In my previous post, Empty, I talked about the prevalence and effect of hunger in our community. Now I want to talk about solutions both short and long-term…
To meet immediate needs, we need to provide food provisions to malnourished families to help sustain them in this final month of unemployment. Jesus said,
"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me…I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’" -Matthew 25:34-36,40
We cannot watch our neighbors go hungry and do nothing. That isn't the Lord's heart. But it also doesn't serve our community to continually be in relief mode. We also know that something needs to change in our community in order to break this cycle. We are dreaming and moving toward transformation…
We long to open the Bread of Life Training Center which will offer classes in agricultural engineering 
and baking. We currently have garden projects in both Candelaria and Santa Matilde and thanks to Finish the Wall we have a beautiful bakery building at our mission base in Candelaria. Our dream for these projects was always to move beyond opening one small business to employ a handful of people and instead to create a training school where workers can be trained and empowered to create their own jobs within the community.
Our goal is to be able to start the Bread of Life Training Center in 2014 to train 30 agricultural students and 20 baking students in the first year. This training center will educate, create jobs in a community with sky-rocketed unemployment rates, grow and make food that can feed the hungry in our community, and cultivate health in Chichigalpa.
You can help us make this dream a reality!! We need to raise $15,000 in order to provide food in our community for the next two months (before sugar cane workers receive their first check) and to open the Bread of Life Training School. With as little as $40, you can feed a family for a week. With less than $200 you can feed a family for a month. Together we can provide relief to suffering families and transform our community for healthier long-term living. If you would like to join with us in this dream, you can donate here.
