It is instilled in all of us to live and, in order to do so, we seek the things pertinent to our survival: breathing, shelter, water and sustenance. There is nothing as troubling as going without these necessities. Just as a fish without water, a child without food suffocates. In the Bible there are numerous accounts of Christ feeding his people and offering to us the ability to do the same. This can be taken in one of two ways. We can literally offer food to those who are without and we can also offer the word of God to those who do not recognize His love and care.Throughout the world there are non-profit organizations that bring a means of survival to those who do not have it, in addition to portraying one of the fundamental beliefs of Christianity – to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18).
Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is one such organization. They supply nutritious hand packed meals to over 70 countries throughout the world. They firmly believe that it is through giving that we are blessed. Just as Luke 6:38 states, “Give, and you will receive.” During 2011, FMSC shipped over 47 million meals to Haiti, 24 million to Central America, 18 million to Africa and roughly half a million to the North American continent. Their vision statement says it all, “With God’s help Feed My Starving Children will strive to eliminate starvation in children throughout the world by helping to instill compassion in people to hear and respond to the cries of those in need.”
The world is in need, but so are those close at hand. Feeding America (FA) is a hunger-relief charity that strives to end hunger here in the United States. According to a 2010 report by the United States Department of Agriculture, 16.2 million children live each day not knowing where their next meal will come from. Due to the efforts of FA, approximately 14 million of those children (over 3 million of them ages 5 and under) are fed. The focus is not limited to children; 3 million senior citizens are blessed each year with the help that this organization offers. Countless adults living below the poverty line while struggling to provide for their families can receive assistance from FA. Through respect, stewardship and accountability, collaboration, urgency, service, integrity and diversity, FA is winning the fight against hunger one plate at a time.
All the materialistic woes of this world we live in amount to nothing when compared to the fear of starving. Once, I was blessed with the opportunity of supplying a full Thanksgiving meal to a needy family. After witnessing the relief and gratitude washing over the father’s face, the tears of joy flooding the mother’s eyes and the cries of happiness leaving their children, I will never again take for granted the food on my own table. In Isaiah 58:10, the Bible says, “Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.”
For more information about the aforementioned organizations, please visit the following websites: Feed My Starving Children (fmsc.org) and Feeding America (feedingamerica.org).
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