Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread
Shannon King, Charity Director
When the Lord’s Prayer is said, we pray “Give us this day our daily bread…” Depending on the intention in your heart, you may be asking for daily spiritual guidance, the needs of the day to be met, or quite literally to receive nourishment for the physical body. Your intention may vary depending on your individual need but for many in the world they are quite literally asking for food. How will their prayer be answered? In the previous blog, This Little Light of Mine, I reminded us that we are the ones whom God uses to answers the prayers of another.
Many of us are blessed with plenty of options for food. We have the luxury of going to the cabinet or refrigerator and there is something to eat. If not, we have many options available including the store or drive through. For many others those options might not be options at all. Hunger is a constant companion of many throughout the world. Right now, famine is striking the Sudan. According to UNICEF, one hundred thousand people are facing starvation with a million more on the brink. Feeding America shows that in 2015, 13% of American households (15.8 million households) were food insecure. Households with children are affected more than those without and households with single or minority parents are affected even more.
Christ showed us that one small act can have a large effect on others when he used the available five loaves of bread and two fishes to feed five thousand people. Will you be able to show up and perform this same miracle? Probably not since you are not Christ, but with faith and action we can come together to make our small amount stretch enough to feed multitudes. According to Food for the Poor, with $3.65 you can feed a child for an ENTIRE MONTH! You spent more than that for your last cup of nice coffee.
How can you be a blessing to someone who is hungry today? There are many great organizations that serve to feed the hungry. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation towards ending hunger. You can research to find where your local food banks are and clean out your cupboards. I know I can’t be the only one who ends up with soups or boxed items in there that have lingered for months that no one really wants to eat. Clean that out! Someone is praying for their daily bread. Do you want to help but consider yourself to be one of the needy? Volunteer, even just once, to serve dinner at your nearest homeless shelter. I have done this and it takes only two hours of my time but the experiences I receive from giving of my time is worth a million times more than that.
Please add helping the hungry to your bucket list for 2017 and beyond. Any way you decide to give is fantastic. Volunteering your time, giving to a reputable organization, or donating canned food items to a food drive is a prayer answered.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.