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Global Hunger Sunday: 842 million malnourished
David Roach, Baptist Press
October 10, 2016
3 MIN READ TIME

Global Hunger Sunday: 842 million malnourished

Global Hunger Sunday: 842 million malnourished
David Roach, Baptist Press
October 10, 2016

Churches across America observed Global Hunger Sunday Oct. 9, the coalition of Southern Baptists sponsoring the emphasis has prepared a variety of educational resources.

BGR photo by Teresa Flora

A woman in Lesotho celebrates when Baptist Global Response distributes bags of seed in her village. A drought has caused crops to fail in the country, and many farmers have nothing to plant for the next year.

“Words, even spiritual sounding words, aren’t enough,” Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) President Russell Moore writes in a Global Hunger Sunday article. “The gospel compels us to practical acts of mercy. This is exactly why the church must take an active role in feeding the hungry around the world.

“Hungry people – and there are almost 1 billion men, women and children suffering from hunger around the world – are not just issues; they are people in need of the grace and love of Christ,” Moore notes.

Global Hunger Sunday is an annual emphasis which encourages giving for Global Hunger Relief (GHR), a Southern Baptist initiative formerly known as the World Hunger Fund that supports hunger-relief projects in North America and around the world.

According to data compiled by the ERLC, 842 million people spanning nearly every country on earth do not have enough food to live an active, healthy life. Among the resources designed to help motivate believers to address this problem are:

  • Bulletin inserts that tell the story of a refugee in South Africa whose children fought over the last morsels of oatmeal in her house the very day relief workers arrived with a box of food provided by GHR.
  • An article by the ERLC’s Jill Waggoner suggesting “five small ways to fight global hunger.” Her suggestions include “know the communities most at risk” and “talk with your children and your family.”
  • A Bible study guide to help small groups consider scripture’s teaching on hunger and helping the hungry.
  • A video illustrating the global hunger crisis and the work of GHR.
  • A Spanish-language resource titled “Comprendiendo El Hambre Global.”

These and other hunger resources, which can be utilized year-round, are available at GlobalHungerRelief.com and ERLC.com.

Through GHR and Global Hunger Sunday, Southern Baptists gave food assistance to at least 173,000 people in 2015.

In addition to the ERLC, other partners of GHR and Global Hunger Sunday include the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, Woman’s Mission Union, LifeWay Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and Baptist Global Response.

With its support structure funded by Southern Baptist churches’ ongoing gifts through the Cooperative Program, all funds given through GHR go directly to meeting hunger needs.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – David Roach is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention’s news service.)