Poverty and hunger have a face and a name for me. I have seen it in the eyes of people I have had the honor to meet in Africa and India and Mexico and the projects of New Orleans and the homeless of New York City.
I don't like to waste food, because of my time spent in other countries and these cities.
I was recently challenged, by a statement that said it won't make a difference if you eat that or not to a someone starving in another country. I have wrestled with that a bit and bounced it off a few people.
I don't waste cause I think if we all just took what was just enough, then maybe we might have enough to feed the world.
Maybe if we were not so wasteful and we were good stewards of what God gave us, then we could see not only relief, but development for those who are dying do to starvation.
How much food is wasted each day? How much is over consumed each day here in our super size it have it your way western world?
**Please Note, this is a work in progress and I will add more as I continue to process this out and pray. I welcome your thoughts and comments.
Here is some of the more. I found this article this morning and wanted to share some of it.
"Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. (Psalm 41:1)"
"According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes. That's one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most often. There are and estimated 1.o8 billion poor people in developing countries who live on $1 a day or less (Global Poverty Monitoring, World Bank). Of these, an estimated 798 million suffer from chronic hunger. (http://www.worldhunger.org/)"
"We are told throughout the Bible to care for the poor and to provide food for the hungry. In Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus made it clear that when we care for the poor, we are caring for Him. In helping the poor and the hungry, we are spending our time and resources on things that are close to the heart of God."
"During my prayer time, I asked the Lord to show me what He wanted me to do to help the hungry people around the world. I knew that with the money we could save by not wasting so much food we could help others who were in desperate need. And I knew we could give even more that that." (take from Journey magazine)
**Still praying about this. Maybe I need to give up my Starbucks and super sized eating habits and fast and pray and see where I could send the extra money to help the poor. Even if it is only for a day that someone gets a meal. A meal that I might take for granted for myself. I think in God's economy it would be worth it.
