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Development Assistance at Work

Collette Kayakez and her family live in Lubumbashi, the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her father died when she was very young and Collette never got to go to school. "In my life, there have been times when food was hard to come by. For ten years, it was really, really difficult," she said.

Last year, Collette joined WORTH, a U.S.-funded development project. WORTH teaches basic literacy, banking and business skills. The local group includes 20 women dedicated to saving money and building stronger businesses together. The Congolese women run the group and contribute all financial resources; WORTH provides training and opportunity.

Since learning to read and keep records at WORTH, Collette doubled the family income. Her son was able to stay in high school, and Collette used some profits to buy a used bicycle for the 10-mile trip to her plot of land outside the city. Without a three-hour walk each way, she can grow more food.

Bread for the World's 2006 Offering of Letters, One Spirit. One Will. Zero Poverty., is seeking an additional $5 billion for poverty-focused development assistance next year in order to get the United States on track to help people like Collette, fulfilling commitments made to hungry and poor people around the world.

Our country promised to double aid to Africa and the developing world by 2010 at last year's G-8 and U.N. Millennium Summits.

According to Bread for the World's calculations, the administration's proposed budget contains an increase of approximately $2 billion in poverty-focused development assistance. This continues a welcome upward trend in such assistance, but it will not get us where we need to be as a country.

This year's Offering of Letters video shows how Collette seized an opportunity and improved the lives of her entire family. "I feel like before I was in the dark," said Collette. "And now, it's like I woke up." Collette's story conveys clearly how your efforts to increase poverty-focused development assistance can help lift hungry families out of poverty. Order a 2006 Offering of Letters kit with the video that features Collette and her family from our online store.

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A Time of Joy and Resolve

I  shall not die, but I shall live,
And recount the deeds of the Lord.

This is the day that the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

-  Psalm 118: 17, 24

For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus  on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is broken for you.  Do this in remembrance of me."

-  I Corinthians 11:23

The Last Supper was a time of sorrow and mystery for the disciples.  The broken bread reminds us of the suffering of Jesus and the brokenness of our world, which includes those who suffer because they do not have enough to feed themselves or their children.

The Lord's Supper, which Christians celebrate today, is a time of joy and resolve.  It's a reminder that the resurrected Christ is powerfully present in our world today.  Sustained by the Holy Spirit, Christians continue Christ's work in the world, sharing our faith and our bread to heal and reconcile God's world.

The staff of Bread for the World wish a blessed Holy Week and a grace-filled Easter, abundant with the joy and resolve that Resurrection brings.

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Pizza and Advocacy Go Together

Fifth-grade students at San Miguel School in Providence, Rhode Island, are getting an early start as anti-hunger advocates by combining nformation, values and pizza.

The class learned about homeless people and others who don't know where their next meals are coming from and too often go without food. Teacher Heather Ruple next helped the students gather information about a popular type of food -- pizza. Students shared what they knew, decided on questions that they would like to have answered, and searched through books and the Internet for information. They also visited the Pizzeria Uno restaurant to learn more.

Working in the church kitchen at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, they baked pizzas which they later sold to classmates and faculty. The sale earned $134, which they donated to Bread for the World.

The students also wrote to Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) asking him to cosponsor the Hunger-Free Communities Act, which would recommit the United States to ending domestic hunger and support groups working to ease hunger in their local communities. In preparation, students discussed why people should help others who are hungry.

Luis said, "Maybe you have a lost brother who is homeless and hungry, someone you don't even know about. You would certainly want to see that he gets fed."

Elias responded, "They are all our brothers and sisters under God."

Coincidentally, the day after the students sent their letters, Rhode Island's other senator, Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), came to speak at a school assembly. Since he was already a cosponsor of the Hunger-Free Communities Act, students took the opportunity to thank him for his support.

San Miguel is a middle school for minority boys run by the De LaSalle Christian Brothers. Bill and Lois Oehlkers, Bread for the World activists who are members of St. Paul's Church, are volunteer literacy coaches who assisted with the pizza and advocacy project. Thank you to the students, teachers, and volunteers at San Miguel School!

