primary causes of malnutrition in children?

Malnutrition is caused mainly by the poor quality of children’s diets. According to UNICEF, 2 in 3 children are not fed the minimum recommended diverse diet for healthy growth and development.

For example, only 2 in 5 infants under 6 months of age are exclusively breastfed, and use of breastmilk substitutes is a growing concern. Sales of milk-based formula grew by 41% globally and by 72% in upper middle-income countries such as Brazil, China, and Turkey from 2008–2013. UNICEF estimates that breastfeeding could save the lives of 820,000 children annually worldwide.

Poor diets also drive malnutrition throughout early childhood. About 44% of children aged 6 to 23 months are not fed fruits or vegetables and 59% are not fed eggs, dairy, fish, or meat. Only 1 in 5 children aged 6 to 23 months from the poorest households and rural areas is fed the minimum recommended diverse diet for healthy growth and brain development.

Overall, millions of children are eating too little of what they need, and millions are eating too much of what they don’t need: poor diets are now the main risk factor for the global burden of disease, according to the report.

More broadly, the main driver of malnutrition is poverty. According to a 2016 UNICEF and World Bank Study, of the 385 million children living in extreme poverty around the world in 2013, half lived in sub-Saharan Africa and just over a third in South Asia. More than four out of five of these children lived in rural areas. Such children are more likely to be underfed and malnourished, get sick, not complete school, and fall back into poverty in the aftermath of drought, disease or economic instability. Poor children are also the least likely to have access to safe water and adequate sanitation, to receive preventative healthcare such as vaccinations, and when ill are less likely to get adequate medical care.

Why Global Hunger Relief needs you
By / Oct 10

The bond between a grandmother and a grandchild is special. It’s a pure, unconditional exchange of love, support, and care that only sweetens across generations. Winnie knows a thing or two about that bond. Every day, she cares for her own eight grandchildren, all of whom have lost their parents, Winnie’s children, to AIDS.

But she doesn’t stop there. Beneath her roof, she cares for 22 other HIV/AIDS orphans. Her lifestyle is simple, her home is modest, but her love is extravagant, buoyed by the support of Southern Baptists just like you. 

Every week, Winnie receives food packages funded by Global Hunger Relief that provide nutritious food for all of her grandchildren—natural and adopted. She also receives milk powder and infant formula for the younger children, and last year, she received seeds and planted a garden that provided healthy, fresh vegetables for her brood. 

Winnie seeks no recognition and is grateful for the food, formula, and seeds provided by GHR. They are evidence of the loving God in whom she trusts to provide the basic needs of the 30 precious lives that have been entrusted to her. You are by her side, helping Winnie care for and love on her beautiful, growing family through Global Hunger Relief. 

You and GHR around the world  

Outside the United States and Canada, one in nine people experience chronic hunger. Many of these are living in poor, underdeveloped societies, have been displaced from their homes and forced to live in urban slums or refugee camps, or brought to the edge of starvation by famine.

There are millions of Winnies here at home and around the world that need our help. A package of food. A helping hand. A word of truth and encouragement. You give all this and more when you give to Global Hunger Relief.

Together, you and GHR are providing short and long-term solutions. To those who have lost everything, food is offered to meet their immediate needs. But GHR funds also provide agriculture inputs, clean water, and job skills training that helps people provide for their families and break the cycle of poverty.

Hand in hand, you and GHR funded 159 international projects that impacted over 1500 communities and helped almost 500,000 people. All of this was done in a way to demonstrate and share the love of Christ. 

Hunger is also a reality In North America, in which, according to the USDA, more than 15 million households are classified as food insecure families, living at or below the poverty line. 

Last year, through GHR, you funded 2,427 ministries and provided over 16 million meals to hungry North Americans. Almost 150,000 volunteers were involved in the meal distributions resulting in over 1.4 million evangelistic encounters. 

There are millions of Winnies here at home and around the world that need our help. A package of food. A helping hand. A word of truth and encouragement. You give all this and more when you give to Global Hunger Relief.

For more information about GHR, you can visit our website, or donate to GHR today. 

How you can partner with GHR to bring the dead to life
By / Oct 2

Mr. Kumalo* was a thin, fragile man who lived in a small, modest home. His house was empty, devoid of wife and children. It was sparsely furnished with only the barest of necessities, but he welcomed visitors inside as if he lived in a castle.

In his dimly lit abode, the one possession he treasured most wasn’t a family heirloom or a religious icon. It was a homemade bed. Knowing outsiders would not understand its value, he explained its significance: He had lain down to die there several months earlier.

