Hold Firmly

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. –Hebrews 4:16

Café Central’s mission is to share the love of Christ with others. We minister to people by being the hands and feet of Christ and one of our methods of doing this is feeding the hungry. Here’s what I got to thinking about this week, haven’t we all said, “I’m hungry” or even gone as far as saying, “I’m starving!” At Café Central we serve everyone. If you come in the door, or right now through the drive thru, you will get a lunch. If it’s a truck week and you fill out a form, you get a box of food.

After considering this idea about hunger though, I decided to do a little research. Hunger in the United States is caused by a combination of factors, the most common being the link between hunger and poverty. The federal poverty level is defined as “the minimum amount of income that a household needs to be able to afford housing, food, and other basic necessities.” As of 2019, the federal poverty level for a family of four was 25,750 dollars. 43.9% of the population of Milledgeville lives in poverty with a median household income of 20,846. 41.9% of those living in poverty are black and 46.3% are white. These statistics include children under the age of 18 and seniors (65 and older) on fixed incomes. The national statistics for children living in poverty are staggering. Feeding America estimates that around one in seven children or approximately 11 million children experience hunger and do not know where they will get their next meal or when.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Baldwin County School District has continued to supply daily lunches to all children under 18. The food service workers and bus drivers remain hard at work. Private agencies like the Middle Georgia Community Food Bank and Café Central also have an opportunity to play a part in getting food to those in need.

One of the most interesting things I discovered as I researched was that this state of being is not called “hunger”. The term used is “food insecurity”. Food insecurity is defined at a household level, of not having adequate food for any household member due to finances. These conditions bring on worrying about running out of food, that food bought won’t last, adults cutting down portion sizes, being hungry and not eating or not eating for whole days (repeatedly), due to financial reasons. With a bit more reading, research, this idea began to sink in. I began to truly understand this thought of insecurity. That families are hungry because they are “insecure”: subject to fears and doubts; not confident or certain; uneasy; anxious, about whether they can eat and pay bills.

Remember at the beginning when I questioned if we’ve all said, “I’m hungry”, I feel like over the past few weeks as we go through the COVID-19 together as a nation, we can also say we’ve felt some kind of “food insecurity”. Fear of going into a store to purchase food, doubt we will find what we need, uncertainty of our environment, uneasiness about contracting the virus and even anxiousness about having to stay away from others. It has changed our behaviors, made us cut back or save up. Left us not knowing. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15)

Jesus our high priest has given us the ability to empathize so…together…”Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need”.

Until we “read” again…God Bless!

You can give through our website:  https://cafecentralmilledgeville.org/give/

Or mail a check payable to: Café Central, 500 Underwood Rd, Milledgeville, GA 31061

Stephannie Shelton

Stephannie and her husband Doug have been volunteering at Cafe Central for 6 years. They moved from Colorado to Milledgeville Georgia in 2015. That year during Sunday service, the announcement that Cafe Central needed extra help for their Thanksgiving service, brought them for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. They have now served weekly since January 2016. Doug is the volunteer coordinator and member of the Cafe Central Board. Stephannie just likes to talk to, and about, the “family” Cafe Central has become.