this week i had the tremendous opportunity to partner through our {church} with the mission of {feed my starving children}. i hadn't heard of this organization before they presented it at southland but i am blown away by their heart for the lord & kids & by there huge mission to "feed god's starving children, hungry in body & spirit." they are a non-profit christian organization that sends nutritious food to over 60 countries in the world to little ones who need it most. they had a watch a video about the kids who would be receiving these life saving meals & it was so difficult to watch BUT so eye-opening. i say i'm "starving" after a few hours without food. these tiny children are going days or even a week without a real meal. they eat dirt so their stomachs think they are full. gosh, they have to be taken care of! in 'crazy love' chan talks about how many people question god saying: how can god let little children starve? chan says god has more right to ask us that same question. how true is that!? he has given us the means to feed the entire world and yet so many go without.
i feel convicted. how could i be so selfish? out of sight, out of mind? the lord calls us to take care of the poor and the hungry. check out {isaiah 58:5-11}. i don't want to be the lip-service 'follower.' i desire to be the latter - the person who genuinely gives with all they've got: gives to the poor, feeds the hungry, clothes the naked & frees the oppressed - oh how god would be glorified if christians lived like that - if we really lived out the gospel!? my hope would be that the lord would grow my heart to be more like his & that he would help me step out in action, even when it is uncomfortable.
to add to this awesome experience i got to do it with my h.s. biblestudy girls. it was a joy to serve with them. they got to see a taste of what other kids lives are like. what a way to humble us & show us our rightful place of thanksgiving & service. together {with about 600 other volunteers} on our 1.5 hour shift we packaged meals. they package small bags of food that contain 6 1-cup meals in each bag. They are made up of rice, soy. chicken flavoring w/ vitamins & vegetables. they are very adamant about their commitment to excellence which i really admired. they wanted each child to have the most clean & nutritious meal they possibly could. so we strapped on our hair nets {yes, every single person} & poured on the hand sanitizer & had a very efficient & clean operation. in that hour & a half we packaged over 141,000+ meals. they said that was enough to feed 380-some children a meal a day for an entire year. these packages cost $0.17 a piece to make. think of how many kids i could feed with the cost of a chipotle burrito - 39, i could feed 39 starving kids a meal. 'feed my starving children' hopes so send out 93 million meals this year alone. wow!
--1.02 billion people across the world are hungry.
--EVERYDAY, almost 16,000 children die from hunger related causes --> one child every 5 seconds
i hope thinking about the unloved that god treasures so deeply would spur us on to 'love & good deeds.' remember:
i hope thinking about the unloved that god treasures so deeply would spur us on to 'love & good deeds.' remember:
"the king will reply, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." matthew 25:40
.let's go live out the gospel.
wasn't that just the most amazing opportunity? G'ma, Uncle John, Aunt Bea, Me, Dad, Chels, Renee & Nick all took a turn on Wednesday night! We had a blast! Nick has decided that he wants to be a missionary! We have all decided that we are going to do Christ's work and help out as much as we can with muscle, money and anything else we have! Very proud of you and your girls!
ReplyDeletei so wish i could have been there for this! what an amazing opportunity! keep serving your butt off jen jen. God is smiling for you (:
ReplyDeleteoh wow girl! what an incredible thing you got to do! I know I take so many things for granted and I really needed this wake up call! Hope you have a great weekend! = )
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really awesome experience you were able to have with your lhs students. I agree, when I hear things like that, I am convicted as well. It's amazing how separate our lives can be from those in need.
ReplyDeleteLove that you got to do this with the Lafayette girls. I hope that for all of us this is something that makes us think before we just go and buy stuff - that we remember how much we have and how much others are in need. Thanks for this post!
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