Mr. Kumalo had been diagnosed with AIDS. Many of his neighbors in the community were HIV positive, but few had their disease develop into a full-blown case of AIDS. Mr. Kumalo was one of the unfortunate ones. 

First came the stigma of the disease. Then came the fear and shunning from his neighbors. Finally came the day when his wife packed up their four children with their things and left. Everyone had abandoned him. To make matters worse, his health had failed so badly he couldn’t work his fields. That’s when he lay down to die.

But God saw Mr. Kumalo in his need and sent help. 

Workers from a local ministry in the area came to visit. They found Mr. Kumalo lying in bed, waiting for the inevitable. He was dehydrated and weak from hunger. He could not take his medication because he didn’t have the strength. Without food and nutrition, the medicine would do little good anyway.

Only God knows the ripple effect you create when you relieve hunger pangs and give people hope for a better future. Will you allow him to use your resources to help those in desperate need?

The local case workers began to help Mr. Kumalo. They brought him nutritious food provided by Global Hunger Relief (GHR) funds from the Southern Baptist Convention. They taught him to prepare and eat good, nutritious food every day and encouraged him to take his medication. 

An amazing transformation came over Mr. Kumalo. After a few months of quality care and good nutrition, he regained his strength. Soon, he could prepare his own food, donated through GHR funds. Ultimately, he wanted to return to farming and produce his own food so he would not be dependent on others.

Eventually, he reached his goal. A local ministry supported by GHR provided the seeds and materials to grow crops on the land surrounding his home. He proudly smiled as he looked at the plots of green leafy vegetables, squash, beans, and corn. His bed had been a sign of impending death; the vegetables were a sign of abundant life. 

The change in his physical health wasn’t the only transformation in Mr. Kumalo’s life. As the local workers shared food and seeds with him, they also told him about the One who gives life eternal. Mr. Kumalo enjoys a healthy and abundant life now and will enjoy abundant life for eternity.

On October 13, 2019, churches in the U.S. will highlight Global Hunger Relief and take up a special offering to help people like Mr. Kumalo. The money you give—even if it’s a small amount—makes a difference in countless lives. Only God knows the ripple effect you create when you relieve hunger pangs and give people hope for a better future. Will you allow him to use your resources to help those in desperate need?

Second Global Hunger Relief Run planned for SBC annual meeting in Dallas
By / Mar 1

NASHVILLE, Tenn., March 1, 2018—Global Hunger Relief partners announced today details related to the second GHR Run in Dallas, scheduled to take place June 13 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Dr. Jim Richards, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and 2017 race participant, said, "As we welcome our Southern Baptist family to the great state of Texas for the annual meeting, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is looking forward to supporting the 2018 Global Hunger Relief Run."

The 2018 GHR Run will include a 5-kilometer run and one-mile Fun Run. Winners will be recognized in a variety of categories later that day. To be notified when online registration for the 2018 GHR Run is available, visit globalhungerrelief.com/run.

Last year, 200 runners and volunteers participated in the GHR Run in Phoenix, raising more than  $5,000 to meet hunger needs around the world. All funds raised through participant fees will go directly to GHR in 2018, as well.

“Global Hunger Relief funds are in many ways the lifeline for Southern Baptist hunger projects around the world,” said Jeff Palmer, CEO of Baptist Global Response and 2017 race participant. “Through our mission agencies, churches and local Baptist partners, we already have a ready reserve of implementing partners to help respond to hunger needs when and wherever they occur.”

GHR national partners include Baptist Global Response, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention,  International Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, North American Mission Board and Woman’s Missionary Union.

More information about Global Hunger Relief is available at globalhungerrelief.com.

Child beggars fed, taught at GHR-supported ministry
By / Oct 6

As the early morning sunlight backlit their frail bodies, small hands stretched outward through the metal airport gates.

Child beggars.

Instinctively, I reached for my camera; I wanted to document every moment of this trip. In praying and preparing over the last year, the Lord had captured my heart for this people group and I loved them.

But I paused and allowed the scene to unfold before me, allowing it to sear into my mind all the while gripping my heart.

Desperation.

Grumbling bellies.

Hollow eyes.

Visible, urgent and physical needs that seemed to overshadow their greater need: hope in Christ.

Yet, after journeying more than 18 hours, our team’s mission was still to bring them the Bread of Life.

Desperate conditions

When hunger meets you face to face, you quickly realize our ‘American lives’ are vastly different than most of the rest of the world.

When hunger meets you face to face, you quickly realize our ‘American lives’ are vastly different than most of the rest of the world. We must meet both the physical and spiritual needs. During this trip, I would see firsthand that by meeting their physical needs we would gain their trust and ears to share about their spiritual need—leaving the heart work in the Lord’s hands.

