His Village

Is Christmas all about gifts — and Santa?

Erick Kalenga — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 02:35:27 +0000

An e-mail link from a friend, to
a video recording of a song triggered a more serious contemplation of this
simple question. As we continue the
countdown to Christmas Day, I want to
share with you parts of that song and the story behind it, titled “Where’s
the Line to See Jesus?” performed by father and daughter, Steve
Haupt and Becky Kelley and inspired by grandson, Spencer Reijgers.

The story behind the song, as
told by Steve Haupt: “While at the mall last year, my four year old grandson
saw kids lined up excitedly to see Santa Claus. Having been taught as a toddler
that Christmas is the holiday that Christians celebrate the birth of God’s son;
with the innocence of a child, he asked his mom, ‘Where’s the line to see
Jesus? If Christmas is Jesus’ birthday, why don’t we see Him more?’ As his grandpa,
I was so happy that little Spencer understood the meaning of Christmas at such
a tender age, and then the words for a song were jotted down in just a few
minutes. The song was inspired by my grandson, and the message was inspired by
my Savior. Out of the mouths of babes come profound truths that many adults cannot
understand. Hopefully Spencer’s observation and our song will cause people to
reflect on the love of Jesus, and the certainty that one day we will all stand
in

line to see Jesus. Merry
Christmas everyone.”

Part of the song says “…Where’s
the line to see Jesus? Is He here at the store? It’s Christmas time, it’s His
birthday. Why don’t we see Him more?….He was born for me. Santa Claus brought
me presents. But Christ gave His life for me.”

If we stop to ponder, how many of
us really think about the gift that Christ gave to us? We busy ourselves and stress out over buying
the latest toys, the latest gadgets, and are willing to line up for “early bird
specials” to get good deals on gifts we want to give to those we care
about. But what about a gift for the One
who gave Himself for us? If we truly
understood His gift to us, and truly experienced His love for us, would we not
want to give Him the best? But in the
frenzy of all the glitter and glee of Christmas, we often fail to spend time
with Him to even thank Him for His gift.
He does not need any material gift from us. All He asks is that we accept Him, and give
our heart to Him, for in doing so, we are filled with His love and grace, so we
can be a blessing to others as He provides for us. He seeks only that we love Him first and then
love one another. Sharing His love with
others will cause us to focus on giving rather than receiving.

The song goes on to remind us
that “In the blink of an eye, at the sound of His trump, We’ll all stand in
line at His throne. Every knee shall bow
down, every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.” It is then that the magnitude of Christ’s
sacrificial gift, will be truly revealed.
This Christmas, let us recognize the reason we celebrate it and with
each gift we give, may we remember His gift to us.

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Decisions determine destiny

Erick Kalenga — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 02:24:03 +0000

A few weeks ago I was watching a Christian television
program where the speaker was talking about the topic of destiny. During the course of his teaching, the speaker
made a statement that I have been thinking about since then. His statement was – “decisions determine
destiny”. I have heard a lot of speeches and teaching on
destiny, but this statement has changed the way I look at my life. As I tried to understand the meaning of this
statement, I began to realize that my ultimate destiny is secured by my
decision to follow Christ. However, reaching
it will require making some tough decisions on
the way.   This statement “decisions
determine destiny” is very powerful
because it indicates that the decisions I make have consequences.   Bearing this in mind, it becomes very
important to make decisions that will be aligned to the ultimate destiny. So what drives our decision making? For me, having made the decision to follow in
Chirst’s footsteps, causes me to make choices and decisions that are leading to
my ultimate destiny.   Therefore, as I am
keeping my focus on my ultimate destiny, in return Christ begins to govern or
to direct my choices and decisions towards Him.
It starts to manifest itself in my life on a day-to-day basis. Having said that, I also acknowledge the fact
that there have been times when my decisions have not been aligned with my
ultimate destiny, or my decision to follow in Chirst’s footsteps.

