Did you know that hunger/malnutrition kills more people worldwide each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined, making hunger/malnutrition the No. 1 global health crisis?
Did you know that more than 862 million people in the world go hungry or that nearly 16,000 children — one every five seconds — die from hunger-related causes every day?
Did you know that in the United States, 35.5 million people, including 12.6 million children, live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger?
Did you know that in 2006, 48 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance from churches and charities across the United States were members of families with children and that 37 percent of adults requesting assistance were employed?
Did you know that Alabama has the fifth highest percentage of population living in poverty among all the nation’s states and territories, the fifth highest percentage of children living in poverty and more than one in four seniors living below the poverty line? It is no wonder the percentage of Alabama residents living with low and very low food security is higher than the national average.
Hunger/malnutrition is a major issue in Alabama and elsewhere. The high cost of food is causing a growing number of families to cut back on the quantity and quality of what they eat. The high costs of energy, medicine and housing are forcing more and more people to skip meals altogether.
On Oct. 12, Alabama Baptists will join with other Baptists across the nation to observe World Hunger Sunday. This is a time designed to inform Baptists about the problems of hunger/malnutrition in our state, our nation and our world and to lift these problems to God in prayer. World Hunger Sunday is also a time to call Baptists to action.
One action is giving to the World Hunger Offering. According to the office of Christian ethics at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, cooperating churches have ordered more than three times the amount of information for this year’s World Hunger Sunday observance as they did in 2007.
Last year, Alabama Baptists gave $723,290 to this special offering. This year, the state goal is $875,000. Nationally the offering garnered slightly more than $5.4 million in 2007.
The offering is divided with 80 percent going to the International Mission Board and 20 percent to the North American Mission Board (NAMB). From these two boards, 100 percent of the funds are spent directly on hunger-related projects.
The World Hunger Offering has been described as giving Baptists the resources for a quick response strategy to hunger needs around the world. For example, when an earthquake struck Peru in 2007, Baptist representatives were able to set up a community kitchen in the devastated area within hours. When flooding washed away belongings in an agricultural area of India, Baptist representatives responded with food packets to provide maximum nourishment.
In the West African nation of Mali, Baptist representatives recently provided 500 tons of grain to help feed starving families until the next harvest.
In the United States, NAMB uses world hunger funds to purchase and distribute nutritious food in the name of Christ to people deprived of adequate amounts or kinds of food. Funds are also used to provide assistance to chronically hungry people for developing life skills that will increase their ability to feed themselves.
NAMB partners with churches and associations, some in Alabama, to provide senior citizens’ feeding programs, soup kitchens, hospitality houses and food in disaster situations when disaster funds are not available or not adequate.
Baptist representatives are able to respond immediately to emergency needs. They do not have to wait on fund raising. There are no television campaigns pleading for money. Baptists’ faithfulness in the World Hunger Offering and in times of disaster allows actions in Jesus’ name to begin at once. Because these programs are designed, coordinated, supervised and evaluated by Baptist representatives, there is accountability at every step. Every penny goes for ministry. None goes for administration.
Giving to the World Hunger Offering is a good first step. Every Baptist should participate. But giving to emergency relief without attempting to address the causes of hunger/malnutrition is like providing an ambulance for accident victims along a treacherous roadway without doing anything to fix the road.
For those desiring a more hands-on approach to the problems of hunger/malnutrition, one may work with America’s Second Harvest, now called Feeding America. This is an organization of the nation’s food banks including the four in Alabama together with the five additional subsidiary food distribution facilities.
The Alabama Coalition Against Hunger focuses on gaining access for all state residents to adequate food resources.
For those wishing to make an impact on hunger/malnutrition on a global scale, Bread for the World is a good choice. This is a Christian organization devoted to helping hungry people in America and around the world by influencing government policies that impact hunger, malnutrition and poverty. Bread led the reform efforts on the farm bill in the current Congress, and the organization has provided strong support to the Bush administration in its efforts to increase funding to fight hunger and poverty in Africa.
Baptists were key players in the organization of Bread in the mid-1970s, and a growing number of Baptist churches and individuals, including this writer, are renewing their partnership with Bread in the cause of helping hungry people.
In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus stressed the importance of feeding the hungry and other issues. In verse 40, He declared, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did unto me.”
Helping hungry people is not an option for Alabama Baptists because we are a Bible-believing people and the Bible clearly teaches believers to feed the hungry. The World Hunger Offering is a beginning. Working year-round through organizations focused on helping the hungry is a good second step.
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