An open letter signed by 238 NGOs (non-governmental organisations) has called for world leaders to do more to tackle the ongoing food crisis.
Researchers from the humanitarian organisations have calculated that one person dies of hunger every 4 to 12 seconds.
Whatever we think about the various NGOs who have signed the letter, their account of this global food crisis is true to the lived experience of our brothers and sisters the world over.
Christians in Namibia are among the millions already reached with food and practical aid through Barnabas Aid’s food.gives programme
Furthermore, we may agree or disagree with their call for world governments and supranational institutions to do more – but in either case we cannot escape the conclusion that somebody must take action to alleviate the suffering of so many.
The Bible is clear that we as believers are called to do what we can to provide for our hungry and impoverished Christian family (Matthew 25:34-40; Galatians 6:9-10).
“If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him,” asks the Apostle John, “how does God’s love abide in him?” (John 3:17, ESV)
Certainly many of us have, in a sense, fewer of this world’s goods. In the present financial climate our wages or pensions do not go so far as they did before, while the cost of food, fuel and energy is rising dramatically. The Lord knows this.
Yet through Barnabas Aid’s food.gives programme, we can make a small contribution to the wellbeing of our brothers and sisters, many of whom are in even greater need.
Visit food.gives or phone 01793 744557 to find out more about how you or your church can donate food or other practical aid for Christians in lands of poverty and persecution.
You can order a free starter pack, including food.gives boxes and instructions. You then fill the box with dry foodstuff – rice, flour, dried lentils or beans, salt – and return it to our Swindon warehouse via a local collection hub or using a returns label that we will provide. We then ship it to those in need.
You can also enquire about volunteering at our Swindon warehouse, helping to pack food boxes, or setting up a food collection hub at your church.
