Last week I had the opportunity to be part of a team that traveled to Washington DC.  As part of a trip and class through BU Missions and Baylor’s School of Social Work, we met with federal agencies like the United States Department of Agriculture and nonprofits like Share our Strength and Bread for the World.  During our ten day journey, there was much to learn about the problem of hunger in America and why 50 million people live without food security every day.  One thing was evident: this issue is very complex.

This is not an issue that can be addressed simply by the federal government…or just local nonprofits…or only churches.  This is an issue that requires all of us to live as God calls us to live.  In Isaiah 58 He says:

⁶ “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
⁸ Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
⁹ Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.

To live in a country that has well enough for everyone, yet children in every zip code go to bed hungry every night is quite a scorched place.  Working together to repair the breach, to restore the health of the most vulnerable, where none are hungry, is a place that The Lord would compare to a watered garden.

As a group we visited the offices of Senator John Cornyn, Representatives John Carter, Bill Flores, and many others across Texas and the nation, it was very evident that everyone wants to solve childhood hunger.  But how?  Left, right, public, private, federal, local—there are unlimited ways to solve this and other social problems that stare us in the face day in and day out.

It was an honor to be able to spend time with congressmen and leaders in the USDA who listened to us and care deeply about the least of these in our very own communities.  But what happens next?

The Texas Hunger Initiative and other organizations work tirelessly to provide the most up to date research in order to educate communities and recommend policies to congress that benefit everyone struggling with hunger.  THI’s non-partisan leadership models how to live out the 9th verse of Isaiah 58.  Instead of pointing fingers and name calling, whether in the political arena or any other, we must see that we are all called to love one another as God loves us and we must work together in order to serve Him fully.  There are too many crying out for justice to be ignored while those of us who have the power to make changes look at ourselves and our own interests instead of the interests of others.

Lord,

Make us meek.

Make us humble.

Help us to see You in others.

Help us to work together,

in everything, in Your kingdom, in Your will.

Amen.

I am at a loss.

Ten days ago, when I read about North Korean prison guards routinely clubbing innocent, starving children to death because they steal rice…my conscience seemed to fall out of me.  I didn’t write on these horrifically detailed events published by the UN last week as I had, not only a lack answers, but for the first time, a lack of questions as well.  How can we even think and react to such news?  What is our response when we empathetically place ourselves in the minds of those who are tortured by the burning memories of parents and children who were beaten and killed?

Pigeon position interrogation

As the New York Times reported, The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea) has been accused of “crimes against humanity including murder, enslavement, torture, rape, forced abortions and persecution on political, racial, and religious grounds. ‘The gravity, scale and nature of these violations reveal a state that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world,’ the commission said. It estimated that up to 120,000 political prisoners are detained in four camps and said starvation has been used to control and punish, both in the camps and in the general population. There is complete denial of freedom of thought, religion and movement. Women are forcibly trafficked from North Korea to China for forced marriages and prostitution.”

“Pump punishment” where prisoners are ordered to sit and stand up hundreds of times

How has this happened?  How has this happened for so long…the entire duration of my life?  Why has nothing been done?  What can be done?

Crane, airplane, and car interrogation positions

The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Michael Green & Christopher Johnson, along with many other analysts, believe that the best hope for change might be for the world’s nations to implement extreme sanctions in hope that the regime will eventually implode.

But is this our best?  Is this all we can do as interconnected peoples around the world?

Detention cell where prisoners are locked up

The United Nation’s Commission of Inquiry also said that it would present its findings to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the potential prosecution of Kim Jong Un, the Asian nation’s current dictator.  However, China, one of the five permanent Security Council members that would have to vote in favor of the ICC’s prosecution in order for the tribunal to proceed, has already said that no such vote would pass, “We believe that taking human rights issues to the International Criminal Court is not helpful to improving a country’s human-rights situation.”

A looming fear of China’s is the possibility of an overwhelming amount of refugees that would seek asylum if North Korea were to dismantle.  The oppression of those under Kim’s reign and those in Syria have a strong correlation. There is no doubt that the leaders in Beijing clearly see the parallel position it has with Turkey and Jordan.  In addition to the immigration problem that China could face (I’ll leave that discussion for another post), CNN reported that China benefits greatly from its neighbor by selling the dictatorship nearly all of its fuel and close to 80% of all its imports.

Prisoners catching mice to eat in a 4’x2′ cage

How is it that the United Nations does not require the People’s Republic of China to recuse itself during times like these?  If there were ever an instance in which parties should be restricted from voting due to a conflict of interest, this is the case!

We have much to learn here.  Is China in the wrong?  Yes—but any one of us can easily become like the billion person, non-Indian, Asian nation.  As a powerful person, family, business, or state that becomes entangled in trade with others, we can subtly confuse the worth of a dollar or Renminbi with the worth of a person.  Where are our values? Where are our treasures?  Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Is my treasure with my money…and also with the suffering of others?  I, like the rest of us, am guilty of selfishness.  I am guilty of turning my eyes away from the sufferings of others so not to feel their pain.

Prisoners catch mice and snakes to eat out of starvation

But what if we didn’t leave with the flat answer so many have posited—that there is no answer?  What if the followers of Jesus actually advocated for the least of these?  What if we encouraged others to do the same?  What if we believed those things that Jesus said to such a degree that our faith caused actions that created change for those in bondage?  What if we cried out to those in power to do something?

However, I am still at a loss.

I don’t really know what to ask our nation’s leaders to do.  I don’t know what strategies the global community can put together for the greater good.

But I do know that those of us who have a voice, even if it is only with a few, must speak for those who cannot.  We must use what gifts and talents that God has given us in order to serve our neighbor…as if our neighbor were Jesus himself.

Injustice is often found in the company of silence, so at the very least, we must start the conversation…and then keep it going—even when we are at a loss for words.