Month: August 2020

 

What time is it?  God often asked his people to know the times and seasons we are in.

Here are some questions, asked discreetly of children and families in this time on earth in Colorado, about surging hunger in working poor families. Working poor means you work every week and do not make enough to cover basic needs like rent, food and utilities. 

Food insecurity screening questions: 

Would you consider this statement true, sometimes, or never . . .

1. We worry about our food running out before we get money to buy more.
2. The food we buy just does not last, and we do not have money to get more.
3. I worry about not having enough to eat.
4. I try not to eat a lot so our food will last.
5. My parents don’t eat some nights so we can.

We must look and see, in heaven, very intentionally right now. To hear and see what God is saying for your call and my call. 

Let us go up the mountain of the Lord . . . don’t run the other way and be afraid to go face to face with God.  In Deuteronomy 5:23 it begins with dialogue of people fearing the presence of God and running the other way. God calls us to run towards him and open our hands and hearts in the ER (emergency room) time on the earth.  In the ER you operate on a time and season of urgency. With so many people hungry in metro Denver and Colorado, the reputation of God, through His people, must surge in generosity for the hungry.

Deuteronomy 15:7 – 11⁷  –  If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. ¹⁰ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.

Verse 14 says if someone comes to you—supply them liberally, from what the Lord has blessed you with. Open our hands, unleash our hearts—It’s time for ER urgency for hunger needs.

The economics of the business of feeding the hungry has gotten so big in such a short time, and takes radical measures. It is not what we used to do.

 

What Does a Legacy of Generosity Look Like to God? 

Church food pantries will never feed all the hungry people in Colorado right now—no way. Bread for the World Ministry Hunger By Numbers shows that the money needed to feed the poor was 102 billion in 2013 by federal programs vs $5 billion by Churches.  The gap has grown much bigger and wider.

Jeffco Eats supplies foods for Title One schools with over 70 percent on free and reduced lunch. Which is basically a family of four earning 30k.  Do the math… it costs about $28/hr to pay basic bills in metro Denver.  Help is needed and it’s URGENT . . . a surge of generosity is needed to match needs.

In the ER everyone operates in urgency. I was a chaplain in the ER. In hospitals, there people running with paddles to shock people back to life. Where are your paddles?

How much should the body of Christ give to those who are working poor?—As much as they need.

You can help schools sign up for federal food programs, like Jeffco Eats is doing. Schools don’t have a food person on staff . . . It could be You!

Be openhanded, and do not let your heart be hard. Hard hearts hear news of hungry children up to 90 percent in schools around them and they hit the indifference button. Hard hearts pretend they don’t know what time it is, and that they, and we, are in the ER place of Gods heart.

 

What Can You Do to Advance Your Legacy of Generosity for Food as a Person or Family?

1. Support a food ministry that is growing rapidly right now.  We used to ask for money for a can of corn, then we asked for money for a case of corn, now we ask for money for a pallet of corn which is $3,000.
2. Set a food donation tithe that grows each month. Food drives are helpful, but we need cities to do food drives to get truckloads not small amounts.
3. Volunteer. Food pantries are ESSENTIAL SERVICES. They need help!
4. Adopt a school with your church and neighbors and set God-sized goals. Many children never eat dinner.

Jeffco Eats doubled in size. We went from helping 500 kids a week to over 1,000 in 45 days. However, Lakewood, Colorado alone has 37 percent of hungry children. That is 10,000 children in just one city.  The city of Denver has 70 percent poor.  Every school has hungry kids.

Our goal is to establish a pantry collaborative to surge our capacity to feed 5,000 x 2 – that’s 10,000.

We know that collaboration reduces suffering. And we, in the coalition to end hunger in Lakewood, have a two year plan to take action steps toward crushing hunger for children. 

To help support the the cause, please go to www.jeffcoeats.org and click ‘Donate’ or ‘Get Involved.’ 

 

Please join us in Prayer:

Jesus, look at me. Jesus look at US.  Look at our hands, are they closed or open ?

Jesus look at me. Look at my heart. Is it hard Lord ?  Am I avoiding helping others due to indifference ?

Father, help our family to make a one year plan to become more generous by quite a bit. A God-sized plan to become generous. There is really no such thing as stingy generosity.  Let me be a widows mite in my heart and our families heart.

 

*Dial 211 if you need help or go to Hunger Free Colorado or Food Bank Rockies sites.

 

Jeffco eats – www.jeffcoeats.org

Email:  [email protected]

Call : 720 231 8337