As many of us enjoy an extended holiday weekend and approach Memorial Day, the word sacrifice is a crucial part of why this weekend, this holiday, this day of remembrance is so important.  I think of many people I’ve never known and will never meet fighting wars overseas, fighting for what they believe in and for the ideals upon which this country was founded.  Though many do not agree with our administration’s and past administrations’ choices, one thing most people seem to agree on is the importance of showing our support to those who do battle—literally—in the name of our shared freedom and the countless ideals and privileges we sometimes take for granted while going about our busy days.

I especially think of my grandfather who was a waist gunner in World War II—a generation whose very existence called for the selflessness of sacrifice and service to the neighbor.  Though we are generations removed from that period of our history, many veterans from that and wars since walk among us.

We honor all our veterans and current enlisted servicemen and servicewomen with our own sacrifice.  That which we choose to do without or give to others so that a different group of people whom we may never meet can have something to eat.  We give of ourselves, our worldly possessions, and whatever means we have to boldly denounce the pervasive and destructive reality of hunger and poverty affecting a billion people in God’s world.

Let us further honor those who sacrifice themselves for others and for what they believe in by sacrificing something of our own so that people with little to eat might have a chance for a better life.

–Aaron Cooper is writer-editor for ELCA World Hunger

Disaster strikes.  Then what?  Pray, donate money, help people.  Do what you can as you follow the story in the media.  Haiti.  Chile.  Malawi.  Name the disaster of the month as we approach hurricane season and are called to respond at a moment’s notice when our brothers and sisters are in need, usually around the world but sometimes in our own backyards.

Photo by Paul Jeffrey, ACT International

When devastation engulfed Haiti on January 12, organizations around the world clamored to touch down on Haitian soil let alone begin instituting any kind of aid that would respect the hurting local infrastructure and Haitian people.  But the ELCA was already there, already in Haiti working with and through Lutherans to build better communities and improve lives.

ELCA World Hunger has been on the ground in Haiti for many years, providing millions of dollars and supporting many programs through local work of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF). It’s because of this work on the ground and relationships with the LWF and partner organizations like Action by Churches Together (ACT) that the ELCA is able to take your gifts and translate them quickly into food, water, clothing and shelter for people who need it now more than ever.

Gifts to ELCA World Hunger and ELCA Disaster Response are providing water. A water purification system with pipes, filters and pumps transported from freezing-cold Norway to scorching-hot Haiti is providing 10,000 homeless Haitians with clean drinking water. The ACT Alliance brought in desperately needed special water and sanitation facilities. The “water factory” is based in the Belair neighborhood of Port-au-Prince and provided the first clean water many people had access to after the earthquake.

Long before the spotlights cast themselves on the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and long after they will have faded, the ELCA has worked, is working, and will continue to work on the ground in Haiti for justice and stability.

The ELCA is present in many countries throughout the world, working through companion churches and with international partner organizations to provide the daily relief and development work that can, in a moment’s notice, support a readied infrastructure of support when disaster strikes already poverty-filled areas.

–Aaron Cooper is writer-editor for ELCA World Hunger