• An empty cup NEEDS to be FILLED

     

    When you see a child that has been shaken by an earthquake, or see a family standing in front of a cement slab blown away or burned by fire.  You realize that these people are in great need.  When you see a man on a street with a cup in his hand, a little down on his luck, you know that there is a need.  But what do you do?  What can you do? Take the TIN CUP Challenge.   Chronic hunger and malnutrition can cause significant health problems. People who go hungry all the time are likely to be underweight, weighing significantly less than an average person of their size. Their growth may also be stunted, making them much shorter than average. (Of course, people can also be underweight or short because of an illness or their genetic makeup.) Worldwide, as many as 27% of children younger than age 5 are underweight.

     

    HungerHeaderWhen I was in Seminary in New Orleans years ago, I went to get some chicken on the corner right off of Gentilly Blvd.  Back in the day, that corner was a big transit stop so there a crowd always gathered, coming and going through the City of New Orleans.  On this day, as I took my seat with a “two piece all white spicey with red beans and rice and a pepper”, a man approached me asking for two dollars for a  hamburger.  I invited him to sit down with me, offering to buy him chicken, but he wanted a hamburger.  I thought to myself, (being a young seminary student) that if he was going to give him my two dollars for a hamburger, he was at least going to listen to my message.  So, I shared the gospel with him.  He listened politely and then I gave him the two dollars.  As I watched him leave, he began to head in the opposite direction from the hamburger stand.  I was shocked!  And,  I decided to handle it on my own.  I ran to the door, in front of all the people at the bus stop and hollered, “Hey buddy, the hamburger stand is that way!!!”  He realized he had been caught, so he wheeled around and headed off to buy a hamburger.  A minute later he came back with a burger in a sack.  Mission accomplished!?  

     

    I realize now that the exchange was so unrefined and probably did not accomplish as much for him as I would have hoped,  but it was all I knew to do at the time.  We can do so much more than that as we serve together to meet the hunger needs of people in Louisiana and around the world. 

     

    Take the TIN CUP Challenge.  Fill an empty cup

     

    TIN CUP Challenge Suggestions to Increase awareness and assist the church in giving generously

    • Order tin cups to be used as offering receptacles, allowing the children to decorate and display as they learn about hunger.
    • Awareness activities are helpful (car washes, fun runs, softball games etc) that assist people in meeting the needs of hunger and encourage a generous offering be given.
    • Visit a Louisiana CompassionMinistry Center and assist in food distribution.
    • Have a “Beans and Rice” lunch after church and encourage families to give what they would have spent on Sunday Lunch to the World Hunger Offering.
    • Set up Tin Cups around the coffee pots and donut gatherings at the church to give as we receive.