Every decision, big or small that we make, will impact our
future reward or consequence. Every day
we are faced with issues and situations where we have to make decisions. Often, we don’t process things, we just
react to them. We need to learn to live
proactively not reactively. There is
always more than one way to react to a situation. The reality is that some
actions will align you with your purpose and some will lead you away from it. It’s extremely important for us to assess the
situation and react accordingly. Most
often the issues and challenges we face are an obvious indication of our poor
decision making. If we live a lifestyle
of making decisions based upon our ultimate purpose in life, then we most
likely will make the right choices that will lead us to our destiny. The real question is, what is your destiny? Websters defines destiny as “a predetermined
course of events often held to be an irresistible power”. So what is your pre-determined course of
events? That is the first decision to
make and that will lead you to make other decision that you have decreed before-hand.

In closing, whatever you decree as your ultimate purpose,
will dictate what you will do in your everyday life. So, I believe, making the decision to follow
in Chirst’s footsteps will influence your choices, your commitments, your
passion to help others, your love for people, your earnest desire to serve your
community and your compassion towards the less fortunate. Not only will it influence your choices, but
it will enable you to do it. Ultimately
Christ becomes the One who is leading you everyday into making the right
choices and decisions. God bless.

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Return to your First Love

Erick Kalenga — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:20:33 +0000

Revelation 2:4 “Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love (NIV)
This Scripture, I believe, is very convicting as we look at the body of Christ today. At the day of Pentecost, the disciples, received the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That was the beginning of the early church. The disciples had Christ as their first love, and that love passionately drove them to spread the gospel without compromise. It was very evident that the church grew tremendously, not only in numbers but in true disciples due to the fact that they did not lose sight of their first love. There was absolutely nothing that could stop them from presenting Christ in His truest form. If you read the book of Acts, a number of times they were locked up and confronted major crises, but God delivered them. With that in mind, where are we as a body of Christ today? Are we presenting the Word of God, without compromising the integrity of it? These are questions I am asking myself and I will be perfectly honest in saying, that I do not have all the answers. It is to say that I have to examine myself and make the changes that are needed . The passion that we should have for God, should drive us to emulate what the disciples did. They proclaimed the gospel without watering it down to make it user-friendly to appease the masses. They presented Christ for who He is – and presented the reality of eternal life, heaven vs. hell. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in a place where we would rather please people, vs. pleasing God. We want to be right by people, at the risk of being wrong in the eyes of God. Our worship services have become performances and we fail to connect ourselves with God. People now expect to be entertained rather than enter into worship. We have turned our focus on developing programs to attract people vs. discipling them. Our churches are more and more being run like corporations, as a business. Don’t get me wrong. Every church has business they need to take care of, but that should not be the focus. It saddens me to see that being politically correct is more favorable and popular than to present the truth of the Word of God.
It’s not too late to start over, redefine our vision, and return to our first love – the person of Jesus Christ. You can never go wrong with Christ living inside of you, with Christ as a focus in our churches. The world is seeking answers, while the church is failing to provide the truth. If the church returns to the first love and presents Christ in His truest form, the church should be able to provide answers. Bottom line, church growth is not based upon the programs it offers. It is based upon Christ being presented for Who He is and the lives that are being transformed to His likeness. I would like to encourage the body of Christ, as we are going through trying times economically, socially, politically and spiritually, to turn the tide and return to God. Let us humble ourselves, pray and seek His face. God will hear from heaven and He will heal, deliver, set free, bless and guide us. God bless you.

