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Lent is a period rich with spiritual possibilities. For
centuries believers have used these forty days before Easter as a time of
serious assessment of their dedication, their faithfulness, and their
commitment to the Lordship of Christ.
Echoing the
time of Jesus in the wilderness, Lent is a time of both reflection, and of
self-denial, balancing the inescapable relationship between our inner
spirituality and outward action. It is, traditionally, a time when Christians
re-evaluate who they are and how they live in response to the good news of
Jesus Christ.
This year, Stop Hunger Now is encouraging Christians to take
a serious look at their discipleship by asking themselves a single simple
question. “If Christ was hungry, what
would I do?”
 We now live
in a world where over a billion of
our brothers and sisters never get enough to eat. In a world perfectly created,
a world with far more than enough food for all, the majority are daily stalked
by the fear of starvation. No greater moral issue confronts us. How we respond to the cries of the hungry
is at the heart of our spirituality.
Ending
hunger isn’t easy. It takes all of us working together. But it starts inside of
each of us. The first step in ending hunger is an internal one. When we begin
to truly identify with the “least of these among us,” when we allow the Holy
Spirit to change our hearts, our minds and our spirits, we will have the power
to act.
The second step is to take action.
The hungry will not be fed without action on our part. We have to do more than pray for those who are
hungry. We have to make sure they are fed.
We also need to end the apathy and helplessness that shrouds world hunger. Stop
Hunger Now stands with experts around the world in believing that a few, bound
by their commitment to end world hunger, can indeed make a sizeable difference.
Over the
years, as we have heard testimonies of transforming Lenten practices, one that
is especially meaningful is when congregations agree to put aside one dollar
during each of the forty days of Lent. Many churches provide decorative labels
for home collection jars and encourage their members to have their daily
contributions coincide with family meal time. Lent then becomes a season to develop an intentional practice of stewardship
and justice. Dinner time becomes the arena to discuss wiser ways to use
finances. Few stop and think that what we spend on a bottle of water can feed
four children their only meal of the day. Come Easter, the offering becomes a
time of celebration and evidence to all present of the ministry of the church.
This Lenten
season Stop Hunger Now invites your members to discover both the value and fun
of watching one dollar a day quickly and easily become $40 by Easter, enough to feed 160 children a hot meal.
Please consider asking your church to initiate a program of putting aside “One Dollar a Day” towards Stop Hunger
Now’s work in the world as your Lenten fast. To help with creating your own
program, we are offering on-line Sunday bulletin devotionals. We also
encourage the group study of Ending
Hunger Now by George McGovern, Robert Dole, and Donald Messer to inspire
faith in action.
For more
information on building your Lenten program, contact Lee Warren at 434.738.2777
or lwarren@stophungernow.org. Members of our staff are available to make
presentations or preach during the season.
During this season of
reflection and self-denial we are encouraging Christians to respond to the
cries of the hungry as if they were the cries of Christ.
A dollar a day during the forty
days of Lent will provide 160 hot, nutritious meals for malnourished school
children around the world. For many it will be the only meal they will have.
Can you deny yourself a dollar a day for the hungry during Lent? “If Christ was
hungry, would you feed him?”
Jesus told us that as we care for the least of these, we are
caring for him. This year, during the forty days of Lent let’s deepen our
discipleship by caring for the hungry in a way that truly demonstrates Gods
love.
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