Seeds of Hope

What are you sowing?  By what you do, are you sowing seeds of peace, love, joy, hope, and tranquility?  Is your goal to love your neighbor as yourself?  Do you feed the hungry and house the homeless?  Are you an advocate for the least among us?  Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) is doing these things.  They have trained some 930,000 volunteers for ERD’s NetsforLife that’s active in developing countries.

ERD has brought their services to:

• Liberia where agricultural priorities are practiced;
• Yangon, Myanmar through the Anglican Men’s Association (AMA) with demonstrations of smallholder farms;
• Nicaragua where malnourished children are fed soy flour mixed with corn flour;
• Nyanza in Kisuma, Kenya, where there’s 95 percent HIV-negative graduation rate for children;
• Gaza Province of Mozambique Africans where there are making bricks to sell and build their own homes;
• And in the Diocese of Tamale where there are education, seeds, fertilizers and an increase in crops.

Giving Back

What ERD is doing according to their past Lenten Meditations is giving back to society in education, skill, love, and training.  Are you doing the same with your talent and treasure?  You may have benefited through a scholarships from a university.  Are you dedicated in doing charitable work?  Like thousands of these volunteers, the poor, hungry and homeless are depending on you.

Giving Joyfully

It’s good to be a happy giver.  As a charitable giver it’s gift to have a sense of humor to share with those you meet.  A human touch will put a smile on a face.  Sharing in such an undertaking enlightens a recipient in knowing that you care, and are giving from your heart.  Your attitude will be positive.  Some givers make jokes and are friendly.  Receivers of their gifts are happy to be with them.  It beats being negative, and depressed as though you’re carrying the burden of millions needy on your shoulder.

Whether it’s through the Diocese of El Salvador that provides services and training to many, or being an advocate for the over 50,000 unaccompanied children from Central America that cross the U.S. Border, you should play your part in creating a future for the least among us.  The seeds you sow send roots deep down into the soil of hopefulness.  Remembering that you’re mainly a branch of that eternal vine is an apt way of focusing on how you care.  But through faithfulness you’ll make it possible for your branch to bear fruit in abundance, so that when the harvest comes you’ll be awarded your just reward.  ERD’s website can be accessed at: https://www.episcopalrelief.org/.