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Hunger and the November Election

This November’s congressional elections offer a key opportunity for Bread for the World members to make a difference for hungry and poor people. Who is elected has a direct impact on U.S. priorities and how our tax money is spent. As a third of the Senate and the entire House stand for re-election, BFW members should encourage candidates to discuss their plans to help end hunger and the unnecessary suffering of many millions of people.  

Through our One Spirit effort, Bread for the World is urging Congress to provide more resources for poverty-focused development assistance. Generous increases for the next few years would help cut hunger in half – one of the Millennium Development Goals that our country has adopted. We need leaders who support development assistance and fair policies for poor countries.

How can we help elect such leaders? One simple but important way is to vote and urge the people you know to vote. Bread for the World members often volunteer to help people in their communities register to vote and get to the polls. U.S. elections in non-presidential years attract well under half of those already registered to vote. Yet all of us, whether we vote or not, are affected by election results.

As the elections approach, candidates will be participating in public forums and other discussions of political issues -- good opportunities to discuss the needs of hungry people. Perhaps you and your local BFW group are able to organize such a forum, or if not, you could simply attend a discussion already scheduled and ask questions about reducing hunger around the world. You may want to point out that the Alliance to End Hunger's nonpartisan voter survey showed that 85 percent of respondents consider a candidate's position on hunger and poverty to be important when deciding how to vote. More than 60 percent believe that the government is not devoting enough resources to ending hunger in our country.

The positions and priorities of both candidates and voters are shaped heavily by media coverage. Letters to the editor or media coverage of a local political event can help engage voters and make them aware that effective strategies against hunger exist. To strengthen your analysis, visit www.bread.org for facts about hunger, U.S. government programs and recommended actions. Learn more about writing letters to the editor.

Most importantly, pray for the candidates who are running for public office, that they may use their leadership positions to open greater opportunities for hungry and poor people.

After the elections, Bread for the World will keep working to mobilize decision-makers to take the actions needed to end hunger in God's world. Our efforts can help hungry and poor people in the years to come as election winners take up their responsibilities.

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World Food Day is October 16

World Food Day is an international event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-round action to alleviate hunger. It has been celebrated since 1981, always on October 16, the anniversary of the founding of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. In the United States, nonprofit groups across the country are organizing events. For more information on getting involved, visit their website www.worldfooddayusa.org.

World Food Day comes during the harvest season, a time when people focus on our universal human need for abundant, healthy food. Fall is also the season for Bread for the World Sunday, which may be celebrated any Sunday between World Food Day and Thanksgiving. Our Web site has free resources to help engage your congregation in worship, solidarity and action on behalf of hungry and poor people.

STAND UP, coordinated by the U.N. Millennium Campaign on October 15 and 16, is an opportunity for campuses, congregations and individuals to stand with others against global poverty. National and local events will track the number of participants and raise awareness of the Millennium Development Goals and the growing public support for achieving them. For more information, visit the Millennium Campaign website. 

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A Way to Be With Those in Need

by Rev. Mpho Tutu

The following article is an excerpt of a scripture reflection on Mark 10:46-52 written by the Rev. Mpho Tutu for our Bread for the World Sunday resource. Order free copies of the resource, which includes the complete reflection, bulletin inserts and ideas for celebrating Bread for the World Sunday in your faith community.

[In] South Africa sits the subdivision called Ndancama: “I gave up”. The place is the very picture of poverty. In the middle of this sad place sits a gleaming community hall constructed of expensive yellow brick with a sturdy tile roof.

A wonderful party celebrated the opening of this facility—a day to remember not only because of the party but also because it was the last day that the facility was used.

Ndancama was the creation of the apartheid government; people were pushed to the furthest reaches of possibility and left there to eke out any existence they could manage. The community hall was the creation of the new government: “Now you need not 'give up' for your call has been heard.”

But the people responded, “You may have heard our call, but you gave us what we did not ask for and you remained deaf to our need.”

The same story is repeated daily in so many places in the world. Donor nations draw up plans without consulting recipients about their need. Volunteers travel to sites of devastation to provide services without ever asking the people how they may best be of service. Government agencies prescribe plans for ending the problems that plague the poor without asking those trapped in poverty what ails them or inviting them to participate in the planning.

The story from Mark’s Gospel shows all of us a better way to be with those in need. Bartimaeus shouts out his anguish to Jesus. The crowd is distressed, not by Bartimaeus’ poverty but by his shouting. But poverty is valid cause for crying out and our faith demands that we join the chorus against poverty. “Call him here,” Jesus says. Jesus’ attention turns the abject supplicant into a dignified applicant.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks. Jesus invites Bartimaeus to speak his own need. Jesus allows the possibility that what seems obvious to him may not be the concern that looms largest for Bartimaeus. “Go, your faith has made you well.” Bartimaeus goes away, his sight restored and his dignity intact. Jesus heard Bartimaeus call, asked his need, and announces that Bartimaeus has participated in his own healing. All these are lessons that we who advocate for the poor must learn. As the people of Ndacama said, “We are not stupid, only poor.”

The Rev. Mpho Tutu is an Episcopal Priest and the daughter of Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa. She is a Clergy Resident at Christ Church in Alexandria, VA and the executive director of the Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage. She chairs the board of directors of the Global AIDS Alliance.

