A Cross of Iron

Have you ever heard of the Poverty and Justice Bible?

I really like it.  I got it through World Vision and it was a great "purchase."

It has a section that discusses what the Bible says on certain things, like job wages, women and war.

The one on war has always got to me and I wanted to share a quote that is in that section.  It's a line from President Eisenhower's "Cross of Iron" speech.

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.

I was thinking about this quote and about the crisis in the Horn of Africa.  The WFP was reporting that Congress is looking to cut aid by 75% for food in areas of hunger.  I know that many people have also read that the reason Somalia's famine is so bad is not just (or even mainly) because of lack of rain, but because of conflict, of militants who refuse to not only get help for their people, but who refuse to even admit that their people are hungry.

So what can we do?  Well, I'm not sure.  Other than prayer, I'm not sure.  But we have hope - hope that God will save us, hope that hearts will turn and that someone, on either side of the world understands the implications of war.  We can stand with the poor and whisper to those in power the needs of the world and hope that they hear.

If you would like to help those effected by war:
Collateral Repair Project - supporting Iraqi Refugees
SOA Watch - a group working to close the School of Americas that trains South Americans and is often tied to human rights abuses.

If you would like to help those devastated by famine:
World Vision
World Food Program

Day 6: Shhh!

Be quiet, rice!  He's sleeping!

For being the day of rest, I will be getting none of it. (Which explains why we're having breakfast rice today)  Which, normally, would be somewhat all right.  But since my immune system is a bit weak at the moment, I'm feeling like I'm dragging.  Could it be from the rice diet, not getting enough vitamins?  Or a lack of sleep?  I'm not sure, but I can say that I'm already hungry and I JUST finished my bowl less than 3 minutes ago.

REST today, if you can!  :)
_____________________________________________________________________________

I've been feeling guilty lately.  I have realized how much food I've thrown out and I've tried to stop.  But as I throw away the half-eaten salad I got yesterday, even though I know that I don't eat salads, I have to stop and think.  How much food does America waste?  Here are some statistics:

-According to America’s Second Harvest, over 41 billion pounds of food have been wasted this year.
-According to a 2004 study from the University of Arizona (UA) in Tucson, on average, American households waste 14 percent of their food purchases.
Fifteen percent of that includes products still within their expiration date but never opened. Timothy Jones, an anthropologist at the UA Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology who led the study, estimates an average family of four currently tosses out $590 per year, just in meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products.


Nationwide, Jones says, household food waste alone adds up to $43 billion, making it a serious economic problem.


- Official surveys indicate that every year more than 350 billion pounds of edible food is available for human consumption in the United States. Of that total, nearly 100 billion pounds - including fresh vegetables, fruits, milk, and grain products - are lost to waste by retailers, restaurants, and consumers.

Day 2: Ash Wednesday

...for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." - Genesis 3:19

I was at first hesitant to add a cross to my rice for today (Lawry's salt, if you were wondering), but I have one on my forehead, I can have one on my rice.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of a journey for me, every year.  Most years I give up things.  I guess I have this year, but I feel like I'm gaining more.  And I feel like this rice month is a journey for me.  I'm learning so much about hunger and poverty.

I think I'm going to share with you both my rice and what I'm learning.  Let's all learn together!  I will say: Lawry's seasoning salt is a great addition to my rice.

Here's what I learned today:
On March 6th, 60 Minutes profiled child poverty in Florida.  In one of the segments, a small group of children in Florida talk about how they often go to bed hungry and how they feel that it's their fault, that their families would be better off if they didn't have to pay for them.

These are the faces of the statistics from yesterday.

Hard Times Generation: Homeless Kids
For some children, socializing and learning are being cruelly complicated by homelessness, as Scott Pelley reports from Florida, where school buses now stop at motels for children who've lost their homes.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7358670n&tag=contentMain%3BcbsCarousel#ixzz1G7T6PLUX

Day 1: In The Beginning...

(Side note: That's an appropriate title, especially since that was my Lenten reading for today.)

So I'm starting NOW!  According to Oxfam, 50% of the world eats only rice or another staple food for dinner, so I've decided that for 30 days (though it may be part of my Lenten journey now too) that I'll eat only rice for one meal a day and donate the money that I would have spent on groceries to these children that we met in Ethiopia.  The school that they go to is run solely on charity (since a free education isn't available in Ethiopia or many other countries) and the only meals that they receive during the day are at the school.

Here are some hunger facts from Bread For The World and Feeding America:

- In 2008, nearly 9 million children died before they reached their fifth birthday. One third of these deaths are due directly or indirectly to hunger and malnutrition. Malnutrition is not having enough nourishing food, with adequate amounts of protein, vitamins, minerals and calories to support physical and mental growth and development. Children who survive early childhood malnutrition suffer irreversible harm—including poor physical growth, compromised immune function, and impaired cognitive ability.


- Despite years of progress against hunger, in 2010, it is estimated that 925 million people suffer from hunger. This is due to a sudden spike in global food prices and the onset of a world-wide economic crisis. United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation


- 20% or more of the child population in 16 states and D.C. are living in food insecure households.  The states of Arkansas (24.4 percent) and Texas (24.3 percent) have the highest rates of children in households without consistent access to food. (Cook, John, Child Food Insecurity in the United States: 2006-2008.