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Happy Father’s Day

Erick Kalenga — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:18:11 +0000

On this Father’s day, let me share with you, thoughts that came to me, as I pondered upon what it means to be a father and the role that fathers play in families. Fathers, number one, should display unconditional love. They need to show affection to their children without expecting anything in return. They need to be willing and prepared to accept and to forgive their children without holding it against them. Number two, fathers should be involved. It is important for a father to take part in day-to-day activities of their children, being involved with school, communicating with teachers, coaches etc. You may not always be available to attend every meeting, but you can still be connected and involved by asking the child to report and share with you what happened in the course of the day. Number three, fathers should support their children. Children need emotional, mental, financial, spiritual and physical support and guidance in order to mature in each aspect of their lives. Number four is discipline. It is important for a father to set up a standard within the home , be consistent and not compromise it. Number five, fathers should set the tone of respect within the home, and it is vital that all parties maintain respect for each other. Bear in mind that every family and every father is different so let no one judge one another.

In reality, I have noticed, how much we fathers have missed the mark! It is very sad to see a number of homes where there is no father and this is a growing trend. The majority of those children who are raised in a single parent home with only the mother, and more often where the father is physically present but is really absent in a true sense, we notice a number of issues or challenges that arise. For example, we read that most kids who come from such homes, majority of them drop out of school, end up smoking early, using drugs, become sexually active at an early age, are involved in criminal activity, and last but not least, end up in a gang lifestyles. We probably know at least one or two families that do not have a father in the home. Imagine, those kids can end up in one of these situations given above. This is just to show you how important the role of the father is in the home. Their part is not only to bring a child into this world and then disappear, physically or emotionally, but the role of a father in the home and child’s life is very, very critical and important. Without a responsible father, a child will always have a void, whether a boy or a girl. They both need a male, a father in their lives who will display the qualities of a true father. Personally, the past six months have been an eye-opener for me as I look at my son who is now four years old. Previously, all my commitments kept me away from home, taking the time away that I ought to have spent with him. Now, God has granted me the grace to focus on spending quality time with my son. In working together on the farm where he is very passionately involved, attending his soccer games, spending time coaching him, I see a pleasant change in that his confidence, responsibility and maturity have grown by leaps and bounds.

I end by saying this – Congratulations to those fathers who are out there displaying exemplary qualities – I encourage you to keep at it. For those who fall short, I encourage you by saying that I believe there is One Person who has modeled accurately and displayed all the characteristics of a good father that we can learn from – and that is God our Father. To all the fathers, this is your day, rejoice in it as you seek God to help you become the best father you can possibly be. Happy Fathers day!

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Stop The Bully

Erick Kalenga — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:52:27 +0000

A while back I wrote a column on bullying and how damaging that can be to someone’s self esteem, confidence, and how bullying can cause a person to make an irreversible decision such as suicide. I was moved after reading Jeff Say’s column last November and how he chronicled his experience with bullying and how painful he recounted his story. I could almost sense a tremendous amount of emotions as I was reading Jeff’s column. Bullying is an issue that needs to be addressed rapidly. The consequences of allowing this to continue as time goes by will be very devastating to the next generation. As I wrote in my column last week that young people now are becoming creative checking out of life if the going gets tough. Teenagers today are moved to make drastic decisions in order to avoid dealing with hurtful pain. By reading Jeff’s column and how he was hopeless in his situation of the authority. I believe now it is even more difficult for the authority (for example: administrators, teachers, coaches) at school to get involved in addressing some of these sensitive issues due to the fact that parents are very protective and defensive over their children. A parent of a child who is bullying another child will not admit or believe that their child is actually bullying another student because in most cases every parent believes their kids are the most well behaved children. This is not in defense of the teachers, administrators, and coaches. I believe we all have the obligation to address this issue head on and confront those who are bullying others. I believe school should be a safe place to send your children. I am planning on sending my children to public school I would like to have a positive experience. If an adult sees a student being bullied they will need to intervene in order to address the issue right away.