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Building Partnerships in the Latino Community

Just as Latinos have become a key political constituency at the national and local levels, Latino people of faith and conscience are increasingly visible in the U.S. social justice community. At a large Latino evangelical church, Templo Calvario in Santa Ana, CA, participants in Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters wrote 2,000 letters to Congress. The Greater Miami Latino Pastoral Association, an umbrella group of 200 pastors, will meet with Bread for the World this fall. There are many more Latino Catholic, mainline Protestant and evangelical communities involved in efforts to end hunger around the world and in the United States.

In addition to engagement with Latino religious groups, Bread for the World promotes coverage of anti-hunger advocacy in the Spanish-language media. For example, our work was the subject of a five-minute segment on a popular national television program, Raza de Campeones, which highlights the achievements of Spanish-speaking people. Bread for the World is also producing more resources in Spanish, which now include a 12-page Offering of Letters handbook, the OL video and bulletin inserts.

"Bread for the World is something new in many areas of the Latino community," said BFW organizer for Latino relations Ricardo Moreno. "I spend a lot of time just putting our name out there in the community. When [BFW President] David Beckmann spoke at the National Hispanic Journalists Association in June, he talked about hunger and poverty as reasons for immigration. We don't hear very much, in all this debate, about why people are forced to leave their communities and come to the United States," he continued. "Bread for the World is trying to make that link."

Much of our Latino outreach effort has been made possible by a gift from the Vista Hermosa Foundation, established by Ralph and Cheryl Broetje of Broetje Orchards near Prescott, CA. In addition to the grants the foundation has made in more than 30 countries, the Broetjes provide year-round employment, affordable housing and schools for orchard employees. A mission trip to Mexico helped set the orchard’s priorities. “The trip gave us more insight into what the needs are, and it reminded me of why we had this orchard,” said Ralph Broetje. “It wasn’t so we could keep building things for ourselves. It was so we could try and give back to the families we worked with as much as we can.” It’s a goal shared by Bread for the World as we work to partner with Latinos as anti-hunger advocates.

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Though Hilary Beste had heard her priest mention Bread for the World, especially on stewardship Sundays, she became involved in our work more recently when she joined the JustFaith group at Pax Christi in Eden Prairie, MN. From the group experience, she strengthened her knowledge of hunger and poverty issues. She attended an Offering of Letters workshop that she found very helpful and developed a deeper understanding of social justice concepts.

"One great lesson from JustFaith is the difference between charity and justice," said Beste. "We need to do charity because people are in need, but we also need to change systems to bring about justice. That was the most eye opening thing I learned… the difference between charity and working for justice. The class was just phenomenal! And the whole concept is supported by sustaining Bread for the World."

JustFaith groups across the country read the book How Much is Enough by BFW founder Art Simon. When Beste became active in Bread for the World, How Much is Enough helped her decide to make a monthly pledge for our work. "The formula came right from the book, seven cents a day for 15 years per American can help cut world hunger in half. I decided that our share of that would be about $1,150, so I committed to sending that amount to Bread for the World over a 12 month period."

Beste noted, "When my children were younger, most of my work was around community and kids and schools -- you focus where you have to focus -- but once they grew up, I could open up and think nationally and globally and really broaden my picture of the world around me. It was an evolution, and I'd like to encourage younger people and parents to get involved in the broader issues."

If you would like to join Hilary Beste and her family in making monthly contributions to Bread for the World through our Baker’s Dozen giving program, sign up online.

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A Strong Start for ONE Episcopalians

The 7,500 Episcopal congregations in the United States have a new focus for their work to end hunger in God’s world: the ONE Episcopalian campaign. “Strong advocacy from a wide array of Americans – including people of faith – is needed so government leaders can commit the resources necessary to meet the Millennium Development Goals,” said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. “The ONE Episcopalian campaign will provide an opportunity for all Episcopalians to unite their voices to the large and growing movement to end global poverty in our time.”

The campaign urges all Episcopalians to join the ONE Campaign and also asks congregations and dioceses to endorse ONE. ONE congregations pledge to observe a "ONE Sunday" and carry out related activities such as devoting a sermon to the MDGs, organizing an Offering of Letters, using ONE resources in Christian education classes, and meeting with members of Congress.

When ONE Episcopalian was launched at the Episcopal Church's General Convention this June, the Convention also voted to make the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) the first mission priority of the church for the next three years. A new line item of 0.7 percent of the church budget will be devoted to achieving the MDGs. This is the percentage that donor governments have long promised to allocate to development assistance.

“We are enormously pleased with the early impact of the ONE Episcopalian partnership,” said Alex Baumgarten of the Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations. “A number of dioceses are featuring ONE at their upcoming fall conventions, and parish commitment forms have been coming in steadily since the campaign was launched.”

The ONE Episcopalian partnership was developed in close collaboration with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), whose ONE Lutheran effort was featured in the April 2006     issue of Bread. “The opportunity for partnership at a local level between Episcopalians and Lutherans is one of the most exciting aspects of these new initiatives,” said Baumgarten. Learn more about ONE Episcopalian at www.episcopalchurch.org/ONE.   

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