Evangelism
Bread for the World - Offering of Letters, Sunday, April 26
Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice
urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at
home and abroad. God's grace in Jesus Christ moves
us to help our neighbors, whether they live in the
next house, the next state or the next continent. By
changing policies and conditions that allow hunger
and poverty to persist, we provide help and
opportunity far beyond the communities where we
live.
We are a covenant Bread for the World church, and
as people of faith we accept the responsibility to
voice our belief that our nation's abundant resources
should be used to feed the hungry.
This year our
Offering of Letters and monetary offering to Bread
for the World will take place on April 26th. Please
place donations in an envelope marked Bread for the
World and put them in the collection basket during
worship.
The legislators believe that every letter represents the opinion of about 100 people so letter writing is both effective and important.
After worship we will write letters urging Congress
to take two actions:
-
Rework Foreign Aid so that it does a better job of
enabling people in developing countries to lift
themselves out of poverty and hunger by:
-
elevating global development as a priority of
U.S. foreign assistance, alongside defense and
diplomacy - thus restoring our nation's role in
the world and strengthening national security;
-
eliminating inefficiency and redundancy,
saving time and money;
-
providing opportunities for countries and
communities to participate in the planning and
implementation of the aid they receive -
ensuring that our nationŐs assistance goes to
people who need it most; and
-
aligning
our nation's policies for trade,
migration, energy, and the environment so
those policies better support global
development; and
-
elevating global development as a priority of
U.S. foreign assistance, alongside defense and
diplomacy - thus restoring our nation's role in
the world and strengthening national security;
-
Expand and improve Child Nutrition Programs so
that more children will be able to participate.
These include the school lunch and breakfast
programs, the summer food programs, and the
supplemental nutrition programs for women, infants
and children. It is estimated that for every $1.00
spent for pregnant women, nearly $3.00 is saved on
health care the first year after birth. These programs
stress providing healthy foods like fresh produce and
whole grains with essential nutrients. Children who
do not get enough to eat are put at risk for a range of
cognitive, emotional, behavioral and physical
problems. Examples of people these programs will
help are children in Alabama where 25% of all
children do not get enough to eat.
These programs will be reauthorized this year, and $20 billion is needed. With the economy the way it is, these programs are more important than ever.
On April 26th please plan to stay for a few minutes after worship, and write letters to Senators Warner and Webb, and Congressman Perriello to improve and expand these programs that help child nutrition. Even in tough times, childhood hunger is unnecessary in a country like the U.S.
For more information, call Jean DeMarco at 434-589-5165.
If you cannot be at church on April 26, you can help by writing to our legislators, asking for action on the above issues:
Senator Mark Warner
459A Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Senator Jim Webb
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Congressman Tom Perriello
1520 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515