When did we see you hungry and not give you food?

Then the righteous will say to him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food?” -- Matthew 25:37

The headline read, “World hunger reaches 1 billion mark” - and I never got any further in praying for the news this week.

Lord, when did we see you hungry, and not give you food?

The global financial meltdown has pushed the ranks of the world’s hungry to a record 1 billion, an increase of 100 million over last year. One billion. That’s one out of six people in the world.

Lord, when did we see you hungry, and not give you food?

Pray the rest of this prayer (you will need a Yahoo Id

Good (no, great ) Coffee, Good (no, great) Cause

1. Would you like to reach out to neighbors overseas not only with prayers and offerings but also by the products you purchase?

2. Would you like to know for sure that more of the money you spend on coffee goes to the hardworking farmers who grow it?

3. Would you like to know that the coffee you drink has been grown with care for the stewardship of the natural environment?

4. Would you like to save some money on your purchase of fair trade organic coffee (compared to prices in most supermarkets)?

5. Would you like to know that your coffee purchase will help guarantee that farmers will earn the income they need to feed their families, educate their children, and improve their communities?

6. Do you have a pulse?

If you can answer “yes” to at least one of these questions, check out the Presbyterian Coffee Project. Try a package from the presbytery —better yet, organize a project at your church! More info at www.pcusa.org/coffee

Food Crisis, Agribusiness Accountability & Pigs

Whether or not you are taking part in the PC(USA) churchwide fast, July's fast materials are right on target for helping to understand issues related to food here in the U.S.

The fast materials explore the role of agribusiness in the food system and its relation to the food crisis. Pigs will be the teachers as we reflect how they are produced. By the end of this minicurriculum,
prayer, and discussion, you should be able to answer questions such as:

• Does agribusiness (large companies which increasingly control more and more of the
industry) produce them sustainably and humanely?

• Are there other models of production? And what are the positives and negatives?

• How do we engage to make our food system better?

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Would you like to make a positive difference every time you drink a cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate or eat an organic chocolate bar? The Presbyterian Coffee Project makes it easy by offering a special link to help us reach out to neighbors overseas not only with our prayers and offerings but with the goods and products we purchase.

Why is this so important? Show the film "Black Gold" in your congregation, which features coffee production in Ethiopia and the farmers in the Oromia Cooperative. Or watch it online Black Gold:

Then a Miracle Occurs

Do you believe in miracles? And did you ever wonder exactly when does a miracle occur? Something happened late last week. It was the culmination of years of work by many people. What was the miracle? Were there more than one? When did it happen? I'd like to hear what you think!

There is a cartoon called "Then a miracle occurs" in which a "rubber meets the sky" type of person has drawn a flowchart with a box that says "then a miracle occurs" to make his vision happen. [if you want to see this, you have to google it] Next to him is a "rubber meets the road" guy who says, "I think you should be more explicit here in step 2." Having been a "rubber meets the road" type who works for a vision of something better, I always appreciate when miracles occur. A miracle happened last week when the Coalition of Imokalee Workers signed an agreement with Burger King to improve farmworkers' wages and enforce human rights standards in the fields.

And I think it's worth celebrating that Monmouth Presbytery helped to make it happen. About 50 people who attended meetings at the Presbytery Center added their signatures to a petition that was delivered to Burger King headquarters last month. Plus there were all those students at Rutgers University who signed up at a table I had at their Tent State University. And, of course, PC(USA) leaders like Clifton Kirkpatrick and Linda Valentine. We are part of that miracle!

May 23, 2006 – Today, the CIW and Burger King Corporation signed an agreement to improve farmworkers’ wages and enforce human rights standards in the fields!

A signing ceremony and press conference took place in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Capitol, hosted by Senator Bernie Sanders.

Your prayers, your participation in marches, the incredible number of signatures you garnered in the petition campaign, and your ongoing letters and emails to Burger King made this victory possible.

We read in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Through faith we know that this agreement is a harbinger of that soon-coming day, when the entire fast-food and grocery industry will embrace these human rights standards, and farmworkers will enjoy a fair wage and humane working conditions. As we celebrate this human rights victory, let us also renew our comittment to keep walking together with the CIW until we see that day dawns.

• Read a related story by the Presbyterian News Service: Burger King and CIW strike deal – PC(USA)-backed farmworkers will receive higher wages, improved work conditions

Growing Food Crisis - Prayers for those who suffer, Prayers for Guidance

I received the following message from Andrew Kang Bartlett of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Please pray for those who suffer and for guidance on what we can do to respond. For starters on a response, I highly recommend the Bread for the World meetings we are holding on April 30.

"I'm sure you've been hearing about the growing food crisis (as if 25,000 people dying daily from hunger and hunger-related disease was not already a crisis of epic proportions!) due to increases in food prices. The short piece from the Globe and Mail gives a stark glimpse of this.

"I believe that we need to think, pray and work together to come up with the best strategies (that we can connect to and/or devise ourselves) for dealing with this. As the article mentions, higher prices could be with us for a long time - and it is estimated that for every 1% rise in food prices, worldwide 16 million more people become hungry.

"Please pray for those who are suffering. And let us pray for guidance about what our responses should be. Please share your thoughts and ideas!"