It is very apparent that the issue with bullying in schools is not getting better but is getting worse. We need to educate, encourage, and mentor the students who are being bullied to learn to confront the bully and not to live in fear. If the students do not confront the issue it can affect them later on and potentially cause them to make poor decisions. I also believe we need to educate parents in how to deal with issues if your child is being bullied and also on how to respond if your child is the one bullying others. To all the parents; if an administrator or teacher brings to your attention that your child is bullying another child I will encourage those parents to not go on the defensive against the school, but to have a open, honest, and firm conversation with your child. You don’t want your child to carry the weight of someone else’s life upon their shoulder. I also believe that the students who are not been bully should engage in reporting if and when somebody is been bullied. Instead of watching and not do anything about or watching and laughing while someone is going through the worse pain of her life. stand up for what is right and to be afraid.

Recently I have been exposed to a situation between two students I know very well who are going through a situation where it appears one student is being bullied by the other. As a community we need to be committed to addressing these issues and getting to the bottom of it.

I thank Jeff Say for sharing his story and for encouraging students to not be silent about this issue and to seek for help. Many of us one way or another has been affected by bullies. As the word of God says “I am the apple of His eye” and “greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world”, and “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. God bless you!

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Ten Minute Warning

Erick Kalenga — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 02:48:13 +0000

It is certainly sad, the tragedy in Japan, and certainly my thoughts and prayers are with the Japanese people especially those impacted by the tsunami. All the news reports stated that the town of Rikuzentakada, population 24,700 in northern Japan was completely submerged in muddy water, with hardly a trace of houses or buildings of any kind. I believe thousands of people were completely wiped out and the devastation is just unimaginable. They also reported that in this particular area, the people were already expecting a tsunami to occur some day so they went through a great deal of preparation in order to minimize the impact when it did come. During their preparation, as one report stated, they had the evacuation process and the protection from a tsunami planned for roughly 10’-15’ feet waves. But what they ended up witnessing, in this particular incident, was greater than what they had prepared themselves for. And they only had a 10 minutes’, warning to be able to implement all that they had practiced. More and more I come to realize that we all have warnings in life. When you look at the Japanese people, they were prepared for what they thought was the worst that they could fathom in their minds and tried to prevent devastation. But what it came down to is that whatever they planned and prepared for, and thought through with their own intellect, did not prevent the worst from happening. And when the tsunami came it was greater and came faster than they were anticipating or expecting. They had their trust, I believe, to a degree, in the system they had in place. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong in planning or preparing for something, but the bottom line is, where is your trust? “Where should I put my trust?”. Everybody has their spiritual inclinations or beliefs. As I said not too long ago in one of my, columns, that if you trust in a political system it will collapse one day, as you can see in Egypt, Libya and other countries. If you trust in a financial system, it will also collapse, as is evident in the worldwide economic downturn. If you trust in the social culture, look how many relationships are collapsing and marriages have ended. I think it is time for us to start preparing our hearts and beginning to trust in Someone beyond our human ways. I can only suggest, that as we live this life, we are all given warnings, and how we are going to react, is what matters . I believe that God gives us insight and warnings in our lives that, many times, we fail to heed and many times the unfortunate happens. The Japanese were given a 10-minute warning to implement something that they had rehearsed and practiced to be implemented in a longer timeframe. Therefore, for those of us who have our trust in Christ, we are called to be ready at any time, for we do no t know the day or the hour when our time here will be over. Nothing is more important than knowing that when my time here is over, where I will go. It is for each one to determine. I believe it is a personal thing between you and God. If your trust and reliance is on God, whether you are given a 10-minute, a 30-minute or a one-second warning, you will be at peace with yourself and the worldly things will not be relevant. Therefore let’s press on towards encouraging one another to learn to trust in God , not idolizing our finances, our social status, our political clout, our 401K’s and even our human relationships. As we pray for God’s comfort for the Japanese people, let’s learn from this incident, that we really don’t have any time to waste. Let’s prepare our hearts everyday because we don’t know whether we will wake up in the morning or what will happen that day. God bless you.

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How can I say thanks?

