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Take a few minutes to thank God for the experience of this Challenge and for every good and perfect gift He has given you.
As you return to regular eating habits and routines, prayerfully consider how you will respond to what God has shown you. How will you worship Him? How will you thank Him? What will you bring as a compassion offering to church this weekend?
How will you love God, love others and change the world through Christ?
Lord, we give thanks to you for your unfailing love, and for your wonderful deeds for humankind. We give you thanks for satisfying the thirsty and for filling the hungry with good things.
As we choose to feel hunger and to restrict ourselves to tap water, we are aware that so many people right now don’t have a choice. We pray that those who are chronically hungry and who do not have access to clean drinking water would know your unfailing love for them and that they would know our compassion. Father, we pray that you will clearly call us to a deeper level of love, compassion and response as a result of this Challenge.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
“It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” ~Mother Theresa
The Hard Facts about Global Hunger:
Hunger and Malnutrition
- Prior to the onset of the global food crisis in 2008 less than 850 million people suffered from chronic malnutrition. By October of 2008 this figure had risen to 923 million; by December the total was 963 million. Now, in 2009, the global economic crisis has contributed to pushing the number of hungry people in the world above 1 billion for the first time.
SOURCE: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2008; FAO, 2009 - Percentage of underweight children under the age of five worldwide: 25%
SOURCE: United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The State of the World’s Children 2008. - Percentage of overweight children in Canada: 26%
SOURCE: Statistics Canada. Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition (CCHS) 2004. - As of 2008, the number of children who die each day from largely preventable causes: more than 24,000 (8.8 million children per year).
SOURCE: UNICEF Press release, Global child mortality continues to drop. September 10, 2009. - Canada’s official overseas development assistance in 2008, in terms of percentage of gross national income (GNI): 0.32%
Note: The goal is for every rich country to give 0.7%
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 30 March 2009.
Water
- Number of people worldwide who do not have access to safe water: 1.1 billion
SOURCE: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Human Development Report (HDR) 2006. - Number of people who die each year of water-related diseases: 5 million (About 1.8 million are children)
SOURCES: Pacific Institute 2002. Dirty Water: Estimated Deaths from Water-Related Diseases 2000-2020; UNDP HDR 2006. - Average daily quantity of water used by a person living in a developing country: 10 litres
SOURCE: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 2003. World Environment Day website. - Amount of water used by someone living in Canada during a five-minute shower: 100 litres
SOURCE: Environment Canada 2007. Freshwater website: Quickfacts. - Average daily quantity of water used by someone living in Canada: 335 litres
SOURCE: Environment Canada 2007. Freshwater website: Water: No Time to Waste. - Funding required to reach the goal of providing clean drinking water for everyone in the world: US$12 to $35 billion additional funding annually. SOURCE: United Nations Education and Scientific Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP) 2007. The Millennium Development Goals and Water.
How is God calling you to respond?
Eat Well – For the God who supplies should be honoured with joy.
Eat Well – For even those who hunger express gladness to God.
Eat Well – For when we use the strength of this food to feed others – God is filled with joy.
- World Vision “Thanking God with Integrity”
What are the ways you express gladness to God? What do you express gladness to Him for? Begin to pray about the compassion offering you will bring on Oct.30/31. By giving cash to the Kelowna Food Bank through this offering, each dollar will be tripled through the generous support of their purchasing partners. Pray today for those who are hungry on a daily basis in our community and ask God to prompt you as to how to respond.
Some Kelowna Food Bank facts:
- The Kelowna Food Bank has seen a 33% increase in usage over the last year.
- They served 40,000 people last year – 10,000 of them were children
- They require 35-40 volunteers per day to operate the Food Bank
- Recipients of the Food Bank must meet strict eligibility criteria, including an income test
- Recipients who are approved receive one hamper that will last them about 9 days. They cannot apply for another hamper for 30 days.
- Last year, the Food Bank had to reduce the size of their hampers due to reduced giving. They have not yet been able to restore the hampers to their previous size.
If I had only known!
How many times have I uttered these words? If I had only known ….
… today was the day of the pop quiz …
… that was the last time I would see my auntie …
… those words would cost me the trust of a friend …
… that dude would turn out to be such a dud …
… that act of kindness would be the one that counted …
… then I would have done things differently. So, the question in my mind is – why didn’t I do things differently then???? The answers (excuses?) come quickly. I was in a hurry, I wasn’t in the mood, I didn’t think it would matter, I was naive, … I didn’t think that would make a difference.
But the point isn’t about what we know or don’t know about a situation or circumstance. Instead, it is about what and who God wants us to see, how He calls us to respond – and how we choose to respond, with our hearts and in our actions.
Who or what will you choose to “see” today? How will you respond?
We’re now 2 weeks in to our sermon series on Jonah called “One Relentless God” and, as you know, are calling our church to a 3-week OnMission Challenge. For this challenge, we are inviting you to increase your awareness and sensitivity to the realities of hunger locally and globally. Then, we will be providing you with tangible opportunities to respond through a compassion offering (Oct.30/31) that will purchase food we will pack into hampers for the Kelowna Food Bank (Nov.6/7).
Will you take the Challenge?
If you subscribe using the link on the left, we will send you daily encouragements throughout the Challenge to educate you and guide you in some reflections. Through this blog, we also invite you to comment and let us know how it’s going for you.
Most of all, though, it is our prayer that you will know more personally the One Relentless God who pursues you no matter how many wrong turns you have taken or how reluctant you may be.
