Two Generations of Activists
Richard and Kimberly Brown-Whale's activism began at home. The couple got married in 1981, when they were recent seminary graduates. Rather than registering at a store for wedding gifts, they requested that their family and friends make a contribution to Bread for the World or Church World Service.
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Sarah Brown-Whale learned activism from her parents.
BFW Photo/Brian Duss |
"The only other thing we asked for was a potluck dish for our wedding reception," recalled Richard. The couple's ministry focused on issues important to hungry and poor people. When they adopted their daughter, Sarah, three years later, Maryland's Carroll County Food Bank held a baby shower for her.
Fast-forward 25 years. Sarah is now a recent college graduate and a member of Bread for the World's staff.
"I've heard about Bread for the World all my life," said Sarah, who works in the Church Relations department. "I thought it would be really good to work for an organization that is effective and making a difference."
From 1985 to 1996, the Brown-Whale family lived overseas, working first with the Methodist Church of the Caribbean in the Americas in Anguilla and Grenada, then with the United Methodist Church in Mozambique. Mozambique was just emerging from more than 15 years of a brutal civil war.
"When I look back on it," said Sarah, "I was a kid who saw lots of hungry kids. When the church offered bread, lines of people would stretch around the block. I think I realized early on that I was lucky my parents could feed me."
When they returned to the United States, the Brown-Whales were pleasantly surprised to see how much Bread for the World had grown. Richard had worked with BFW founder Art Simon in the 1970s and recalled that Art's brother, Senator Paul Simon, once addressed a course on world hunger that he was teaching at the University of Maryland.
"I'm pleased that Sarah's job contributes to solving the problem of hunger," he said. "There is still a great need for structural and political reform."
Thank you to Richard, Kimberly and Sarah Brown-Whale for two generations of work on behalf of hungry and poor people!
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