Saturday, October 6, 2007

A Hunger Feast!

A Reminder: The majority of the people in the world go to bed hungry!
Every Monday night we have Community Prayer that is facilitated by one of the members of our community. Last week Erica was in charge of the prayer. She had been impacted by the poor nutrition of the children in the school and felt that we all needed to be reminded of how blest we are to have all the food we need....and more. We have 3 meals a day here--with plenty of snacks. We can afford to go down to the store and get Diet Coke and beer. We have plenty of food for all of us with left overs for lunch. While we sometimes feel we are "suffering" because we only get meat once a week, or we are eating the same vegetables every night, we have way more than the people we are walking with here.


The people of the Batey are lucky to get 1 meal a day, which usually consists of beans and rice, cooked in water from the river. The children of the school receive one meal of milk, bread and a vitamin. They cook on fires made in a stone pit.



Yesterday, my heart raced as I watched an unattended baby of about one year old, with no clothes on, stirring a pot of boiling food on the ground with a large knife. The image haunts me still.
Back to Monday night prayer! Erica decided it was time for a " Hunger Feast". For our friends at St. Lukes, you know this as a Third World Dinner. In the real world, about 3% is First World, 20% is Second World and the rest is Third World. For our dinner that night every one picked a "ticket" out of a hat.


One person picked a First World ticket-Greg was the lucky one. He got a steak dinner with wine and dessert.





Two people got the Second World Ticket--Kathleen and Catie. They got to eat beans and rice.





The rest of us were Third World-we got rice and water. I have done this exercise so many times before....except this time, I didn't get to eat all I wanted when the dinner was done (Greg did share a drink of wine, a bite of steak and I got a piece of apple cake). I was hungry when I went to bed that night.

I couldn't help but think of the children coming to school with growling bellies and wondering how they can possible learn!
One thing we can all do is sit with our next hunger pang for awhile and thank God for our blessings ... and say a prayer for those who live with hunger for most of their lives.



A view from our morning walk to the Batey

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Greg & Cindy,

The idea of just sitting with my next hunger pang (or my next case of the "munchies" for that matter) and thanking God and being grateful is a great thought. I am so blessed and I need to remember that.

I still want to come & help out in any way I can (probably mainly comic relief )but I will need to change the time. I got laid off & am going back to school. So, I will be in school in January. I am reading the blog, and praying for you.

Love, and Peace and Blessings, Maria

Bardgeist said...

Bonito Amigos,
I believe that such an experience as yours would help any one of us be more appreciative of what "empty" means, and to live in the reality of it. Feeling hungry is a fearful thing. And this country may be the only nation on earth where a "grumbling" stomach is considered bad manners, and we say "excuse me" as it happens. God bless you muchly, Stephen & Janie

Anonymous said...

Hi Greg and Cindy,

I'm glad you are getting the necessities - Diet Coke and Beer! Is the Beer for you, Cindy???

Seriously, once again, thank you for the reality shot. We thank God everyday for the food we have, but I think we still have a tendancy to take it all for granted. Your stories bring it home for all of us following you.

You are such an inspiration and a perfect example of living life as close to Jesus' example as possible. Please continue to share your inspirational experiences with us!

May God continue to Bless both of you!

Take care,
Ryan

FL said...

Just stopping by to say hello Greg and Cindy! And, thank you for the work you are doing! Thank you for this site so that we may pray for you and experience a teeny bit of your life and sacrifice.
You both are such an inspirational blessing to many of us!

Michele

Dajiza said...

Greeting from PLCMC IT!!
Greg, you and your wife are doing a wonderful thing and I commend you. I look forward to experiencing your adventure through you and hope you have a safe and rewarding time.

James Bennett

Anonymous said...

Greg and Cindy -

Just wanted you to know that you are in our every thought and prayer. We thought of you a lot this weekend at the 20th Anniversary celebration for St. Luke's. It's people like you that make our parish what it is. Thank you for your continued inspiration and insight.
Love, The Bublitz Family

Noreen said...

Cindy & Greg
I was checking your blog this evening because I heard of a nasty storm that hit your area and I was hoping to see s sign that you are ok. As I sit here in the comfort of my own home watching TV and stuffing my face with chocolate chip cookies and reading about people (Children) going to bed hungry. It just make one stop and say thank you Lord for all I have.

My prayers are with you both and may God bless you.

Noreen,Mulligan,Robbie,Grover and Duke