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"We can involve our children in something significant”

In the early 1980s, Malcolm Street was thinking about God's concern for hungry people and the need to do something himself to help. In addition to becoming a member of Bread for the World, Street became the founding president of the Tarrant Area Food Bank in Fort Worth, TX. Coming up on its 25th anniversary, the food bank now serves 15 million pounds of food every year.

Street has served as a BFW board member and member of the board's Special Gifts Committee, as well as contributing financially to our work and including the organization in his will. One of his primary interests is persuading churches to get more involved with hunger and poverty issues.

"Sometimes the church is just not attentive enough to justice issues. I wanted to help Bread for the World galvanize churches to stand up and do something about hunger."

Street said that he is struck by the multiplier effect of Bread for the World's advocacy work. "Bread for the World doesn't merely intend to accomplish something good – it wins concrete changes in the budget that benefit hungry people." He credits this success partly to strong leadership and careful research work. "We do need credible facts and figures to persuade legislators to take action," he pointed out. "Bread for the World Institute's Hunger Report is also good for grassroots activists who want to understand the issues in greater depth."

Street said he appreciated opportunities to learn what is really going on -- or not going on -- in Congress. "I've taken my family to Lobby Day in Washington and they all had their own questions and comments on the issues. I think one of the overlooked benefits of Bread for the World membership is the chance for parents to expose their children to something significant."

“It is my hope that when the whole Church is responsive to the Spirit of God it will be what it is meant to be, a fellowship of creative, heaven led souls with power to fulfill its 'vocation of transforming the world,' to quote Evelyn Underhill," Street added. "In this I believe Bread for the World can play a significant role." Thank you to Malcolm Street for two decades of faithful work on behalf of hungry and poor people.

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Rev. Kathy K. J. Gerking of Iowa (left) and Cathy Brechtelsbauer of South Dakota are BFW members and Lutherans who have become involved in the ONE Campaign. Here they are shown on a trip to the G-8 Summit in Scotland last summer with a BFW/ONE delegation to advocate for increases in poverty-focused development assistance. Photo by Michelle Tooley

Lutherans Working as ONE

Several denominations have endorsed the ONE Campaign to overcome the emergencies of extreme poverty, hunger and AIDS. Others are working through Bread for the World to embrace ONE's goals or are using ONE to engage young people in their denominations.

Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Mark S. Hanson, endorsed the ONE Campaign on behalf of his denomination in early 2005. Since then, the ELCA Washington Office has established the "ONE Lutheran Campaign" to encourage their 4.9 million members to become involved and provide resources for effective engagement. The ELCA Conference of Bishops identified the ONE Lutheran Campaign as one of three priorities for the 2006 calendar year.

The ELCA Washington Office has requested that each of their 65 synods name a ONE Lutheran leader and hopes to eventually have a ONE Lutheran leader in every congregation. Fifteen Lutheran colleges and seminaries have begun ELCA Advocacy Groups that will work closely with the ONE Lutheran Campaign. These leaders and groups are able to respond rapidly, and activate a network of Lutheran supporters, when advocacy is needed on specific legislation related to overcoming poverty, hunger and disease.

Lutherans have distributed more than 10,000 "ONE Lutheran cards" that list the eight Millennium Development Goals and introduce the concept of becoming a "ONE Lutheran." They also created a section on their Web site giving people a chance to sign the ONE Declaration. The ONE Campaign has been introduced at several denomination-wide events and will be featured this summer at the 2006 ELCA Youth Gathering, expected to draw 40,000 participants.

"ONE is a natural fit for Lutherans," said Karen Vagley, director of the ELCA Washington Office. "Martin Luther taught us the power of ONE and the meaning of social justice. ONE acting together can bring real power to this social justice movement."

Lutherans interested in the ONE Lutheran Campaign should contact Kimberly Stietz, ELCA Washington Office, by calling (202) 626-7942 or e-mailing Kim.Stietz@elca.org. For more information, visit www.elca.org/advocacy.

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