As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.
Genesis 8:22
July - August 2024
Beauty from Ashes—Rebuilding Ukraine
Small Steps to Big Blessings You’ve Done Well
Hello Oatmeal . . . Welcome to the Pack! What’s New?
Updates and Upcoming Events
Dear fellow workers in Christ,
Our staff has fully moved into our new headquarters in Greensboro, NC, and into our new Burlington office. Now, we are transitioning into our new routines and preparing for the Open House and Packathon, which will take place September 4–7.
Ultimately, this move is not about the where but the why. Our headquarters changed locations to more effectively meet the growing needs through a better-equipped office, warehouse, and permanent packing space. This new facility will enable us to expand our outreach. Never forget: every meal packed and every Bible distributed changes a life. This is why we need to do more!
In the next year or two, we also plan to add a prayer room and a walkthrough experience where visitors can see representations of the unimaginable conditions where many at-risk children eat, sleep, learn, and worship.
We would LOVE for you to visit in September or whenever is convenient for you. We are excited for you to see in person what God is doing through your partnership, and we think you will be excited too. Until then, please check out our latest webcast, where you’ll see a tour of the new headquarters and interviews with our partners working on the Mexican border – feedthehunger.org/webcast.
Serving with you,
Joseph Williams, CEO
Feed the Hunger Hygiene Packs and Edu-Packs continue to meet critical needs around the globe, and our partners are requesting them by the thousands!
A Hygiene Packathon offers the same fun, hands-on experience you have come to expect from Feed the Hunger. If you love Packathons and would be interested in a new experience for your leadership, youth, or small group, please consider a Hygiene Packathon in addition to your food packing event. New to packing? This event is also a great way to introduce yourself to hosting a fun-filled Packathon that provides a great service opportunity for the entire family, ages 5 to 95!
Your contribution to Edu-Pack enables our team to assemble two critical solutions for a student’s academic success. Writing kits provide all the basic supplies needed for daily classroom use. These kits can be sponsored through your contribution, OR you can host your own Edu-Pack event! The complete bookbag provides a child with all the supplies necessary for an entire school year, including their own Bible! Your contribution of $20 sponsors the cost of a full bookbag and blesses a child with academic and spiritual development.
If you want to learn more about Hygiene Packs or Edu-Packs, please contact Vicky Stelling at vicky@feedthehunger.org.
In May, a Feed the Hunger team traveled across several areas of Ukraine with our ministry partner to serve communities in need. The trip provided a wonderful opportunity to engage with the people and hear how your prayers and support have directly impacted their lives. There was an outpouring of gratitude from men, women, and children as they stood in long lines, waiting to receive a meal pack, coat, or personal hygiene item. More than two years after the war began, the narrative is finally shifting. Many have suffered great loss but, courageously, are rebuilding their homes and lives with a resilience born out of suffering and aided by the hope found in Christ.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support for this hurting nation. Through your actions, you have shown the love of God to the blind and disabled, to the elderly and children, and to the displaced. You made it possible for Feed the Hunger to provide vital assistance to Ukrainians when they needed it most. With each meal pack and interaction, the expressions of appreciation and the glimmers of hope in the eyes of the recipients reflect the transformative power of your kindness.
Feed the Hunger partner Vitaliy Smolin will visit the US this September and is scheduled to speak at several churches in North Carolina (see dates and locations below). If you are in the area and interested in attending one of these special events, please contact the host location prior to attending, as dates and times are subject to change.
Lake Norman Baptist Church Huntersville 9/1 Feed the Hunger Greensboro 9/4 - 9/7 Berea Christian Church Elon 9/8 Growing Oaks Community Church Reidsville 9/15 Pinehurst United Methodist Church Pinehurst 9/16
Adams Farm Community Church Jamestown 9/22
St. Mark’s Community Church Burlington 9/29
Grove Park Baptist Church Burlington 9/29
La’atarigu Baptist Church in Ghana is the only functioning church in a village where most people are Muslim. This church was built with clay that had become broken and weak, making it unsafe for church members. Chris, our partner in Ghana, and his ministry have helped this community with educational support and have distributed Feed the Hunger meal packets to families. They helped the church rebuild by providing initial funding to cultivate a two-acre maize plantation. With the proceeds from the harvest and individual church member contributions, the project began.
A Feed the Hunger mission team visited the church in June 2023 and saw the need for a new building. Chris contacted us, hoping we could partner with him to help make the church safe for the 73 members to attend and worship. With the support of generous donors, we sent funding for the church’s completion. La’atarigu Church now has a children’s meeting room, an office for the pastor, and an auditorium for church meetings.