Erick Kalenga — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 20:34:27 +0000

Last Thursday November 25^th, 2010 was Thanksgiving Day. As a tradition family and friends gather together for a big feast. There are many families who have developed a tradition when it comes to thanksgiving and there are others who are starting their own traditions. Most people on Thanksgiving day spend time with their families and friends telling each other how thankful they are for one another.

But this year there are so many people who have asked themselves this question…how can I be thankful when everything is falling apart. Due to various factors such as economical struggles, political issues, and military challenges, many people are finding themselves in a very difficult situation. There are so many people that I have some in contact with who have lost their jobs, homes, and some at the brink of losing their families. As a result, the majority of them have been struggling with this question how can I show my gratitude when I feel like my whole life has been completely shaken. I will be very honest, I can relate to the people who find themselves in these situations. I had to think about and process that question for myself. When someone has lost it all they feel like they don’t have anything to be thankful for. Indeed it is very easy for us to focus on the negative or what is going on in our lives and completely miss all the good that may take place. It is very easy to be thankful when everything is going well, but to truly have a grateful heart, it comes down to understanding that who I am and what I have does not belong to me, I am just entrusted with it to be a steward. Therefore if we happen to lose all the material possessions it does not mean we should also lose our sense of gratitude. There is a story in the Bible that has been an encouragement to me going through these trying times. There is a man by the name of Job who lost his wealth, later his family, and to make the matter even worse his health was challenged. If you read the story of Job you will discover that his friends are also turning on him. Job has various conversations with God in regards to his situation and trying to understand what was going on. After a great deal of challenges Job was able to realize the greatness of God and after that Job reconciled with God. Job learned to submit to submit to the almighty God and by faith Job accepted and believed that God has a good plan for him. God in his infinite wisdom, mercy, and grace, was able to forgive Job and restored double everything that he lost.

My encouragement to those who feel like they have lost everything and have nothing to be thankful for, redirect your outlook on life and spend time enjoying what you do have. Some of you may have lost your job and/or your house, but you still have your family. Thank God for your family. There are others who have lost a loved one, be thankful for the gift of your life because God has a purpose for you. Turn your faith to God like Job did has the best plan for you. All things are possible with God.

In closing the best way to express your thankfulness is by giving back to others. For God so loved the world he gave His Son Jesus to us so that we may live eternally. Happy Thanksgiving and God bless you.

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The rise of teen Pragnancy

Erick Kalenga — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:53:31 +0000

Between the years 1991-2002 there was a decline in the overall teen
pregnancy rate.  It was indicated that the birth rate for black teens aged
15-19 fell 42%, and 20% for Hispanic teens, during this period.  However,
it still remains, higher than the other ethnic groups.  Yet, I believe
that we have a steadily increasing percentage of teen pregnancies due to
various influences in our society.  I would not just talk about teen
pregnancy, or the rise of it, without looking at the root cause of the
situation.  I would point out that teen pregnancy is just one result of a
conscious, irresponsible physical act.  Sexually transmitted diseases,
abortion, and the list can go on and on, are other consequences of such
sexually active behavior.  I write this column not just to make a
statement or to discriminate against anybody who may have been affected by
making poor choices.  I do so believing that we need to have discussions
in order to provide answers and solutions to these issues.  I do not want
to stir up controversies, but rather, be an instrument of positive change.
 We have all fallen short at some point, in one way or another, and it is
not for me to point a finger at anybody else.  “Do not judge” as the Word
says “lest you be judged” or “Take the log out of your own eye before you
point at a speck in your neighbor’s eye”.   Having said that, let us not
judge anybody in looking for solutions.

