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presbyterian hunger program
The Rev. Dean H. Lewis died at age 94 on June 14 at Santa Fe, New Mexico.
God’s mission clearly includes charity: a cup of cold water given in Jesus’ name; the Samaritan’s extraordinary care for the victim of highway robbery; the traditional “alms for the poor” that has characterized the institutional church through the millennia. Charity is clearly biblical and a hallmark of Christian faithfulness. After 35 years of working with Presbyterian congregations engaged in local and global mission, I have found that the overwhelming majority of congregations dedicate nearly 100% of their mission attention and budget to charity work. Buta singular focus on charity can blind us to the larger issues behind the suffering we seek to alleviate. A Congolese proverb says, “It takes two hands to wash”: God’s mission consists of both charity to stop our neighbor’s bleeding and justice to prevent the wound in the first place.
“Engaging Matthew 25 Through Film — Eradicating Systemic Poverty” is a video guide that takes the reader through the life of a person or family burdened by poverty. The five films chosen for this new resource are intended to not only inform readers about poverty but also stir feelings, and just maybe move them from a place of comfort to join with others in doing something for those trapped in poverty. In other words, actively engage in the world around us.
Almost 20 years ago, some members of First Presbyterian Church in Conrad, Iowa, heard a presentation about a program in which U.S. farmers and churches team up to raise money to help subsistence farmers in various parts of the world.
After shutting down its building last year due to the pandemic, Tippecanoe Presbyterian Church in Milwaukee was faced with a dilemma — how to keep providing food intervention and support for the hungry.
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country in the spring of 2020, work went on for Nashville construction workers as if nothing was happening. They showed up to sites with no running water, no personal protective equipment, no social distancing, and an understanding that they should ask no questions.
The numbers are kind of eye-popping.
A total of 207 solar panels installed over four phases in as many years
They generate 64.575 kilowatts of power
364 megawatt-hours of energy annually
That offsets 70.33 tons of carbon or 1624 trees.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has approved a $20,000 grant for COVID-19 response in India.
When the 65th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women convened in March, the Presbyterian delegation included women from churches and mid councils from around the country, leaders from the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, and Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program accompanies Presbyterians doing the important work of questioning our economic lives as we move beyond what our dollars do in the offering plate, to considering what our dollars do in the marketplace. Over the years, educational resources, travel experiences and direct outreach to congregations via projects has helped Presbyterians ask themselves important questions like: Does my coffee provide good wages to small farmers or does it enrich CEOs at the expense of the producers? Are our Palm Sunday palms damaging God’s Creation? Is my savings account supporting development and women’s rights or fueling human rights abuses? Were our youth group T-shirts printed in a sweatshop?
