On a recent trip through West Virginia and rural Ohio, I found myself looking out the car window and thinking to myself how I would never know the stories behind all the thousands of people’s lives we drove past. Who were they? What did they do? What were their concerns, worries, and needs? Did they have a personal relationship with Christ, or were they lost and in desperate need of a Savior?
We passed homes where I knew the people inside were struggling for the basics—food, a functioning vehicle, and adequate shelter—and I realized I had no experience with living in need. As I saw the run-down houses flash by one after another, I was trying to imagine myself in the position of the residents and how they could look at life. In many cases, what I imagined was a lack of hope. It’s easy to see how an insecure job (if you even had one), no emergency funds, and people depending on you might lead you to not hope in much.
Yet, having plenty is no substitute for true hope. In Scripture, hope is never tied to possessions, power, or pride, but is always tied to believing and trusting in God to provide for eternity. Whether you are rich, poor, or somewhere in between, if you do not have Christ, you have nothing at the end of it all. If you have Christ, you have everything at the end of it all.
That’s why we spend so much time recruiting volunteers and raising funds for food and other projects. We want to bring people the hope that comes with salvation in Jesus Christ, and one of the best ways to gain access to people in spiritual need is to feed people in physical need. As I saw all the needs from the comfort of the car, knowing that I was just passing through and would soon be far away from it all, I felt a huge burden for the sheer number of people in need all around us.
By now, you’ve probably heard about the All-American Packathon we’re hosting in July. While FtH is still dedicated to providing food and the Gospel through all our international partners, we also see the need right here in our country and want to see people come to Christ In the US as much as anywhere we minister. Even though many of the people we help are strangers to us, they are far from strangers to God. He knows the need better than we do, which is why Peter is so enthusiastic about the greatness of God’s love for us and how he gives us true, eternal hope:
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
1 Peter 1:3
Matthew Byrd | Ministry Advancement Team