Today for lunch, I went into the kitchen to find something to eat. As I opened the fridge, freezer, and pantry multiple times, I complained to my younger sister that we had nothing to eat. And when I say nothing to eat, I mean nothing that I wanted to eat. Our fridge is full of left overs, our freezer has several items I could have chosen, and our pantry is stocked full with five different cereals, like two different jars of peanut butter, different soups, and way more food than we will ever eat. Yet, I still complained that we had nothing to eat. So I went back to the living room and continued to complain that I was hungry.
I then went to my room and cried. This killed me and made me sick to my stomach. I have WAY more food than I need and because I am selfish and picky, didn't want to eat any of it. How can sit in my air conditioned house and complain that I had nothing to eat when the kids I was with just two weeks ago are digging in the trash dump for their daily food?
Did you know:
- that hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, Malaria, and Tuberculosis combined
-poor nutrition causes nearly half of the deaths in children under five - 3.1 million children each year
-In 2010, an estimated 7.6 million children - more than 20,000 a day - died from hunger
- 1 in 8 people go to bed hungry all around the world
Seeing hungry people kills me. No one should go to bed hungry. And seeing hungry children kills me even more. The kids in Uganda and Ethiopia, that I was with two weeks ago, would absolutely love the left overs in my fridge. They would love a bowl of plain corn flakes for lunch. We live in a country were there are multiple restaurants open 24 hours a day and most of us have more food than we need in our kitchens. I am not saying we should feel guilty for this blessing and privilege but we should not be okay with the fact that millions of people die every year due to a lack of food. And not only do they not have food, they don't have clean water (a whole other topic that really hit me hard this trip to Africa).
There are hungry, starving, and thirsty people all over the world. Not just in Africa. They are sitting in YOUR community. They go to school with your kids. It can cost as little as $10 to feed a child for a month. I know that I can not feed every hungry person in the world but I can feed one. If this means I have to give up Starbucks twice a month or need to give up going out to eat (when I have plenty of food at home anyway) then so be it. I don't need that Starbucks or that dinner out but that child needs my $10. There are so many different charities that help feed the hungry and help supply clean water; you've just got to look them up. What will you do? How will you help?
"If you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday."
-Isaiah 58:10
Daughter of Him,
Jessica Marie
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