This South Asian country is about the size of Illinois, yet has around 163 million people sandwiched into its borders. That is comparable to more than half the population of the United States living in one of our 50 states.

Around 77 percent of people live on less than $2 a day – the international poverty standard – yet 40 percent live on less than $1 a day. As a result, many South Asians’ diets consist of rice. Rice is inexpensive and easy to prepare. Add a blend of vegetables and curry and you have a typical meal.

Though many live in poverty, there are glimmers of hope. Two centers for girls are shining light into the slum areas where girls are often at risk for human trafficking.

Beacons of hope

Young girls from the slums bound up the steps into one of the centers, meeting our team with smiles.

Bright hues of blue and green fluttered around the room. Each school day the girls dress in a clean school uniform, changing out of their ‘street clothes’ after a shower.

Giggles and sweet conversation filled the room as they sat down to eat breakfast provided by the center. Global Hunger Relief, an initiative by Southern Baptists, aides the center in the purchase of the food for these young girls.

Our team played Twister, Phase Ten and Old Maid with the girls to teach them their colors, animals, numbers and occupations. The smell of curry filled the air as we played. Lunch was placed before us; a large pile of white rice topped with curried lentils and green chilies melded beautifully with potatoes and green beans. Filling those empty bellies with warm food showed our love and compassion, and their hearts became a bit more open.  

As the two ministry centers meet the girls’ daily needs of hygiene, nutrition and education, they share the Bread of Life and how Christ has come to redeem each of them. They are also teaching them to sew so they can obtain a job one day.

Within these walls, there is life, as beggars become beacons of hope.

To support food-providing ministries around the world, like the one visited by Lindsay McDonald, or to learn more about Global Hunger Relief, visit globalhungerrelief.com.

Churches across the nation will recognize October 8, 2017, as Global Hunger Sunday by discussing the global hunger crisis, praying for those affected, and giving to Global Hunger Relief. 

GHR supported ministry serves refugee population in Southeast Asia
By / Oct 4

“I don’t want to go back,” Naomi* said, her voice thick with emotion. The middle-aged woman wiped away tears with the tail of her headscarf as she recounted how a Muslim group beat her husband near death over an alleged blasphemy charge.

Naomi’s youngest two sons, ages 12 and 17, sat quietly on the concrete floor. They chimed in occasionally to help their mother when certain English phrases eluded her. Floor fans churned the steamy air in a small apartment near the busy city center as Naomi told about the events that forced her family to flee their native country.

The sum of their belongings lined the walls of the cash-only, one-room residence. Naomi’s circumstances are typical among Christian asylum seekers in this Southeast Asian country. Forced out of their homes by violent persecution and pressed into hiding by harsh penalties for undocumented immigrants, asylum seekers wait in the shadows, hoping to find solace in the United Nations’ refugee resettlement program.

Naomi narrated a recent telephone conversation with her oldest son, 21, who was arrested and deported to their home country earlier this year with his father, Naomi’s husband.

“Mama, how long will we hurt?” he asked. “Trust in Jesus,” she said between sobs. “Just pray.”

Hearing the unheard

Six years ago, David and Melinda Cooper* became aware of the growing refugee crisis in their city. Former missionaries, David now serves as the pastor of a local church. Through the ministry of their church and with the help of volunteer teams, they are providing critical aid and compassionate care to this group of people.

“The refugee ministry started because God brought refugees to our church and we heard their story,” said Melinda. “It built up steam very quickly.”

The refugee ministry started because God brought refugees to our church and we heard their story.

News reports say more than 11,000 asylum seekers have fled from the same country as Naomi’s family to this country in Southeast Asia. Baptist Global Response, with the help of gifts from Global Hunger Relief, has been able to support the workers in this area in their efforts to care for the physical and spiritual needs of the refugee population.

Global Hunger Relief is a partnership of seven Southern Baptist organizations that partner together to fight the global hunger crisis. Baptist Global Response is one of those seven partners, and has prioritized meeting the needs of refugees around the world during the last few years as the refugee epidemic has grown.

With financial help from GHR and BGR, the international Baptist church has been able to purchase, organize and distribute monthly food bags and hygiene items. Teams from churches in the United States travel to Southeast Asia on short-term trips to help distribute critical resources and spend time with asylum seekers, listening to their stories about flights from affliction and the search for hope.

Those humanity-filled moments are important, asylum seekers said, because many of them rarely go out in public for fear of being reported or noticed by immigration police. The social interaction is especially enjoyable to children and teenagers. There are very few educational options available to asylum seekers, and in most cases, the peer interaction provided by classroom settings is out of reach.

