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Churches Urged to Join Bread for the World Letter Campaign Kathleen O’Toole, Senior National Outreach Associate with Bread for the World, a CBF-partner organization, recently visited Harold Phillips, Jeff Langford and Chris Thompson at the CBF of Missouri office in Liberty. Bread for the World is urging Christians and churches to participate in a unified letter-writing effort to members of the U.S. Congress, urging them to approve funds to fight domestic and international poverty. O’Toole shared ways churches, ministries and individuals could utilize Bread for the World resources to educate about Christian responses to poverty and hunger. Bread for the World resources for churches include Sunday School material for children, poverty education booklets, Hunger Sunday newsletters, lectionary reflections on food and justice, bulletin inserts and more. This year’s Offering of Letters campaign – "One Spirit. One Will. Zero Poverty" – is focused on pressing Congress to approve an additional $5 billion in poverty-focused development assistance for the 2007 fiscal year. This increase is necessary to fulfill the U.S. commitment to the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut poverty in half in developing countries by 2015. To fulfill its part of this commitment, the United States will need to provide an estimated $25 billion by 2010, which averages $5 billion a year. "This year’s Offering of Letters offers local congregations and CBF leaders the opportunity to be the presence of Christ in a world in need," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "When you write to Congress urging our elected leaders to increase poverty-focused development assistance by $5 billion, you are asking our country to keep its promises to our brothers and sisters in the developing world." Sample letters on the Bread for the World website call for assistance that could fund increased sanitation efforts, medicinal supplies to children and AIDS victims, infrastructure, and educational efforts to build schools and train teachers. Less than one half of one percent of the current U.S. federal budget is earmarked for this assistance. The Offering of Letters multiplies our 39 cents worth," said Tom Prevost, national coordinator for Together for Hope, the Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative. "It’s important for people of faith to speak for the poor and hungry. Overcoming poverty is a moral issue." While churches vary on how they participate, many churches write letters before or during a worship service and place letters in the collection plate during the offertory. Each letter should be personal and unique. Bread for the World advises participants to make a concise and clear request for specific legislative action. Participants should include their name and address, as well as their personal motivation for writing. Church members should mail their letters separately, not in bulk amounts, to the Washington, D.C. office of their respective congressional representatives. "Bread for the World is giving congregations tangible ways to get involved in responding to the issues of hunger and poverty in our world," said Bo Prosser, the Fellowship’s congregational life coordinator. "The Offering of Letters is a tangible way of expressing to our congressional leaders the need to positively impact our world. Participation of this kind helps us engage in justice for those who cannot speak for themselves." |
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