The rise in teen pregnancies did not come to me as a surprise due to the
fact, that everywhere you turn to in the media, there is an intentional
exposure to sexuality of some form.  When you look at the movies that are
coming out, the TV shows that are rolling out on the TV screens, the
access to the internet that gives our children access to various sites
that have these explicit images, cause or encourage the teens to
experiment with what they see.  We can spend the whole day trying to
address or intervene with those kids who are currently pregnant or are
raising babies, but if we do not address the source of the problem, this
rise in teen pregnancy will continue. Although between 1991 and 2002 there
was a decline, we are going to see more and more of it in the coming
years.  Another reason for the rise in this trend, I believe, is due to
the breakdown in the families, in the social structure.  This causes our
children to seek attention and to seek fulfillment in the wrong things.  I
have had conversations with many young people, and one of them made a
statement that by giving themselves in to indulging in sex is the way that
they feel they are loved.  So you see, the lack of appropriate love and
appropriate attention in the family structure and more importantly the
lack of role modeling by the parents in regard to healthy relationships,
results in the children following in their footsteps, seeking fulfillment
elsewhere with the influence of the media and other variables spurring
them on.  As parents it is our duty to exemplify our commitment in
relationships and to demonstrate to our children, self-respect and the
proper way of interacting in any relationship without subjecting oneself
to a compromised situation.

This subject is very dear to me.  I have a sister who, at 14 years old.
had a child out of wedlock.  How challenging and devastating that was.  I
remember she was rejected by the family at a very young age.  After a
couple of months during the pregnancy she returned home to have her baby.
Now we have a beautiful niece - she is married and has a family of her
own.  What I am trying to say is that let’s not be blind to the fact that
our children are experiencing inappropriate sexual activity at an early
age.  When you look at middle school age kids, I would venture to say one
kid in every four will experience it and almost every kid will have seen
it our thought about it.  Thinking about it is most likely to end up in
the act itself.

In closing, what is the solution?  Let me share with you what Cecile
Richards, president of Planned Parenthood has said “It should serve as a
wake-up call to anyone who still believes that teenagers aren’t sexually
active or that abstinence-only programs curb the rate of teen pregnancy.”
Deborah Kotz who posted an article on Jan 26, 2010 stated that Ms. Cecile
Richards “is happy that President Obama eliminated abstinence–only
education funding and has instead set aside $100 million for comprehensive
sex education programs to prevent teen pregnancies”.  What is the message?
 I believe, we need to teach our kids abstinence as a way of preventing
unwanted pregnancies.   Abstinence is dealing with the root of the issue,
eliminating the need to deal with the consequences.  Let me say that
prevention is always better and cheaper than intervention.  God bless you.

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Patience and Trust.

Erick Kalenga — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:24:30 +0000

When we are going through hard times in life, sometimes it is very difficult to believe that we can get out of it or the current situation can be resolved. I know there are a lot of people who are going through difficult times right now. Some people are going through financial difficulties, while others are going through family issues or relationship problems. I believe the majority of us we have a tendency to focus on now and especially when we are going through hardships.
I believe when we are faced with difficult time we need to search for good in a bad situation. I truly believe that any bad situation has a good thing in it. Let me clarify something here, sometimes we have gotten in a bad situation do the fact that we have made some poor choices such as driving under the influence of alcohol or any substance and getting involved in an accident. There are times where we have gotten in a bad situation due to some natural causes that we have no control of like the earthquake in Haiti. I don’t think it was the Haitian people’s bad choices that caused the earthquake, it just happened and they had no control over that. What I want to point out is whether it was your poor choices or natural causes that placed you on a bad situation, we all can find good into those circumstances. I believe number one, we will have to look beyond our current situation. Without hope in the future, it is rather difficult to not focus on the current situation. With the culture that we have here in the US where we expect everything to happen now and fast it makes it very difficult to develop patience. You will need patience while you are going through a difficult time because it’s only with patience that you can hold on to the hope that someday things will work out in the future.
I will have to tell you this. Last Saturday I went fishing with my family. While we were at the lake we got everything set up and I tempted to catch some fish. At one point the weather became perfect, just ideal for fishing. We started to cast our lines. A friend of mine caught a fish and a few minutes later, after many trials, I caught a fish a well. After that we tried and tried to catch more fish. We had a few “bites” on the lines, but nothing happened. Patience was the key in catching the fish that we caught. Although it wasn’t many, we had to wait for the fish. I was reminded of the story of Job in the Bible. He was considering an upright man a man who pleased God. If you read the story he lost his wealth, his family was taken away and his health was affected. I would say Job was in every bad situation. After struggling with what was going on his life and struggling with God which we all do or have done at some point in our life. Job repented to God and in Job 13:15 Job say: “though he slays me yet I will trust Him”. Job developed patience and trust in God and God restored to him everything that he lost and then some. Jesus went through a difficult leading up to his death. As a human He cry out to God in the garden while he was praying and say “not my will but your will be done.” (Matt 26: 39) Jesus look at the good in the situation and that is the salvation of man Kind and he knew that he will be resurrected from the dead.
Have patience and trust in God He will see you through your difficult time. God bless.