Torn

Naomi’s husband and oldest son were held in immigration detention before they were deported. She’s thankful they are alive, but she knows they are now in danger. The anxiety caused by the separation of her family exaggerates Naomi’s health problems. Without access to proper medical care, high blood pressure and diabetes are a constant concern.

Naomi’s husband and oldest son cannot go back to their hometown, she said, so they currently live in another region of their native country. Her husband changed his appearance to avoid detection.

Naomi longs to see her family reunited and resettled, but she has refused to willingly take her youngest sons back due to the threat of violence against their family. According to Naomi, her family’s UNHCR refugee status determination case has been closed, and if their current appeal is unsuccessful, she and the two boys will be deported later this year.

Donate to help fund refugee food ministry at gobgr.org/projects/refugees

*Names changed

Churches across the nation will recognize October 8, 2017, as Global Hunger Sunday by discussing the global hunger crisis, praying for those affected and giving to Global Hunger Relief. A version of this story first appeared in the Biblical Recorder.

Global Hunger Relief and the fight to alleviate hunger
By / May 24

Global Hunger Relief is a partnership of seven Southern Baptist organizations to combat hunger around the globe. It is not an organization, but a cooperative initiative involving Baptist Global Response, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Woman’s Missionary Union, LifeWay and the Executive Committee.

How did it start?

Many resolutions were passed in the 1970s and 1980s by the Southern Baptist Convention, raising awareness of the problem of global hunger and poverty and encouraging churches to become involved in serving those affected. Around 1978, many churches began to recognize a “World Hunger Sunday” and give designated offerings to serve those affected by hunger around the globe.

What types of projects receive the dollars given to GHR?

One-hundred percent of money given goes directly to the hunger projects under the direction of the IMB (80 percent) and NAMB (20 percent). These projects are channeled through the work of Baptist organizations, including Baptist Global Response, IMB, NAMB Send Relief and state conventions. Clean water projects, food pantries, seed and livestock distribution, and many other projects identified and run by our Southern Baptist missionaries and ministry partners receive the donations given to GHR.

Lane and Lisa* use GHR funds to run a nutritional clinic that serves families and starving newborns in a country rampant with malnutrition. Alvin Bagwell oversees the Good Samaritan Food Bank to share the gospel with and feed those on the margins of society in North Georgia as a ministry of the Chattahoochee Baptist Association.

Why should I give to GHR?

About 795 million people are undernourished globally. One in six people in the United States struggle with hunger. And there are Southern Baptists working in a variety of ways around the world to address this crisis. Due to the Cooperative Program, 100 percent of dollars given to GHR go directly to serve those in need. Nothing is taken out for administration or promotion. Because of our partnership, all the GHR projects are overseen or executed by Southern Baptist personnel, so you can know that these critical food ministries are accompanied by a gospel witness.

What is the Global Hunger Relief Run?

A broad coalition of Southern Baptist ministries have partnered together to sponsor a Global Hunger Relief Run, including a 5k and one-mile Fun Run, in Phoenix, Ariz., June 14, in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. One hundred percent of registration fees will go directly to Global Hunger Relief.

Participants will receive a dry-fit t-shirt, gift bag and other race gear from sponsors. On Wednesday morning, runners will take a short shuttle ride from the Phoenix Convention Center to Steele Indian Park, a beautiful park just north of downtown Phoenix. Registration and more information about the GHR Run is available online.

Exercise for hunger: Join us at the GHR run
By / May 24

On Wednesday, June 14, the high in Phoenix, Ariz., is estimated to be around 101 degrees. I’m told the scorching temperatures won’t actually feel quite as hot as 101 might sound because it’s a “dry heat.” It’s seems logical, then, to lace up our shoes and hit the pavement for a run on such a day—especially when it’s for Global Hunger Relief.

A broad coalition of Southern Baptist ministries have partnered together to sponsor a Global Hunger Relief Run, including a 5k and one-mile Fun Run, in Phoenix on June 14, in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. All funds raised through participant fees will go directly to feed hungry people around the world.  

You don’t need to be a world-class athlete to participate in this fun run for a great cause. That’s good news; anyone can join us! But it is worth remembering that the Lord does have something to say about our bodies, specifically in the area of exercise.

Some value

For some of you, exercise and caring for your body is an idol you wrestle with daily. You’re overly concerned with your physique. For others, the very idea of caring for your body seems to be of little to no value at all. I’d like to convince you to meet in the middle. Caring for our bodies can be a way to honor God. God created us to use our bodies for his glory and his purposes. And though godliness is of supreme value, we know that physical training is of some value to the Lord. Paul helps us see the false dichotomy when he writes, “For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Tim. 4:8).

