Document
Churches Week of Action on Food (15 - 22 October 2018)
The Churches week of Action on Food (15 to 22 October) includes World Food Day (16 October) as well as International Day of Rural Women (15 October), and the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October).
Signs of the times
• Hunger amongst plenty: In spite of the fact that the world produces enough and more food for all, one in nine people in the world today (795 million) are undernourished and go to sleep hungry. Poor nutrition causes 45 percent of deaths in children under five years of age – 3.1 million children each year. Lack of nutrition causes one in four of the world’s children to suffer stunted growth, causing impaired brain development, lower IQ, weakened immune systems and greater risk of serious diseases like diabetes and cancer later in life.
• Extreme global inequality and injustice: 82 percent of the wealth created in 2017 went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity got nothing. Trade and market distortions contribute to making the wealthy few richer, and the dispossessed poorer.
• Conflict and hunger: Conflict continues to be the main driver of acute food insecurity in 18 countries — 15 of them in Africa or the Middle East. It is the primary reason for most of the world's cases of acute food insecurity, accounting for 60 percent of the global total, or 74 million people.
• Nexus between land, water, food, the environment and climate change: Climate change affects the availability of water and food security. At the same time, industrial agriculture and factory animal farms, the unsustainable exploitation of water and land resources, and unbridled consumerist lifestyles, all contribute to climate change. The choking of indigenous communities, smallholder farmers, and artisanal fisher folk; unbridled commercial farming and fishing; deforestation – with the Earth losing 18.7 million acres of forests per year; destructive land and sea mining, all contribute to the degradation of the environment and bringing about water shortages, threatening food sovereignty and endangering biodiversity. Agriculture runoffs of fertilizer and other agrochemicals that load freshwater supplies with nutrients lead to the growth of pathogens and choking algae blooms. 80 percent of industrial and municipal wastewater is discharged without treatment. 70% of the total human use of scare water resources goes into agriculture. Unfortunately, it is estimated that one-third of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted globally, which amounts to about 1.3 billion tons per year. Climate disasters — mainly drought — were also major triggers of food crises in 23 countries, two-thirds of them in Africa, and were responsible for pushing some 39 million people into acute food insecurity.
Call to worship
Leader: Come, let us worship God, who gifted us with Life and food to sustain life.
Response: We praise God for the wondrous creation.
Leader: Come, let us follow Lord Jesus Christ, who inspires us to hunger and thirst for Justice and Righteousness.
Response: We give glory to God, who restores the weak and the hungry.
Leader: Come let us move with the Holy Spirit, striving to establish food justice.
Response: We praise God for the abundant life that is assured to all.
Opening Prayer
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it; (Psalm 24:1)
God visits the earth and waters it,
Greatly enriching the earth
…. softening it with showers,
and blessing its growth.
God provides the people with grain.
(Psalm 65:9-10 adapted)
God grants peace within your borders;
God fills you with the finest of wheat. (Psalm 147:14)
The Lord watches over the strangers;
God upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked, God brings to ruin. (Psalm 146:9)
O give thanks to the Lord, for God is good;
God’s steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 118:1)
O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill? (Psalm 15:1)
Opening Hymn
Readings from the Hebrew bible- Isaiah 55:1
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Confession and renewal
Reader 1: O Lord, we are part of the society that tramples on the poor,
Stealing their grains, seeds and indigenous knowledge,
Stealing their lands, water bodies, farms and resources.
Their livelihood and the sweat of their brow.
Response: Forgive us Lord, help us to stand with the oppressed and overcome greed and injustice.
Reader 2: O Lord, we are part of the society that refuses to acknowledge that one in nine people in the world today are hungry and impoverished, in the midst of wealth and plenty.
Response: Forgive us Lord for our insensitivity and help us to be receptive and responsive to the needs of others. Enable us to share our resources and efforts with those who are hungry and in need.
Reader 3: We are part of the society that tolerates and contributes to conflicts and insecurity. Situations that bring hunger and untold suffering to millions of vulnerable children, girls, women, and men who are experiencing violations of their rights and face violence daily.
Response: Forgive us Lord for our complicity and our inaction. Help us to be persistent in striving for peace and justice and to end violence.
Reader 4: We are part of the society that wastes a third of all food produced. A society that is increasingly consumerist, wasteful and careless, polluting and destroying the environment and contributing to climate change.
Response: Forgive us Lord for our wastefulness, greed and lack of caring for the environment. Help us to live responsibly and be the catalyst for change in our society.
Prayer: Our bread
Reader 1:
Give us,
God of the earth and of the wheat fields,
Our daily food.
That food that does not belong to us,
that is yours and given generously.
Food to share,
Food that is blessed,
Satiating each person.
Satisfying hunger and solitude,
Without hoarding or hiding.
Reader 2:
Do not give us just the food,
Give us also the dignity that we are denied.
To overcome
Walls and war,
Greed and ambition,
Privatisation of public knowledge and resources.
They exclude, marginalize,
Condemn, expel, and kill.
Reader 1:
Give us safe spaces where we can meet,
To celebrate our human diversities.
Give us the ability to embrace,
With compassion and the willingness to share,
With outstretched hands, and sensitive hearts,
Committed to the fullness of life.
Reader 2:
Give us words that encourage,
Actions that are inclusive and just,
Gestures that give hope and instil courage.
With songs that inspire us each day,
With tenderness and sustenance.
Our glasses overflowing
With Justice, Peace and Equity.
Gerardo Oberman, Argentina
Translated and adapted by Greta Nania Montoya Ortega, WCC
Gospel Reading: Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Reflections
Responsive prayer
Reader 1: Lord help us to recognize you in the hungry, thirsty and vulnerable amongst us;
All: Lord help us to worship you by serving the needy.
Reader 2: Lord help us to strive for Justice and Peace;
All: Lord help us to resolve conflicts and help people to live safe and fulfilling lives.
Reader 3: Lord help us to share each other’s burdens;
All: Lord help us to unite to face our common struggles to overcome hunger and injustice.
Reader 4: Lord help us to strive for the rights of small farmers and fisher folk;
All: Lord together, help us to protect and promote the biodiversity of our world and the richness of indigenous wisdom.
Reader 5: Lord help us to live responsibly and tread gently on this earth;
All: Lord together, help us to reduce food waste, irresponsible consumption, promote healthy and active life styles and diets and increase the use of renewable energy, to preserve and protect the environment.
An adaptation of the Lord’s prayer
Leader: Let us pray together, an adaptation of our Lord’s prayer
Our Father in heaven,
Whenever we see nature and everything around us,
We remember your name.
May your reign come to us,
The whole world a safe space, where all are invited.
In our lives’, journey today,
May your will be done, as in heaven.
Give us our daily sustenance, the food of life,
And may it be shared fairly, so that everyone has enough to eat and drink.
Forgive us, if we forget those who have less and suffer injustice.
Help us to keep on striving for Justice and Peace,
In our quest for a world where there is no inequality,
Where no one lacks anything.
Do not let us fall into the temptation of wanting more than what we need,
Deliver us from evil, from being self-centered and acquisitive.
For yours is the Kingdom,
The manna, the food of life.
For you are our sustenance for the journey,
On the road where there is room for all,
For ever and ever. Amen.
Closing Hymn
Benediction
All:
May we always be hungry for righteousness;
May we overcome injustices that bring about vulnerability!
May we always be thirsty for peace;
May we overcome insecurity, suffering and displacement!
May we always yearn to care for each other and the environment;
May we share each other’s burden;
May our prayers lead to action and transformation!