We are excited to share that Chris also plans to build a well near the church! There have been some challenges in getting the right equipment to this location to dig the wells because of poor road conditions. Thankfully, we received news that the trucks have made it to the church and have found water! With your support, this congregation will now have access to clean, safe drinking water. They will also be able to share this water with others in their village, and the hope is to share Christ with them as they come to the well. The well is currently under construction.
Scan the QR code to see the joyous moment water was found!
“We are so grateful to God for this support that we can also have a church building to worship our God. We are praying to God as the water project is finished. God bless you.”
—Pastor Joseph Adam
Feed the Hunger is excited to announce another food item in our lineup! Oatmeal (or breakfast porridge) is nutritionally rich and has lots of protein and minerals. The idea of this new meal option was well received in our partnering countries, and we look forward to providing another source of nourishment.
We listened to our partners and now offer a nutritious breakfast option. Our quick oats cook in minutes and deliver the carbohydrates, protein, and fiber that growing children need. Now lunch doesn’t have to be the only Feed the Hunger meal of the day!
Soy protein helps with muscle growth, and its mix of amino acids may increase verbal memory and help with learning. When paired with oats, soy provides a complete protein source for children and adults to thrive.
Dehydrated diced apples provide flavor and texture to oatmeal, plus a bit of extra fiber. And adding a fruit that’s popular with children only makes our Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal that much more appetizing!
Vitamins (Cinnamon Vita)
Cinnamon-flavored vitamin mix is the powerhouse of our Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal. Most children in our programs are between 3 and 10 years old, and our vitamin mix was created by food engineers especially to help starving children in that age group grow.
When you host a Packathon, you can match every box of food with the gift of spiritual nourishment for a child or new Christian. By choosing the “Bible per box” option, you will provide an age-appropriate Bible in the native language of the recipient. It’s a simple way to increase your impact and offer hope to those who are hurting. Ask about adding the gift of Bibles to your next Packathon, and make every box a double blessing!
Feed the Hunger is looking good these days with a fresh, new bag design for each of our five meal packets. The new and improved packaging has a window so the meal inside can be clearly seen, and the nutrition information has been updated to meet recently revised FDA standards. These colorful bags add a more cheerful vibe for all recipients, and this new look has proven to be more appealing to those receiving the meals through food pantries across the US.
2,000
Joseph L. Williams with Matthew S. Byrd
Feed the Hunger has a brand-new devotional entitled The Last 2,000: A Brief Journey through Time Since Jesus Left. Co-author Matthew Byrd summarized the new book by saying: “Relating the history of the church – with all its successes, failures, schisms, revivals and creeds – is impossible for one book to achieve, let alone a 30-day devotional. Yet it is critical for Christians to be aware of their own spiritual history. We pray this church history devotional will be a helpful resource in understanding the history of our faith, and we hope you will share it with others!” To view digitally visit feedthehunger.org/ the-last-2000 or scan the QR code.
Feed the Hunger hosted a “BUCKET BRIGADE” in May. This three-day community Packathon brought volunteers together to fill and seal 40 meal packets each (240 servings—the equivalent of a box of food) in heavy-duty plastic buckets for a longer shelf life. Thank you to every volunteer and supporter of this unique event for helping us pack 40,320 meals (168 buckets). Feed the Hunger is now equipped with an emergency food supply ready to distribute during a domestic or global crisis such as a pandemic, hurricane, or conflict.
Golf to Give Back 2024 kicked off in North Carolina on May 3 and wrapped up with a minigolf competition in Texas on June 7. The fourthannual event brought in over $16,000 dollars to provide more than 45,000 meals for hungry children around the world. Thank you to all event participants, sponsors, and supporters. Because of you, children will trade hunger for hope!
Special thanks to the following supporters:
Join us as we celebrate Feed the Hunger’s growth! We’re having an Open House at our new headquarters at 1200 E. Lindsay St. in Greensboro, NC. There will be a special ribbon-cutting and reception on Thursday, September 5, and lots of other exciting activities each day September 4–7, including having two of our ministry partners on site to share stories of your impact. Scan the QR code for more details about this special celebration and sign up for an Open House Packathon shift.
Together we will. . .
Explore new opportunities
Expand the outreach
Expect God to do BIG things!
Same format, different timing. We’ll continue to provide the same kinds of updates on YOUR impact and important ministry information in bigger bites. Look for the next edition of On the Go this October!
