Thought for the Week - 16th October 2022

 

Dear Friends, 

16th October is celebrated each year as World Food Day, and it commemorates the establishment in 1945 of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. The aim of the day is to raise awareness of the matters of poverty, hunger and food security, and to look at ways and solutions to address these issues. Organisations including the World Food Programme, the World Health Organisation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development all organise activities concerned with the quality and quantity of food in the world. Each year World Food Day has a theme and this year it is ‘Leave NO ONE behind’. Millions of people all over the world are unable to afford a healthy diet and are thus at a higher risk of malnutrition. The charity Action against Hunger tells us that globally almost 1 in 10 people don’t have enough food to eat and that 43 million people in 38 countries around the world are at risk of falling into famine or a severe hunger crisis. Even when there is enough food being produced to meet the world’s demands, the problem is availability of nutritious food, and that 3.1 billion people can’t afford a healthy, nutritious diet. The situation is further aggravated by the challenges the world faces including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war between Russia and Ukraine and other conflicts, climate change, inequalities, rising food and energy prices and other international situations. World Food Day is an opportunity to raise this global problem through conferences, exhibitions and festivals in schools and colleges, universities, research agencies and NGOs, as communities come together to highlight this increasing and complex situation.

Grace and peace,

Neil

       A Prayer for World Food Day

God of abundance, you entrust to our care your gift of creation, our common home. Open our ears to hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. God of justice, you show us how to live in gratitude and solidarity. Open our mouths to speak out, challenging greed and inequality, and standing up for all among us in desperate need of food. God of hope, you share with us your vision of a world renewed. Open our hearts to compassion. As we hold before you the hungry and poor of the world, may your kingdom come and your will be done, that food may be plentiful for all. AMEN.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Week - 28th January 2024

Dear Friends, In 1985 the Congregational minister and hymn writer Fred Kaan reflected on ‘For the healing of the nations’ saying, ‘Of all the hymns that I have written, this is the text that has been more widely reprinted and incorporated in major hymnbooks than any other’. It was first used in 1965 and it expresses something of the deep longing and desire for peace and reconciliation, for God’s justice to be known, and for an end to all conflict and violence. Fred Kaan was a committed pacifist and, in an obituary, following his death in 2009 at the age of 80, it read, ‘His theology reflected a God committed to and immersed in a world crying out to be set free from every form of injustice. Fred’s poetry centred on a Jesus who embraced the whole of creation and excluded no one and nothing from his love. In Fred, the Christian peace movement found its voice.’                                      Grace and peace, Neil         1.   For the healing of the nations,                     
Read more

Thought for the Week - 29th October 2023

Dear Friends,  Today we are celebrating two things, firstly it is the Bible Society’s Bible Sunday, a day when we can give thanks to God for the scriptures and echo the apostle Paul’s words, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timohty 3:16-17). And secondly, as a church we are celebrating the 140 th Church Anniversary of Beckenham Baptist Church, founded in 1883 as Elm Road Chapel, the opening services took place on Wednesday 31st October – 9.30am Prayer Meeting, 2.45pm Public Service, 4.45pm a Meeting in the Chapel, and at 6.30pm another Public Service – with various Baptist luminaries of the day in attendance. The public reading of the Scriptures has always been at the heart of all we do as a Christian community, for it is there that we can hear the stories of the Bible and reflect upon our own place in God’s never-ending story of c
Read more

Thought for the Week - 14/11/2021

Dear Friends, This last week I have attended the Order for Baptist Ministry’s yearly Convocation which took place online over two days. I’ve been associated with the Order for several years and last year, at another online Convocation, I took my vows and commitments which are to live a life of prayer and discipleship, to covenant to maintain community in Christ with the Order, and to live a life according to the rule of life that the Order offers. Part of this is the saying of a Daily Office which includes these words under the title, Reflecting on our Roots . ‘Living God, enable us this day to be pilgrims and companions: committed to the way of the Christ, faithful to the call of Christ, discerning the mind of Christ, offering the welcome of Christ, growing in the likeness of Christ, engaging in the mission of Christ, in the world that belongs to Christ.’ The Convocation this year focused on being attentive to God, in the rhythms of grace in our vulnerability, to the world and plan
Read more