All funds raised through the @globalhunger 5K will go directly to feed hungry people around the world. #SBC17

So we can assume that it’s okay to pursue exercise as a goal for healthy living and most importantly for godly living. Exercise provides strength for service, it can be restorative, and it can be rejuvenating. But the fact that there is a need for exercise at all is another reminder that we live in a fallen world with fallen bodies. If attempting to run a race is a reminder that we need to exercise, it serves as even more of a reminder that we need God.

The fall

The fall of mankind brought significant damage to the entire world. Not only did it bring sin into the world, cursing even our good deeds, it also brought disease and death. The result is that the moment we are born, our bodies begin the process of deteriorating. We develop and grow and fall apart. Even at 38 years old, I can’t jump as high or run as fast as I once did. And I find my body aching in places I never did before.

God informs Adam that humanity would “return to the ground” (Gen. 3:19) as part of the punishment for his sin. He will return as dust to the once pure and undefiled ground he was created from. Our bodies droop and change and grow tired. We try every experimental drug and various forms of exercise to prolong or prevent the inevitable. Botox and plastic surgery and a lifetime of marathons cannot prevent our inevitable fate. Like Adam, we are dust and will return to the dust (Gen. 3:19).

Resurrected bodies and the beauty of Christ

God, in his kindness, doesn’t leave us alone in our disintegration. In time, he will make all things new. What was once wrought with disease and pain will one day rise into glory with Christ. Paul connects the fall and our resurrection when he writes, “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Cor. 15:22–23).

If that weren’t good news enough, Paul reminds us that not only will we be with Christ, but we will also be like him: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (Phil. 3:20–21).

Yes! God will make it new. He will transform our bodies—the ones we are pulling and tucking and starving and beating to try to make beautiful—and make them bodies beautiful, pure and glorious when he returns. Our bodies will never die again. And most importantly, we’ll be without sin.

Anything but worship

As we seek to exercise to the glory of God, our fallen and imperfect bodies are yet another way we can look to Christ. By his grace, we can take our eyes off of ourselves and fix them squarely on Jesus. Our bodies are made for worship and, if the Lord has us live long enough, we may be left with bodies that are unable to do anything but worship.

Each ache and pain and droopy muscle that was once firm, can serve as another reminder that we have a Savior who is perfect in beauty and is coming to get us, to return us to our pre-fall state, and to raise us to a condition more glorious than we can imagine.

The Global Hunger Relief Run is about so much more than exercise, but you will have the added benefit of getting on the move. If you are attending the SBC in June, please considering joining us for this important race. If you are not going to be at the SBC, but would still like to participate through your own fun run at home or through donating, you may donate here.

Global Hunger Sunday
By / May 15

Free, downloadable bulletin inserts, poster and postcard with content from Global Hunger Relief, a Southern Baptist Initiative. Learn more about GHR at globalhungerrelief.com.

Global Hunger Relief run to raise funds for hunger projects at SBC Annual Meeting in Phoenix
By / Apr 19

Nashville, Tenn., April 18, 2017— A broad coalition of Southern Baptist ministries have partnered together to sponsor a Global Hunger Relief Run, including a 5k and one-mile Fun Run, in Phoenix, Ariz., June 14, in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. All funds raised through participant fees will go directly to feed hungry people around the world.

Global Hunger Relief is a partnership of seven Southern Baptist organizations who work together to meet hunger needs around the world. Formerly known as the World Hunger Fund, many churches highlight the
work of GHR on Global Hunger Sunday each year on the second Sunday of October.

“Our partners have put together a first-class event for those who run and for those who simply want to have fun and support the lifesaving work of Global Hunger Relief while we’re together in Phoenix,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “GHR is a wonderful illustration of the cooperation of the SBC and how we can do more together.”

Participants of the 5k will take a short shuttle ride from the Phoenix Convention Center to Steele Indian Park where they will run a two-lap course. The one-mile Fun Ride participants will circle the park’s lake. Water will be available on the course and snacks at the finish line. Registration and more information about the run is available online.

Sponsors for the GHR Run currently include the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Global Response, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Guidestone Financial Resources, the International Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, the North American Mission Board, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Woman’s Missionary Union.

Because of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program, one hundred percent of funds received by GHR are used in hunger projects implemented by Southern Baptist missionaries and partners. Eighty percent of funds are used internationally through the work of the International Mission Board and Baptist Global Response. Twenty percent is distributed across the United States by the North American Mission Board. More information about Global Hunger Relief is available at globalhungerrelief.com.