Pam and I spent last week in Chicago at a Feeding America, Formerly Second Harvest, conference. Pam has worked there for a almost two years as their registered dietitian. It was a great time to hangout with my wife and a few of her work folks.On the first night we went to Gino's East, a great place for Chicago deep dish pizza, with several of Pam's coworkers. We had a great conversation about hunger and the role of food banks and churches. Pam's boss, a really neat lady who has worked at the food bank in Nashville for several years, made a few comments that really stuck with me.
When I asked her about the ultimately vision of Second Harvest she said quoted their mission statement, "engage our country in the fight to end hunger." Even though their primary purpose is to feed hungry people, she sees the need to work toward ending hunger in America. For this reason she is seek to make advocacy a bigger part of what the food bank is all about. I talked about this a few week ago (check it out).
We also talked about the role of the church in the work of ending hunger. As a Christian, she sees the great need for the church to get involved in the work. As the husband of someone passionate about helping needy, hurting people, it is devastating to see that the Christians in America have become less and less involved in ministering the the practical needs of people. Jesus was all about this in the Bible; every miracle he performed fulfilled a practical need (feeding 5000, healing sick, causing blind to see...). Although we should be about much more that fulfilling practical needs, to totally be divorced from it is a great tragedy.
The last thing that stuck with me from our conversation was when she said, holding back tears, "I go home everyday, regardless of how bad it may have been, knowing that I made a difference." Can you say that about your life? I can't always say that about my life.
How can you make a difference in your community? Think about it; look for opportunities to get involved in something bigger than the daily grind. One way you may start is to check out your local chapter of The United Way. Find a way to be a difference maker.
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Jeremy, Great post. Living Hope has partnered with Second Harvest/Feeding America now for 3 years to provide food for children in the schools of Bowling Green/Warren County on the weekend. Three years ago I was meeting with some school resource center coordinators and I asked them, "What is one way Living Hope can help you in the next several monthes?" Their responses were all the same (and they were each at seperate meetings), "We see a growing number of kids who will eat lunch on Friday and not eat again till breakfast on Mondays." That broke my heart because I knew it broke our Father's heart. We have teamed up with Second Harvest and other area churches to provide a bag of food each weekend to these students.
While we can never share the name of Jesus with them, we can pray and hope that they will know that there are communities of people that love the Lord (churches). And that through those communities that God has loved and cared for them through difficult times. Because of this ministry I personally have had numerous opportunities to share the Good News with people I would have never met otherwise.
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