On a Sunday afternoon, one thing most families looking forward to enjoying is time spent with family eating a meal. Sometimes this may be a Sunday roast dinner and/or rice and peas and chicken. Whatever your desire, it is great to be able to enjoy such a thing, often in the Western world, taken for granted by some. I mean, imagine waking up but not smelling the usual aroma of that Sunday roast being prepared in the oven, or sitting at the table and nothing being presented or worst still, looking for evidence of some shopping being done and finding none!
This week in the midst of various world, national and local news 50 million people in Africa face famine as crops failed after one of the worst El~Nino in over 30 years. What is an El~Nino? An El~Nino is when the water in the Pacific reaches abnormally warm temperatures, and it’s effects are longlasting and far-reaching affecting the weather and crops.
Many countries in the African continent face immediate famine or food shortages, such as Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Swaziland, Syria, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo and many others. These countries facing this dire situation fear the United Nations international summit may not pledge enough help in time to avoid this crisis taking its toll on the lives of vulnerable men, women and children facing starvation. When crops fail, unless help is afforded, people may starve and die.
In the Scripture we are taught “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Luke 3:11. We are instructed to give out of what we have, from our surplus and not from what we don’t have.
It was Mahatma Gandhi who famously said, “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
This week, and the times ahead, as we sit to enjoy our meals, be it small or great, let us offer a thought for those in need….and let us do something to help.