Why You Matter by Food For The Poor

Why You Matter

Fall 2023

www.FoodForThePoor.org

Kenia Marisela, 13

WALKING WITH GOD

WALKING WITH GOD 5 Ways To Enrich Your Walk With God Michael Chin Quee, Executive Vice President for Church Alliances at Food For The Poor, shares his favorite Bible verses and five ways to enrich your walk with God. FFTP: What advice would you offer to people who want to enhance their walk with God? Michael: While there is no silver bullet, there are five specific things that one can do to enrich their walk with God:

Michael Chin Quee makes new friends in Guatemala on a Food For The Poor trip.

Spend time daily in God’s Word (the Bible). This is the method that God chose to communicate who He is and His truth to us. My personal growth developed through diligently reading His word and I have made it a habit of reading through the Bible a couple of times each year. My verse for this is Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.”

Spend time in communion with God (prayer). Jesus understood the value and necessity of prayer to His heavenly Father and prayed regularly to Him. He then gave His disciples and us the model of how and what to pray for. My verse for this is Jeremiah 33:3: “Call to me, and I will answer you, and will tell you great and mighty things that you have not known.”

Spend regular time with God’s people (church). The church is a unique organization that was created by God for our good and His glory. The church is a place for encouragement and learning for the believer, plus much more. My verse for this is Hebrews 10:24-25: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Spend time telling others about the goodness of God and His salvation that is found in none other than Jesus Christ. We are never more like Christ than when we care about their eternal destiny … the very thing for which He gave His life. My verse for this is John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

Spend time helping the poor with material needs. The scriptures tell us that we are made in the image of God. It is referred to by theologians as the “Imago Dei.” When we care for persons facing challenges, we are articulating to that person, to the world and to God that we value that person’s life because they are made in the image of God. My verse for this is James 2:15-16: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?”

WHEN LIFE IS OVERWHELMING We walk together and never give up Then 4-year-old Kenia in her former home.

“When you are poor, there is no such thing as better,” said Kenia’s grandmother, Maria.

aria lived in Honduras with her husband, two children and three grandchildren when Food For The Poor met her. Her granddaughter, Kenia, was 4 years old at the time and she adored her grandmother. Before receiving a beautiful new home and help with growing food from people like you who responded to their needs, Maria couldn’t imagine how God would bless her family. Their home was hand-built with scraps and was unsafe. They washed their clothes and bathed in a nearby river. The money Maria’s husband earned from farm work went to buy food for the grandchildren, but there was never enough food or money. They had tried to grow their own food, but they had a hard time getting good seeds, and harvests were sparse. Even when Maria had to go without food, she made sure her grandchildren were fed. “I feel the love of God,” Maria said during our first visit with her. “The love of God is beautiful. Even though I don’t have a lot, but for God, it is enough.”

YOUR WALK WITH GOD INSPIRED HOPE Promises Kept: Kenia’s Family Received Blessings “I would like to thank those who took part in this act of kindness. I was so poor. I was really poor. People made fun of me ...” Kenia’s grandmother, Maria Kenia and her grandmother, Maria, received a new Food For The Poor home and help with growing food to feed her family. “God helped me in my sadness and God touched hearts and sent this aid to me,” Maria, 63, said.

One of Kenia’s favorite spots in their home: her own bed!

Kenia, one of Maria’s grandchildren, was just 4 years old when Food For The Poor first met her. Her grandmother was teaching her how to cook. Now 13, she is a true help and blessing for her grandmother. “I cook and clean so that our house looks nice,” said Kenia, who grinds corn to make tortillas and cooks beans for the family. Twice a week, Kenia and her grandmother walk to church where they pray and thank God for His blessings. Kenia said she prays every day for something she considers her heart’s deepest desire: to continue her education. “Because I always like going to school,” Kenia said. “May He always help me there with the materials. May He help me a lot.” Maria believes that her granddaughter will receive her heart’s desire, and she prays for the same for Food For The Poor’s donors. “I have my house, I have everything because God has blessed me. God has sent food, I have my grandchildren, and I have my children,” Maria said. “Just as God has blessed me enormously, this is how He is going to bless you.”

Kenia sits across from her grandmother, Maria, (flowered dress) and enjoys time with her family.

Since 1982, Food For The Poor donors have built more than 93,600 safe and secure homes for families living in extreme poverty.

So far in 2023, donors like you have already helped Food For The Poor provide 46.5 million lifesaving meals. “We each in our own way can make a difference.” Food For The Poor President/CEO Ed Raine God will always walk alongside His children. You can assure hungry children in the Caribbean and Latin America that they are not alone. Return the enclosed envelope with your gift today to feed a hungry child who needs you.

FAITHFUL SINGLE MOTHER PRAYS FOR HELP Walking With God Means You Are Never Alone

ingle mother Katia prays the same prayer every day for her 4-year-old daughter, Katherine. “May she have a good job and may she have a better life.”

Katherine, 4, El Salvador

Born in a community in El Salvador where she currently lives, Katia works hard to feed her daughter, Katherine. She wakes every day at 5 a.m. to leave for her job sweeping down the property of a large farm nearby. She’s paid a little money, but it’s only enough to live dayto-day. After Katia finishes her work, she’s paid and then rushes home with a little food to feed her daughter. Then it’s back to work again. “I go to wash the neighbor’s clothes to be able to get by, and with the money they give me, it helps me,” Katia explained. When she’s not working to feed Katherine, Katia struggles with maintaining her makeshift home. She constantly tries to keep the stick-andclay walls intact. But with every heavy wind gust, the home shakes and the walls crumble a little bit more. Katia believes that God will never leave her side and she is teaching Katherine to believe, too. “I tell her that God watches over us from heaven, and He sees that we go to church to pray to him, and I teach her that she can ask Him to protect her,” Katia said. Your gift makes it possible to feed children like Katherine and assure them that they are not alone. Please use the enclosed envelope to send a gift today to feed a hungry child.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, niv)

Kenia, 13, third from left, stands with her family in front of their home gifted by Food For The Poor donors.

A project of AN2310 / DM348250 10/23 • Kit B1