BUY BREAD WITHOUT MONEY

I believe that churches everywhere can make a serious impact on poverty in their community. All you need is Jesus, some fish and bread and a table.

Consider this article from the Windsor Star. I would love to chat with you about how your church can start to change the face of poverty in your city.

Shining a light on Windsor homelessness

TEDIOUS BOREDOM & SHEER TERROR

I spoke with a man whose job was to drive locomotive through Northern Ontario. When asked what his job was like he said, “It is days of tedious boredom combined with moments of sheer terror.”  

So why had he devoted his adult life to the rails? 

Why do truckers endure the long haul and why do daycare workers put up with demanding parents and low pay?

Some work because it is a means to an end. They endure their job in order to pay the bills and put their kids through college. Still, others are engaged in their work (paid and unpaid) because they are compelled to. They have an inner sense of being in the right place. They see higher value than the task at hand.

Pastors, chaplains and community builders often have that inner sense. We name it ‘the call of God’. It may involve a ‘job’ that we do to pay the bills, but something deeper calls us to live each moment purposefully.

The call of God is a bit like the call of the sea. It may not be very specific. It may not be a call to this ocean or that ocean, or to this particular port or that one; it is more like a restless, yearning, which can only be satisfied by going to sea.[i]

A look at the men and women God called in Scripture reveals seasons of restless yearning and times of faith to take great risk. You find yourself somewhere in that continuum. Can you look at your current community and say that you are there by God’s choosing? It might be good to know that.

The qualifier that separates picking a career from responding to God’s Call is the sense that you must do this. It is your love response to the God who beckoned you to Himself.

‘It is God Who saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but to further His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began’ (2 Timothy 1:9).

When we struggle with contentment, challenge and uncertainty in our place of service we need to recall the First Call. The calling to be a disciple of Jesus is the highest calling that sustains you when your position becomes redundant, someone else is elected or you are unemployed.

God chooses to further His own purpose and grace through your life, in season and out.

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[i] A sermon preached by John Hull on February 4^th 2007 in the Chapel of the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham, to mark the end of a residential course on the Mission of the Church in Britain. www.johnmhull.biz/SermonTheCallOfGod.doc

DIALOGUE WITH YOUR MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT

The Ontario Election has passed, but not the issues that we need to dialogue with politicians about. Here's a good video that reminds us to keep our most vulnerable citizens on the radar.



Poverty Free Ontario from MetaMedia on Vimeo.

Ontario Election 2011- Education on Poverty Issues

Ask your politicians how their party will address key poverty issues.

Ontario Voters - Think On These Things

As the Ontario elections draw close, it is important for people of faith to vote for those who can address poverty issues.

Check out the website at www.faithtoendpoverty.ca

Also, to hear what various politicians have to say on related matters, check this link:

http://povertyfreeontario.blogspot.com/2011/09/ontario-political-party-leaders-in.html

FORGOTTEN HARVEST

New Song Church is a depot for Forgotten Harvest. It is a food rescue charity that delivers fresh produce weekly for distribution to the community. This week was several hundred pounds of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. We invite you to come on Thursday afternoons from 3-5 p.m. and days following until Sunday 1 p.m.

Comments from recipients of fresh produce:

"Wow! Fresh tomatoes... I can't remember the last time I had any. I just cannot afford them."

"I took enough to share and distributed to 14 households. Thanks for letting me help others."

"I went home and made stuffed peppers for my family's supper. I had enough peppers that I was able to freeze the rest."

I personally have seen people eating peppers and cucumbers raw the way we eat apples. Thank you to the farmers and Forgotten Harvest for reducing poverty and increasing nutrition.

ISARC Faith to End Poverty - Video 1: Employment

How will residents of Ontario vote this fall? Participate with faith communities in a sign blitz to let politicians know that faith responds to poverty.

More at www.faithtoendpoverty.ca