MISSION PARTNER – ELCA WORLD HUNGER

​There is a certificate that hangs on the wall of our church from the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. It thanks us for being “one of the most generous congregations in the ELCA.” Our mission partnership with the World Hunger Appeal is long and rich. That is for good reason.

---

The World Hunger Appeal gets nearly all of every dollar given to people and programs that feed the hungry. They are one of the most highly rated charities in the country.  From the famine in Sudan to our own Food Pantry, the World Hunger Appeal gives grants, offers aid, and advocates for those in need.

From the Appeal’s website:

“Let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” —1 John 3:18

For 50 years we have joined together as Lutherans to address the root causes of hunger and poverty around the world through ELCA World Hunger. Part of our church’s long tradition of meeting human needs, ELCA World Hunger testifies to our hope for and commitment to God’s promise of a time when we will hunger and thirst no more. In 2024 we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of this ministry. We have made great strides, but once again we face a startling increase in global hunger. As we reflect on our last 50 years of ministry together, we know God calls us to respond to the needs of the world now more than ever.

God richly provides for daily bread — the earth can produce enough food for everyone. Yet, many of our sisters and brothers still go hungry.

By providing immediate relief to those who are hungry, we meet basic needs and recognize the universal human right to food. But ending hunger is about more than food. By connecting people with the resources they need to produce food and gain access to clean water, education, health care and sources of income, long-term, sustainable change can be accomplished.

We start with relationships marked by conversation and listening. We believe people know their own communities best. It is our congregations and our global companion churches that first identify the local needs and related solutions to help make a difference. Then, we partner with communities to help make those solutions a reality.

Working through ELCA congregations, global companion churches, The Lutheran World Federation and other partners like Bread for the World, Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service and Lutheran World Relief, the ELCA reaches more places more effectively than we could ever do alone. In addition to funding relief and development projects that assist our sisters and brothers in need, we engage members of the ELCA in education and advocacy to help change the systems that perpetuate poverty.

Through this comprehensive approach, we work to address hunger from all angles — both domestically and globally.

We give thanks for our mission partner and the way we can participate in a ministry that feeds the hungry in such profound ways.
​
Pax Christi,
Tim Olson, Lead Pastor