The first of four packing sessions over a two-day period at Genoa Church in Westerville, Ohio
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I heard some statistics recently on the news that caught my attention. Of course, I don't remember the source, and I certainly wasn't able to backtrack my memory and locate the numbers. But, I remember being shocked. Somewhere in the vicinity of one in ten people around the world goes to bed hungry every night. Every night! I'm not sure if I have ever gone to bed hungry, ever!
It might have happened on rare occasions when my dad wanted me to eat fried okra. I wouldn't do it then and I won't do it now. My dad was no match for his stubborn son. I would gladly go to bed without supper if it meant I didn't eat okra. If you had parents like mine, you might have heard these same words, "Eat your food! There are starving children in Africa." I never missed a beat. I'd scoot the plate in my parents' direction and say, "Send this food to them."
I obviously spent a lot of time in my room.
Anyway, back to the statistics, I felt the need to research a little further and see just how "rich" I truly am. That's a four-letter-word that I've never used to describe myself. I spend a lot of time feeling like a starving artist, but that just isn't a true statement when life in the United States is compared to the rest of the world. Around the globe, the median income is somewhere between $2,100 and $2,800 per year. That's nearly impossible to comprehend unless you've traveled around the world to some of the places that I've been to and seen this truth up close and personally. And, if that's the mean, there are many people who exist on a whole lot less.
After a little research, I found statistics that shocked me even more. Add up the value of all your clothes, trinkets, that most treasured possession, and the junk in the back of your closet. If it equals $1000, you are among the top 69% of the world's wealthiest citizens. Do you know anyone who is not among this group? If your calculations reach the $10,000 mark, you are among the top 32%. My last number to humble you is $100,000. If you calculated that total, it puts you in the top 9% of the world's wealthiest people. And, I learned that if you are in this group, a mere 1% of your income could feed a family in Ethiopia for a year.
Deng Leek Deng and Lyle Mullins of Heaven Sent MinistriesDoes any of this make you want to help someone other than yourself? It did me, and very fortunately, I had the opportunity to do just that. Last year, my church sponsored an event to send food to people in Ukraine with an organization called Heaven Sent Ministries. This year, a second weekend was set aside to pack up containers of food, this time for South Sudan. The closest I've ever been to South Sudan was neighboring Ethiopia and Uganda. In all of my travels, I've never been to a place as war-torn as this corner of Africa.
Heaven Sent Ministries brought one of their employees, Deng Leek Deng, from South Sudan, to the packing event. Rarely have I ever met someone who so instantly inspired me by his story. South Sudan has been at war most of Deng Leek Deng's life. There have been two civil wars, ethnic cleansing, human rights abuses, killings, torture, rebellion, and atrocities. And, this gentle man still lives there. His wife and children reside in Uganda where school is available in a secure environment. He takes the 12-hour bus to visit his family once every two or three months.
I didn't need to know anything else about the guy to respect him, but the founder of Heaven Sent Ministries, Lyle Mullins, shared one more tidbit. Every day, before doing any kind of work, Deng Leek Deng goes to his church to pray. He has a vehicle that belongs to Heaven Sent Ministries, but the guy doesn't want to use the project's gasoline for his personal needs. He walks to church, one hour in each direction! Before he finished speaking, this man from South Sudan wanted to pray for the 120 volunteers who gathered to assemble packages of food for his people.
The prayers should have gone in the other direction!
Creating meal pouches of soy, spices, vitamins and rice.I'm not anything if not a creature of habit. Last year, for both of the sessions when I packed food, I weighed the packets of soy, vitamins, spices, and rice to be sure each bag was approximately 400 grams. So, it should come as no surprise that I headed back to the scales again. But, this time, instead of two people working the scales, there were three. It was just so much easier to handle. In fact, it was so easy that I took a break to take some photographs.
My mama didn't raise no fool. Last year, I didn't bring my camera. I wanted a couple of photos for my blog. So, I asked the local newspaper if I could take a few still images from a video they shot. Of course, they gave me permission -- for $150 per photo! Obviously, I didn't use those stills. And, even more obviously, this go around, I was prepared with my own camera.
After taking my photos, I returned to the scales. However, the group of five women who prepared the bags that I weighed had a better idea. They suggested I join them as a second bagger. I held a plastic bag under a funnel to collect the goodies that went into each meal pouch. With two baggers at work, the whole experience was so much quicker. And, honestly, I'll never volunteer to weigh those bags ever again. The five women were so very much more fun. We laughed, joked, shared, got to know each other, and spilled not a small amount of rice, spice, and other nutrients along the way. I was so very surprised how quickly the two hours passed. So very fast!
The goal of the session, of course, was to package food for those in need. Instead of boxes, this time five-gallon plastic buckets with lids were each stuffed with 30 sealed meals. Why buckets? They were so much more useful after the shipments of food were delivered. Those buckets could be used for hauling water, taking baths, storing supplies, and even as additional seating for the home. They were a lasting reminder of the gift of life that the buckets originally contained. After all, each of those plastic bags of rice had enough supplies to feed a family of six.
As we packed the meals during our two-hour shift, the shipping container arrived at the church's parking lot. It would soon head by boat to Africa on a journey that would take two to three months. It's not an exact science. You never really know about delays and time schedules in distant shores that lack peace and security that we all too often take for granted. The shipping container will arrive in Mombasa, Kenya, before taking the two-week overland journey to South Sudan. When it arrives at its final destination, my favorite person from South Sudan, Deng Leek Deng, will meet the container and set about distributing the life-saving food to people so desperate to receive it. That food could be in no better hands.
And, there will be no okra in the shipment.
A quick break with five women who had a better idea
