> Hunger Ministries 

2011: Suffering increased for poor, hungry (from TNUMConnects 12/14/11)

United Methodists engage in ministry with the poor, hungry and marginalized around the world
a UMNS Report by Kathy L. Gilbert*

The year 2011 was not kind to the poor, hungry and marginalized.

The worst drought in decades compounded by civil strife has affected more than 13 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti. Problems with food shortages in the Horn of Africa have been building over the years but came to a “critical mass” this summer, said Melissa Crutchfield, UMCOR executive for international emergency response.

On the heels of news of severe suffering in Africa came a U.S. report finding another 2.4 million children joined the ranks of the poor during the past decade. The U.S. Census Bureau announced the total Americans living below the poverty line has climbed to 46.2 million.

The continuing bleak economic outlook has left more than 2 million people jobless for the last two years and 700,000 for three years.

Income inequality is increasing in much of the developed world driven by disparity in wages, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Skilled workers have the largest share.

Budget fights
As Congress and the Obama administration faced off over budget cuts and debt ceilings, faith leaders joined hands to form a “Circle of Protection” around programs that affect those with the most to lose: the unemployed, uninsured and homeless.

Two United Methodist faith leaders were among a group of 11 arrested July 28 in the U.S. Capitol as they refused to stop public prayers asking the Obama administration and Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Their arrests came after months of protest and prayer vigils held on the grounds of the United Methodist Building in Washington.

Bridging the gap
From the halls of Congress to the sands of Somalia, United Methodists are working to fill the gap between the rich and poor.

A few examples:
• Hundreds of job seekers come to Roswell (Ga.) United Methodist Church for a weekly dinner and range of workshops every second and fourth Monday.
• Open Table, a nonprofit organization founded by Jon Katov, a member of Paradise Valley (Ariz.) United Methodist Church, brings a group of volunteers together as mentors for people in poverty. The people selected for Open Table become “sisters” and “brothers.”
• UMCOR has been funding aid programs in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia since July. As of Nov. 11, the agency had raised $874,921.23 for Horn of Africa relief and approved $430,929 in grants. The situation is not hopeless. UMCOR is continuing to seek donations for Horn of Africa famine relief.

The United Methodist Board of Global Ministries launched a web site Ministry with the Poor to track how the church is engaging in ministry with the poor around the world.

In a striking example of the power of one person to make a difference, the Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith of San Antonia, Texas, sold all her possessions, rejected her pastor salary and benefits and traded her safe warm bed for a park bench or a blanket under an interstate overpass. The petite pastor asked her bishop to appoint her to the streets so she can be in ministry with the poor and advocate for systemic changes.

She is trekking across the country speaking to churches, seminaries and other organizations. Her Facebook page documents her travels.

“Found me a good little high spot next to the creek,” says one of her recent posts. “Had to put up my tent in the rain, but all good and dry inside the tent now.

“It is such a privilege and I pray that the Spirit always guides my calling.”

*Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., 615.742.5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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12 million caught in Africa food crisis (from the TNUMConnector, Aug. 2011)

a UMNS report by Linda Bloom

The level of severe malnutrition in the Horn of Africa worries even seasoned aid workers like Maurice Bloem.

Church World Service, the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and other members of the faith-based ACT Alliance are coordinating their response to the hunger crisis – deepened by civil strife and the worst drought in decades – that is affecting 11 million to 12 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti.

A July 22 “call for action” report by the Global Nutrition Cluster, a U.N. inter-agency standing committee, showed the prevalence of “global acute malnutrition” among the population of Somalia ranged from 23.8 to 55 percent – an estimate that Bloem, deputy director of Church World Service, said he considered “really alarming.”

Anecdotal stories that CWS staff have heard through their office in Kenya and through the U.S. network of those resettled from Somalia and Kenya paint the same picture.
 
There are two declared areas of famine in Somalia. “It’s heartbreaking, (these) stories of people walking for 25 days, having lost half of their families, having survived by drinking their own urine,” Bloem told United Methodist News Service. “That’s the situation we’re talking about.”

Problems with food shortages in the Horn of Africa have been building over the years but came to a “critical mass” in recent months, said Melissa Crutchfield, UMCOR executive for international emergency response.

“This is not a sudden onset disaster, but it’s one that is finally getting the media attention that it needs to generate awareness and the subsequent support,” she added.

Taking action
UMCOR is appealing for donations to help the relief agency and its partners address the Horn of Africa crisis.

