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The Christian season of Lent is historically marked with fasting, a traditional practice of giving up food and devoting yourself to prayer.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Christian season of Lent is historically marked with fasting, a traditional practice of giving up food and devoting yourself to prayer.<\/p>\n
But this isn\u2019t the only type of fasting the Bible talks about. Isaiah 58 describes a new kind of fast, not to give up bread but to share it. Isaiah calls us to \u201cloose the bonds of injustice,\u201d to \u201clet the oppressed go free,\u201d and to \u201cshare bread with the hungry\u201d and \u201cinvite the homeless poor into our homes.\u201d We are called to offer help to those in need and restoration to those who have been broken down. One way we answer this call is through our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing.<\/p>\n
Our gifts to this offering helped \u201cloose the bonds of injustice\u201d for Olga Pedraza and others like her<\/a> who received support in accessing a job after a prison sentence and beating drug addiction. Self-Development of People<\/a> invests in communities responding to their experiences of racism, oppression, and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these societal ills. By investing in those like Olga who have reformed their lives after prison, we help reduce the number of people who end up back in prison.<\/p>\n Our gifts helped alpaca farmers in Peru<\/a> whose livelihoods were threatened by the poisoning of their water sources. What began as an apparent need for assistance with irrigation grew into a partnership between these farmers and the Presbyterian Hunger Program<\/a> to support a host of environmental initiatives. Environmental degradation and climate change are primary threats to the world\u2019s hungry and vulnerable, and the the Hunger Program\u2019s work is part of our response.<\/p>\n Gifts to the offering also rebuilt forty apartments and houses<\/a> destroyed during the Syrian civil war, so that those made homeless by its violence could return to a home of their own. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance<\/a> has provided essential support to refugees throughout this crisis, through education for refugee children, emergency supplies for refugees journeying to new lands, and assistance for US congregations receiving refugees into their communities.<\/p>\n Our gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing will do much more than these few examples. They will join those of congregations all over the country as we seek to answer God\u2019s call and make a difference in the lives of many more people. As we respond through our sharing, Isaiah 58 also provides a promise. As we respond to injustice, feed those who are hungry, and provide places for those without homes, our \u201clight will break forth,\u201d and we shall be called \u201crepairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in.\u201d Please give generously.<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0