April Mission Moment

Living in Hope

In the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, indigenous Ch’ol farmers have grown corn according to the practices they’ve followed for generations, carving fields out of the rain forest and burning the stubble before planting each new crop. As time went on and the soil was depleted, the farmers were less and less able to harvest enough corn from their fields to make a living. Never wealthy to begin with, the farmers and their families began to struggle.

Then our local partner, with the support of ELCA World Hunger, began working with the community. One young farmer, Cristobal, took up his training and tools enthusiastically. Through composting and other ecologically wise techniques, he multiplied his harvest- and he eagerly helped other Ch’ol farmers throughout the region improve their yields, too. In the meantime, our partner helped neighbors learn together about better nutrition and income generation through vegetable gardening and livestock projects.

Before long, Cristobal’s community was back on its feet and getting stronger all the time. More than 1,500 families have achieved food security, and that’s not all. Microloans are helping neighbors build up small businesses. Health and education programs nurture families throughout the region. Children are healthier. Young adults no longer have to leave for the cities because now they can make a living at home.

And Cristobal? The eager young farmer is now an acknowledged leader, still working to help his community change for the better, still helping neighbors lift themselves out of poverty and into self-sufficiency. He recently helped open a vocational-education center for his community.

We are a church that believes God is calling us into the world- together. Together, we can achieve things on a scale and scope that we could never do otherwise.

ELCA World Hunger has seen this over and over again, all around the world. When the people of this church join together with our Lutheran and ecumenical partners and companions, locally and globally, we can move mountains!

For more information on ELCA World Hunger, see : www.ELCA.org/hunger

For more information on ELCA Good Gifts, see: www.ELCA.org/goodgifts

Your support is important! Thank you for helping this life-giving, life-changing work continue in more than 50 countries around the world.

We cannot be quiet about what we have seen and heard!     Acts 4:20

Christine Donahue
TLGCS Mission Interpreter Coordinator
cedonahue@gmail.com