A new day.

Last Saturday I was able to go to my parent's church and volunteer for Feed My Starving Children. It is a local charity that has a worldwide impact. I wasn't feeling the greatest as I hurt my neck really bad last week on the way into work (long story). I had been excited to go volunteer but the morning of, I was having second thoughts because of my neck. When I got there, I saw a video of some of the lives that were impacted by FMSC and what exactly their mission was. Now I have been to Haiti...twice. I have seen true poverty and it has changed my life. Maybe I should say it altered my life...for a time. I remember having little children stare at us as we "missionaries" ate our meals. We packed our own food from home and as we grumbled about having to eat these Dinty Moore's or Instant oatmeal or beef jerky make-shift meals, I saw little children who probably hadn't eaten a real meal in weeks, months or even years. We were told not to share with the children because they didn't want to encourage begging.

One story I will never forget is when one of the guys that was with our team decided to give a little boy his leftovers. Later that week when we went out to evangelize we saw that little boy, inside his house heating up those leftovers in a little can..to feed to his family. That was probably the only food they would have that day and it was less than a couple of bites of what we normally consume in glutinous amounts daily.

So anyways, back on track. At the church there were stations set up. The workers from FMSC explained the different parts that made up the meals and how to do each job. For the next 2 hours I watched (and helped..a little) as these volunteers...most of whom were children, enjoyed packing these meals. It was so much fun and so valuable. In the end we made over 13,000 meals and got to pray over them before they were loaded on a truck. Each meal costs $1 and contains Rice, Soy, Meat and Veggies....all of which are valuable to the malnourished children's growth. Each package provides 6 meals. Six meals for $1....THAT IS AMAZING!! If you want to learn more about Feed My Starving Children go to http://www.fmsc.org/ . I know I will be doing more with this organization as hunger is such a prevalent issue all over the world. I also know that once again I was reminded of all that I waste,take for granted and need to be thankful for. Again, I believe my life was altered and now I must fight to make sure I don't forget.