UMCOR’s board of directors on Aug. 1 approved four grants for $20,000 each to support:
- CWS-implemented work in the Mwingi and Kibwezi areas of Kenya, which includes five months of immediate relief measures, such as family food packages and nutritional supplements for young children, and initiatives to improve food security and livelihoods
- ACT Alliance members in Ethiopia responding through food distributions and food for work, malaria prevention and capacity building
- ACT Alliance members in Somalia providing for a variety of emergency needs – food, shelter, clothing and water – along with long-term assistance to promote agricultural, income-generating activities
- GlobalMedic, bringing in water purification tablets to Kenya and Somalia to provide 9.6 million liters of clean drinking water as well as purifier sachets for an additional 1.85 million liters of clean water

Crutchfield said that UMCOR also is discussing cooperative efforts with interfaith partners, such as Muslim Aid, which have better access to some of the communities affected by the crisis.

CWS, which has launched its own appeal for the Horn of Africa, also is supporting the emergency response in Somalia by fellow ACT Alliance members Lutheran World Federation and Norwegian Church Aid. Support in Ethiopia is going to response efforts by the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus Development and Social Services Commission, a longtime CWS partner.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, an ACT Alliance member and a full communion partner of The United Methodist Church, has contributed $400,000 to relief efforts through the Lutheran World Federation and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church’s commission. (photo: Newly arrived refugees carry their belongings through the Dadaab camp in northeastern Kenya. A web-only photo courtesy of Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance.)

Daily deaths from hunger
In the two regions of southern Somalia where famine has been declared, more than two people per 10,000 die each day, according to the Global Nutrition Cluster report. No improvement is expected before the next harvest at the end of the year.

A huge wave of people, mostly women and children, are fleeing the country. An average of 1,300 Somalis arrive in Ethiopia and 1,700 arrive in Kenya each day seeking assistance, the report said. The long-established Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya, originally intended for 90,000 occupants, now has 440,000, Bloem pointed out, and “it’s increasing every day.”

Countries that border Somalia are suffering with their own droughts and hard-pressed to respond. Districts in Northern Kenya have reported rates of global acute malnutrition at 15 to 30 percent. Elevated rates of malnutrition also have been found in Ethiopia.

As of July 29, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had appealed for $2.4 billion from the international community to address the emergency, which is expected to continue for three months or longer.

The World Food Program and UNICEF airlifted hundreds of tons of specialized nutritional food for malnourished children in Somalia. The World Food Program now is feeding more than 1.6 million people in Kenya.

In such circumstances of severe malnutrition, quick action is required. “You need to focus on nutrition interventions, especially paying attention to the most vulnerable,” Bloem explained. Waiting too long to provide proper food to children ultimately means “those children have no future,” he stressed.

Long-term interventions range from assistance with better agricultural practices and other forms of livelihood to assessing the impact of various factors on global food systems. “You need to insure that, ultimately, people can better take care of their own needs,” he said. (photo: Asio Dagene Osman cares for her severely malnourished 7-month old son, Minhaji Gedi Farah, in a hospital in the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya. A web-only photo courtesy of Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance.)

In a July 27 interview with CWS’s Chris Herlinger, Sammy Matua, based in the agency’s East Africa regional office in Nairobi, said his office already is at work helping communities implement adaptive agricultural methods that improve household food security.

The current crisis demonstrates “the impact of climate change is here with us and it is hitting the most vulnerable people in the world the hardest,” Matua said.

CLICK HERE to give through UMCOR
CLICK HERE to read the full interview of Sammy Matua

Bloom is a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York. Follow her Twitter

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Feed America First (Main Video), released Jun. 17

Feed America First has been serving rural communities and small towns in the Mid-South since 2000. Our mission is "to provide food to those who feed the hungry."

Director: Andrew Rozario
Music: Robin Crow
Special Thanks: Robert Myers

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Take the pledge, end senior hunger by 2020 (from TNUMConnects 3/15/11)

Bethlehem Centers is participating in the National March for Meals campaign through Meals on Wheels Association of America, Inc. Last year we raised more than $20,000 which allowed us to serve the 40 seniors on our waiting list. Now that we are serving 122 seniors and homebound individuals we are in need of more volunteer drivers to help deliver meals.

For more information on volunteering, please contact Amber Williams at Bethlehem Centers, awilliams@bethlehemcenters.org (615.329.3386).

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Plant seeds to Change the World (from The Connector, April 2011)

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Email to register your Change the World garden:
Lynette Johnson, sosatn@endhunger.org
Linda Tozer, gleantn@endhunger.org

> Society of St. Andrew's website
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