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SBC Life Articles

Kids B.E.A.T.ing World Hunger


Lights, Camera, Action!

The youth group of the First Baptist Church of Pulaski, Tenn., found themselves in the movies recently. They are the stars of a new video production that is part of the new cutting edge retreat kit, B.E.A.T. Hunger (Believers Everywhere ATtack Hunger).

Retreat activities include Bible studies, direct involvement in hunger ministry, a period of fasting, and an opportunity to educate the church as to the plight of the poor and hurting. Through it, young people discover the vital need for supporting the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund and the various ways to do so.

Part of the retreat features a hunger banquet for parents of the youth. At the Pulaski banquet, one member commented, “We did not know how the hunger funds worked until now.” Many Baptists are unaware that hunger ministries receive no funding from the Cooperative Program or the Lottie Moon or Annie Armstrong Offerings.

Through the B.E.A.T. Hunger retreat young people like those at FBC Pulaski’s find how they can personally make a life-saving difference in someone’s life. Because Southern Baptists already have personnel in place, 100 percent of gifts to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund are used for hunger ministry with nothing taken out for administration or promotion. For $20 per month, some private charities will sponsor one child. But that same $20 goes significantly farther when given to the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund.

• For $12, a North Korean famine victim can be fed for one year;

• for $3.40, milk can be provided to a hungry infant in Argentina for one month;

• for $1.05, a fifteen pound food parcel can be given to a needy family in Washington, DC;

• for $2.50, groceries for twenty meals can be provided to needy families in Memphis, Tenn.;

• and for $1.00, eight hot meals can be served to homeless people in Miami, Fla.

All that totals $19.95.

The retreat encourages participants to develop a lifestyle of “gleaning” as taught in Leviticus 19:9-10; that is, giving regular and systematic support for the poor. This can be done through the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund through the use of change canisters, rice bowl banks, or through Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund envelopes, all of which are available from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Through the retreat, young people also see how seeds planted through the Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund have born spiritual fruit. In Northern India, six years of hunger ministry through agricultural training has resulted in the start of nearly 600 new churches.

The retreat kit includes a video, leader’s guide, promotional posters, and sponsorship receipt books. They will be available this fall from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

For further information or to order a B.E.A.T. Hunger kit, call the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission at (615) 244-2495, Fax (615) 242-0065, or e-mail at ERLC.com.

“Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself and shall not be heard.” Proverbs 21:13

    About the Author

  • Steven S. Nelson