This morning as I scrolled through my facebook page I came across a post from World Vision called Federal budget: broad, long-term thinking is needed.  This quickly caught my attention because I am currently thinking about our upcoming 30 Hour Famine.  This is an event where our 7th-12th grade students go 30 hours without eating to raise awareness about world hunger and money to fight against it.

Well the article spends some time talking about how our government uses a small portion of our tax dollars for humanitarian aid around the world.  Well the amount is actually less than one half of one percent and it is facing a potential 40% cut.  The situation around the world is already bad (more than 24,000 die everyday because of poverty related diseases – 8,000 are children under the age of 5), but it will undoubtedly become worse if these cuts go through.

Please take some time to pray, and read the article I linked above.  Below is a small excerpt.  Secondly, contact your members of Congress.  Thirdly, take action.  I believe the Church needs to step up and make a difference no matter what our government does.  Will you consider giving to fight world hunger and support our Famine?

Tommy

The following is written by Rich Stearns, president, World Vision U.S.

“I had a fascinating discussion this week in New York. I was with my CEO counterparts from leading humanitarian aid organizations such as Save the Children, Mercy Corps, and Oxfam. We meet twice a year to discuss various issues related to aid. The topic of greatest concern to us this week is the cuts to the State Department and USAID budgets.

This is an important issue because it directly affects the amount of funding available to help children and families in the poorest and, often, most unstable regions of the world. But, as I’ll argue in a moment, this is about more than saving innocent lives—it’s also about preventing political unrest and violence. (more…)