|
By Lailani Mendoza
IN Oliver, a group of people in red aprons pause from cutting tomatoes, as they
gather around in a circle to pray.
“As we work, may we remember those that will receive this food,” one man prays.
It’s just another work day at The Gleaners, a volunteer-run ministry that makes
soup mixes out of dried vegetables, to help feed the hungry around the world.
On this particular day, the volunteers were made up of locals, a church group
from the Lower Mainland which has made this an annual trip, and a group of
visiting international students – all working in companionable silence.
A blackboard inside the building tallies the number of bags of soup mixes
distributed so far, and the countries they’ve been sent to. Each bag of soup mix is labelled ‘In Christ’s name.’
“We do it in Christ’s name, and no other name. And that’s very important,” said Menno Unger, former president of The Gleaners.
Though many volunteers who help out almost everyday have never been on a food
distribution trip, yet they continue to come.
Bob Ellis, former plant manager and one of the original founders of the
ministry, is one of the lucky few who have gone on a trip to see first-hand how
this work is affecting people halfway around the globe.
Ellis and his wife went to Moldova and Romania, to see the procedure involved in
giving out the food.
“It was quite a moving experience to have people there, who shared how much they
appreciated what we’ve been doing.”
The Gleaners work with other Christian organizations, to distribute the soup
mixes and dried apples to feed the hungry worldwide. These institutions prepare
the soup mixes; each bag provides 100 servings.
“We have seen it done in hospitals, in orphanages, in daycares – places like that, where they will make up a whole batch at one time,” said Ellis. “When we were there, many distributions that were done in Romania were done
through churches.”
Partners for Others is one of the organizations The Gleaners works with. It is a
Christian organization that provides humanitarian aid to those in need, with
the ultimate goal of making them self-sufficient.
Ray Brosseuk and his wife have been working with many children who were orphaned
because of the AIDS pandemic in countries like Swaziland and Lesotho.
Continue article >>
|
They quickly realized that, before they can help the communities, they needed to
attend to some of the basic needs first. Food is usually number one on the
list; most of the communities survive primarily on cornmeal from the World
Health Program.
“The food product from The Gleaners is probably the most valuable item we send
into southern Africa, because of the nutritional value,” said Brosseuk.
“I have many elderly women tell me it has strengthened their children . . . It
makes them think, makes them learn, makes them heal,” he added.
“You find these children who may have cut themselves from barb wire or something,
and they just don’t heal because they don’t have any nutrition except for the cornmeal. They have two cups of these soup
mix every week, and it changes their health.
“It’s just been an unbelievable lifeline,” he said of the Gleaners food. “It’s making a difference. It’s making our ministry that much better.”
The food provides the necessary first step for these individuals to survive – and, with the gardening tools or livestock that Partners for Others provides, to
continue on the path to independence.
Brosseuk said: “They look you in the eye, and they’re happy. It is the hand they needed to help themselves.”
November 2009
|
