Third Week of Lent 09
Posted by tom | Mar 20, 2009The Journey into the Brokenness of Homelessness is much different living in Central PA than Pittsburgh, PA. Several years ago, when I biked and walked around Oakland each day, I met a number of homeless people. In addition, I had the opportunity to connect with various urban ministries, including our local congregation (Allegheny Center C&MA), serving the whole city.
But in the country and the small villages/towns of Central PA, poverty is not as evident. Yes, we encounter lower income members of this community. But they are not on the street. Yes, we contribute what we can to our local congregation's (Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ) involvement with the clothing bank, food bank, and single mother's ministry. And yes, we have friends/family who are unemployed, but they are cared for by family and area ministries/congregations.
What's poverty? For our family to receive a better exposure to worldwide poverty, we let several World Hunger Programme videos do the talking:
Response from the girls: It's hard to rid the world of hunger isn't it? World Hunger Programme responds with Hope & Dreams. We respond by acknowledging the impossibility, praying for God's provision, asking discernment regarding how we can consume less to share more, and making the commitment to explore Mennonite Central Committee resources in the coming week. Nothing like God's call to be Culture Makers in our back yard and across the globe! Over dinner, we continued our conversation regarding the Israelites journey across the desert, based upon The Lenten Tree: Devotions for Children & Adults To Prepare for CHRIST's DEATH and HIS RESURRECTION (by Dean Lambert Smith) and what the children learned through our local congregation's performance of Are We There Yet Children's Musical.
