Talk Together and
Take the Next Step
by Laura McDaniel

“Mom, you will talk to anyone – you don’t know a stranger”, are often the words out of my son Patrick’s mouth. He’s right, especially when I learn about or have the opportunity to share new ideas that effect Kingdom change. During a conversation about 8 months ago Dr. Jim Baucom, Senior Pastor of Columbia Baptist Church, told me about “Spend Yourself”, an innovative hunger initiative spawned by the passion of Cindy Fisher, a lay leader at Columbia. (Please read the full story in the February 12, 2009 issue of the Religious Herald.) When he asked if WMUV and VBMB would be interested in partnering with this local church movement, “yes!” was the immediate response.

I believe God continually asks us to “kick it up a notch”, to take the next steps that will make a radical difference in the world for Christ. Addressing physical and spiritual hunger is critical during these days, and we need to be a part of creating sustainable, systemic changes.

Because there are many facets to hunger and such diversity throughout Virginia, there are different ways to address this issue. The regional Dialogues on Hunger are an opportunity to talk to others you may not know, to learn about what others in your area are doing, and to explore how you can work together to eradicate physical and spiritual hunger. As an update, new ground has been plowed by the “Spend Yourself” team in Southwest Virginia at Highlands Fellowship for an innovative community garden initiative.

To quote Cindy Fisher from the Religious Herald article, “When churches and organizations join together, dedicated to pursuing a vision set before them by God, the possibilities are absolutely limitless! This is where a finite world hunger effort transforms into a infinitely expandable multi-church, multi-state, multi-country world hunger movement; one that combines the power of a direct, personal mission experience with the impact of a coordinated,collaborative effort.  And all for the glory of God. Could there possibly beanything more exciting?”

This is the beginning of the journey. How will you be a part of the next step?

Hunger Dialog Update

Individuals, churches and associations around Virginia have been contributing their gifts in a variety of ways to address hunger in their communities, whether through money, food pantries, awareness events, working with other churches and agencies, and community gardens.  As featured in the last Virginia Lines, WMUV and VBMB partnered recently for a series of hunger dialogs across the state.

The dialogs were held in ten areas of Virginia with more than 160 participants representing 78 churches and 20 associations. The sessions were divided into three parts: listening as each church/association shared how they are currently addressing food insecurity in their communities, discussion about the issues related to hunger, and brainstorming ways to handle these issues.

Most of the responses regarding current ministries could be categorized as providing immediate relief, i.e, ‘feeding them a fish for a day.’  The discussion centered around the things that keep people in the cycle of poverty and the ways in which we can move toward individual and systemic change. Participants viewed a lack of financial resources, training, understanding the real needs and the legal system, time and commitment as the major issues that keep us from engaging in ministry that results in sustainable change, i.e., ‘teaches folks to fish.’

Small group discussion began to develop solutions:  visionary leadership, intentional awareness events, mentor training, education about current legislation involving hunger, and partnering with other churches and agencies were the most common options offered.

Participants were encouraged to keep the dialog going by networking with others within their region, and through the VBMB website where a compilation of the dialogs will be posted.  We plan to schedule additional dialogs in the Shenandoah Valley, Eastern Shore, Southside Virginia, and the Blue Ridge regions of Virginia, and will begin to take  the ‘next steps’ to address some of the ideas discussed.

Contact Maria Lynn at WMUV (mlynn@wmu-va.org) if your church or association would like to host or participate in a dialog.

For more information: Contact Maria Lynn at mlynn@wmu-va.org or Dean Miller at dean.miller@vbmb.org