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It doesn’t take much intelligence to understand that someone starving might not grasp the fact that God loves them.
Jesus had a great deal to say about our responsibility to the poor. In his last parable, he described the judgement when all the nations, and the angels would be gathered before Him and separated as sheep and goats. He turns to the sheep and says, “Come you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took Me in. I was naked and you clothed me….” (Matthew 25:31-36 NKJ).
Taking care of the needy and demonstrating the love of God in action, is paramount to our Lord. Ellen White wrote, “In placing among them the helpless and the poor, to be dependent upon their care, Christ tests His professed followers. By our love and service for His needy children we prove the genuineness of our love for Him. To neglect them is to declare ourselves false disciples, strangers to Christ and His love.” (Ministry of Healing p. 205)
How could Jesus have made this any plainer as he took His disciples from village to village healing the sick and feeding the multitudes?
He gave the Jews the same commission in the Old Testament when he chose them to be a light in the dark world of heathenism. “Is this not the fast that I have chosen; To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked that you cover him…” (Isa. 58:7 NKJ).
The Carolina Conference and the Seventh-day Adventist Church takes this commission seriously. On May 10, the NAD offering will go to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). ADRA is the global humanitarian agency of the Seventh-day Adventist Church with over 5,000 employees and 7,000 volunteers serving in over 120 countries.
In the history of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, medical missionary service has often been the "entering wedge" for our work in new places. In recent years the extensive and continuing thrust of our community services and the added worldwide impact created by ADRA have helped to open doors that had been previously closed. Apart from supporting communities in long-term humanitarian crises and conflicts, ADRA responds to an average of two disasters per week. Although the country offices are spread across different continents and thousands of miles apart, ADRA works as a unified body to provide innovative solutions to a world in need.
How will you fare when God calls us to the bar of His justice? How will we Adventist fare when the King separates the sheep from the goats?
“Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe you…
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:37-40 NKJ).
Global Fact: As many as 828 million people — about 10% of the global population — regularly go to bed hungry. Economic shocks, extreme weather events, and conflicts like the war in Ukraine have restricted global food supplies, driven up prices, and presented a threat to vulnerable populations and countries.
by Crystal Earnhardt