THIS MEANS WAR!!!

Last night, several of us from the church went to help out again at the Hunger Garden. It's a garden run completely on donations and volunteer labor, with all the produce (over 26,000 lb as of last week) going to our county's food bank. Last night, as everyone else was getting ready to leave, 2 enthusiastic young men were sprinting through the field trying to pick as much produce as they could before the sun went down. At one point, one of them yelled out, "We're going to win the war between people and hunger!!!"

This child, perhaps 11 or 12 years old, gets it. He understands that hunger can be conquered. We say we're fighting hunger, but usually we're realistic about it -- it will always exist, we say. But I think this boy really believes we can win the war. He really believes hunger can be stamped out, eliminated, conquered, killed, completely obliterated, however you want to say it. That, my friends, is the faith of a child. No wonder Jesus keeps looking at children as a model for faith. Children still believe in the things that we should never have given up on, like winning the war between people and hunger. I wish I could be more like that boy.

In the Garden

Last night, Lisa organized a trip to the Hunger Garden in nearby Madison. The Hunger Garden is a couple acres of land donated by a local farmer to the Westmoreland County Food Bank. It is run and farmed completely by volunteers, grows many different crops, and 100% of the crops produced are distributed through the food bank to the hungry in our midst. It is a wonderful project on so many levels -- feeding the poor, practicing environmental stewardship by distributing locally grown food, tithing of land by one individual, the work of many to be the hands and feet of Christ, etc.

Our congregation (average Sunday attendance: 61) took 11 people last night on the first of hopefully many trips to the Hunger Garden. We spent about 2.5 hours farming, then grabbed ice cream together on the way home. Among those 11 were 4 youth, 2 of whom were confirmed in worship just one day earlier. These two girls, Natalie and Alex, professed their faith, remembered their baptism, and promised to support Christ's holy church with their time and resources. Then they wasted no time in literally getting down and dirty for the kingdom, right next to fellow brothers and sisters from all over the area that had come to plant hope at the garden.

What a witness! I could not be more proud of Natalie, Alex, and the rest of our group than I am right now. This morning I sit in my office, beaming with the joy at the miracle I witnessed last night. Moments like last night give me hope to live out another day as a member of the body of Christ. This congregation has a future filled with hope. This region has a future filled with hope. This world has a future filled with hope. And God's kingdom has a future filled with hope. Now we wait for the harvest to come, where that hope will finally be fulfilled.