Daily Bread

When we pray for daily bread in the Lord's Prayer, we pray for “us”. Do we also remember to pray for the daily bread for each and every child of God? Do we do more than pray? During this Lenten season, what is your congregation doing to remind members that not everyone in the world gets enough - or any - daily bread?

Many of our congregations have ongoing collections of foodstuffs for their local food shelves. Have you invited the director of that local food shelf to come to speak to your adult education group? How about to your youth group? My congregation recently did so and learned that the increase in usage in our area is even higher than we had thought so, of course, the need for food resources increases also. You may find this true in your neighborhood, too.

My congregation works with Feed My Starving Children annually to host a mobile pack at our church. We will be doing this in early May this year, working with friends, neighbors, local businesses, schools and other congregations. As people are signing up for shifts to pack food, this would be a good time to make use of a wonderful educational resource from the ELCA. It’s titled Daily Bread: A Discussion Guide for Meal Packing Events. Using this guide prior to the packing event can help people better understand the need for relief but also the need for sustainable development. With fun activities, prayers and stories based on real-life situations, this guide will help your group have deep, meaningful conversations about hunger, service and what it means to be church for the sake of the world. Find this and more ELCA World Hunger resources at www.elca.org/Resources/ELCA-World-Hunger.

Vernita Kennen

Incarnation Lutheran, Shoreview