Women On Mission - July 2024
Make Holes in Their Darkness
By: Dianne Swaim
A story is told of British author Robert Louis Stevenson when he was five years old. According to the story, his nanny was putting him to bed, but he slipped over to the window when he knew it was time for the lamplighter. As he watched the lamplighter light each street light individually, he excitedly called, “Come quick, Nanny! That man is making holes in the darkness.”
That story has impacted me for years as I have traveled to several third world countries and viewed hunger and poverty for myself. In Zimbabwe, I held a 10 trillion dollar bill in my hands, worth only 50 cents in the United States. Meanwhile, there was no food on the grocery store shelves, hospitals and schools were shut down, and there was a cholera outbreak.
The darkness of hunger hovers over almost 1 billion people in the world. As they always have, Southern Baptist keep a global eye on hurting people and develop programs, raise funds, and send people to meet their physical and spiritual needs.
Organized to Serve
Global Hunger Relief seeks to put structure to the vast resources possible when God’s people give. Seven Southern Baptist entities collaborate to observe Global Hunger Sunday. These partners include WMU, the International Mission Board, and the North American Mission Board.
Every dollar goes directly toward meeting hunger needs. The Cooperative Program covers all administrative costs. Eighty percent of funds are directed toward International causes and 20 percent focus on North America. In 2020, 14 million meals were provided in North America, and nearly $3.5 million helped feed more than 600,000 people across the world.
These numbers certainly indicate the work has been successful. However, until every person across the world has enough food, we dare not claim success. Our church’s involvement will make a hole in someone's darkness of hunger.
Hunger banks were distributed on Sunday, June 3rd and will be returned on Sunday, August 25th.