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Let’s do something about hunger

Erick Kalenga — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 05:21:04 +0000

Last year Nathalie Rosenberger led our Rize Up Club team on a campaign to raise awareness about hunger in the world and she called us to action. On February 7th, 2009 at Culpeper County High School, Rize Up Club had the first packaging event with Stop Hunger Now. We raised $6250 and we were able to package 25,000 meals and we exceeded our goal of raising $5,000. I would like to point out that Nathalie’s effort of raising money for the event was done in about 30 days. I thank God for the generosity of people in Culpeper and for the hard work that Nathalie had to put in making this event a success.
On April 17, 2010 Rize Up Club will be hosting second annual Stop Hunger Packaging event at Culpeper County High and the event will be starting at 8:00 am. This year Nathalie’s younger sister Amanda Rosenberger who is one of the Rize Up club leaders at CCHS and her co-leaders: Malissa Mullins, Katelyn Lacy and Zachary Price. Together they have made a commitment to raise fund for this year’s packaging event. I’m humble and I consider it a privilege to be working along these young people. All of them had felt like this was a calling for them. And Katelyn Lacy said: “this event has change my outlook on life and has caused me or stir up in me the desire to help other and to do mission work”.
Let me ask you this Are you certain that you will have a meal to eat when you get home every night? Well some unfortunate families do not have the luxury of knowing that there will be food on the table. Over half of childhood deaths are associated to under nutrition. Every 15 seconds a child dies due to being severely under weight or lacking essential nutrients. This is equivalent to 20 Jumbo jets crashing every day. There is enough food in the world to provide every person with 4.3 lbs of food each day.”

Stop Hunger Now is a hunger relief organization that is working to eliminate this problem for people all around the world. Stop Hunger Now coordinates the distribution of food and other life-saving aid. Their meal packaging program provides opportunity for volunteers to package dehydrated, high protein, highly nutritious meals which are used in crisis situations, school feeding programs, and orphanages in developing countries around the world. The packaged meals consist of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and a flavoring mix which includes 21 essential vitamins; all in small meal packets. Stop Hunger Now has launched a huge response to the recent tragedy in Haiti. Two months ago, 1.5 million meals were shipped to Haiti, and are now being used for immediate crisis relief.
I have to point out the fact that the country is going through a great deal of challenges economically. And I’m not asking everybody to be involve but all I’m saying is that your quarter can provide food for somebody who need it. I’m committed to engage in the fight against hunger because I do know how it feels not to have food. That why Rize Up Youth Ministries will work very hard in order to get our community involved in this battle.
Rize-up is a local youth organization that is working with Stop Hunger Now to raise money and package meals for Haiti. Last year we took on a challenge and raised $5,000 dollars for Stop Hunger Now. This year we’d like to step it up and raise $6,000. We realize this is a huge amount of money but we’re faithful about raising this amount by April 17th and we’d like your help. Any donations would be highly appreciated and will go directly to tangible relief for the people of Haiti. If you’d like to lend a hand with the packaging process, it will take place on April 17th at Culpeper County High School. God bless.

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