The Global Hunger Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 15 allowed students to experience what it’s like to go hungry every day in an interactive, hands-on way.
Steven Gillum, director of International Engagement for LU Serve, said that students are concerned “for not only humanitarian aid, but also ongoing community development that meets the physical needs of vulnerable communities.”
This workshop was aimed at educating students about how they could do both to alleviate the hunger pains of those around the world.
“With training and content experiences like these, we believe students will think more holistically about their major and connect their focus and passion to opportunities that we have with partners around the globe,” Gillum said.
Held in the Jerry Falwell Library, the workshop welcomed students by assigning them the identity of a person that was located somewhere in the world. Each identity came with an origin story and of a person from a certain socioeconomic class. Students received identities from high-, middle- and low-income levels.
The income levels were based off of international levels of socioeconomic classes, not American levels. Compared to international standards, the entire middle class of America would be considered high income.
Students were guided to their seats by LU Serve helpers. However, not all students were seated in actual chairs. Low-income identities were seated on the floor atop drop cloths with a paper bowl and fork in front of them.
Participants assigned middle-income identities were allowed to sit in the chairs lined up along the back wall. They had small water bottles on their seats. High-income identities were led to tables, where they were given an entire place setting.
The meals differed with socioeconomic class as well. Those assigned low-income characters were given MannaPack, a fortified rice formula that the organization Feed My Starving Children gives malnourished children around the world. The middle-income students were given rice and beans, a basic meal eaten internationally by those considered middle income. The high-income students were treated to a meal of cooked chicken, rice and a salad.
After students had finished their meals, Austin Holmes, chief operating officer at Baptist Haiti Mission, spoke on the realities of global hunger around the world.
During the beginning of his presentation, he remarked on Liberty’s campus and the beautiful amenities it featured.
Holmes asked students to consider how blessed they were to go to a school such as Liberty. He challenged them to ask themselves what they are going to do with their privileges as citizens of one of the most prosperous countries on earth and also as eternal citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Students also heard two of their fellow Liberty students — both from Haiti, studying at Liberty on scholarship from the opportunities that Baptist Haiti Mission afforded them — share their testimonies. Both Sony Alexis and Elie Elvilus shared how hunger had impacted them and their families in Haiti. They testified how Baptist Haiti Mission had helped them graduate secondary school and had also provided them with
consistent meals.
One of Baptist Haiti Mission’s goals is to provide students who attend their schools one nutritious meal every day. Holmes shared how, by meeting that goal, they saw an increase in performance, attentiveness and attendance at their schools.
Holmes concluded his presentation by encouraging students to use biblical principles to spread the Gospel wherever they are and make the change that the Lord asks them to make as ambassadors of his
kingdom.
One of the key goals of LU Serve is to educate students on the condition of
the world.
“We hope students are more informed of the grave realities of limited to no access to nutritious food around the world. And how a key organization is engaged daily with best practices for creating opportunity,” Gillum said.