Dear Family of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Hello! How are you? We are praying for you all! This is Kelly Snelgrove, bringing you the CUP today at For God’s Glory Alone Ministries – fggam.org – your source for Christian news and inspiration.
October is Pastor Appreciation Month and my family and I would like to thank the pastors in our lives. Pastor Dewey Moede, Pastor Brandon Shaffer, Pastor Leonard Navarre and Pastor Kyle Worley. Thank you for being true to the Word, for reflecting Jesus and for being such a blessing in our lives! You are all appreciated so much! We thank all pastors for their faithfulness!
I am also writing you today of a heartfelt concern I have for the hungry and impoverished. I would like to share with you some statistics, scripture and an outreach my church began in order to address hunger in a new and different way in our community.
“In many ways, America is the land of plenty. But for 1 in 6 people in the United States, hunger is a very real struggle. Many people believe that the problems associated with hunger are confined to small pockets of society, certain areas of the country, or certain neighborhoods, but the reality is much different.
Right now, millions of Americans are at risk of hunger. These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot always make ends meet and may be forced to go without food.” -Feeding America
According to Patricia Harris, former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, “If all of America’s 25 million poor people lived in one state, it would be the nation’s largest.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), 15.8 million children under 18 in the United States live in households where they are unable to consistently access enough nutritious food necessary for a healthy life.
I would like to specifically address child hunger in our nation today as there is an increased vulnerability and potential for long-term consequences for children who are under-nourished.
Good nutrition, especially in the first three years of life, is very important for establishing a good foundation for physical and mental growth.
What about our school-aged children who are facing hunger?
Many rely on the free/reduced meals available at their school, but when the weekend or a holiday arrives many of these children may have little or no food at home. On Monday mornings, they arrive back at school unable to learn because they are hungry. Their lack of nutritious food impacts their behavior, academic performance and cognitive development. Hunger leaves lasting physical and emotional effects. As a result, hungry children cannot develop into their full potential to become healthy, successful and productive adults and are more likely to face poverty as an adult.
In the Fall of 2012, Brandon Shaffer, Lead Pastor of Valley View Christian Church, Edgewood, NM asked if I would organize and lead a weekend backpack program for hungry children in need. With prayer, financial support, faithful volunteers and God’s blessing it came together. This is one of many ways our church reaches out to our neighbors and community through Unleash Compassion Ministries, led by Pastor Leonard Navarre.
In January 2013, Pastor Brandon Shaffer sent out an email to our Valley View Christian Church Family. I would like to share a portion of that email with you:
Dear Valley View Family,
You’re Awesome. One of the things I love about our church is that whenever a need is laid out people step up to the plate. A few months ago I presented an idea that God put on my heart. I let you all know through a message that I felt God was leading us as a church to begin addressing hunger in a new and different way. It was just an idea about filling backpacks full of food to send home with kids on Fridays so they will be able to eat on the weekend. There was nothing concrete, no plan, no team, no structure to make anything happen. But something amazing happened that day—people started giving that day. People also started volunteering and dreaming. Backpacks were donated from outside the church. God truly began moving.
Children are identified and selected to participate in Valley View’s Weekend Backpack Program by the school’s social workers, counselors, teachers and school nurses.
The children take the food filled backpack home every Friday and return it to the school on Monday morning to be refilled by our team of dedicated volunteers.
In the backpack are a variety of food items that are child friendly and shelf stable that require no refrigeration. What is unique about Valley View’s Weekend Backpack Program is it provides meals not only for the child but for their family as well.
As we stand in the gap to fill this hunger need we are offering the children a better opportunity and relief for a family struggling to make ends meet.
We receive positive feedback and words of gratefulness from the parents, children, school staff and community. We are receiving requests to expand to additional schools as this program continues to make a community impact.
Last week a thank you note was tucked in the pocket of one of the children’s backpacks. A child’s artwork– a heart, rainbow, sun, flower and a happy face unfolded. And penned inside by a grateful mama were these words:
Dear Valley View Christian Church,
You’re Responsible! For the Stars in My Eyes… How fantastic that you are able to do this for us and so many others! You strengthen our faith and remind us of how important it is to remember that God truly does provide a way for us every day!
Thank you!
God truly does provide a way for of us– each and every day!
You are our Provider! Thank You, Father, for Your provision in our lives and the lives of these children and their families! Amen!
It is Christ’s love for us and our love for Him that drives us into action to meet the needs of the poor, hungry, helpless, and the oppressed. It is this action of love and compassion that makes for a powerful witness as we apply His Word to our society.
A Selection of Biblical Summons We Have to Serve the Poor
Galatians 2:10 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Psalm 41:1 Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the LORD delivers them in times of trouble.
Proverbs 14:31 Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 21:13 Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.
Matthew 10:42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Matthew 18:5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.
1 Corinthians 13:3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Isaiah 58:10-11 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Matthew 25:37-40 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
For Him,
Kelly Snelgrove
More from FGGAM News and Inspiration:
Texas Health Care Worker Isolated on Cruise Ship Over Possible Ebola Contact Wire Service
Islamic State Training Fighter Pilots in Three Jets Wire Service
Man Told to Take Down American Flags, Public Rallies Around Him and Veterans! From Dewey and Wire Service
Three Arrested, Accused of Killing Houston Middle School Student With Machete From Houston TV
Accepting Criticism By Pastor Steve Stucker, Welcome Steve!
What is Most Important? By Pastor Leonard Navarre
“Stephen’s Gate” – “THE HOLY SPIRIT: THE CHURCH’S KEY TO UNLOCKING DOORS” By Stephen Young
Please pray for Dewey, he will be Preaching at the Reserve Baptist Church this Sunday at 11am. If you live in the area and do not have a home Church please come! Please pray for Dewey’s message, that it be of God and not of Dewey, that is how he always asks us to pray. AMEN!
Here is Pastor Dewey’s latest sermon, delivered last Sunday at Revive Church in Rio Rancho…..
Sermon Podcast ‘Loving Others’ Part 1 By Pastor Dewey Moede – 10-12-14
For God’s Glory alone in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey, Sharon, Family and FGGAM Team
Let us keep praying for our families and neighbors!
And all of God’s people said, AMEN!
