{"id":1965,"date":"2011-03-11T15:00:25","date_gmt":"2011-03-11T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2011-03-11T15:00:25","modified_gmt":"2011-03-11T20:00:25","slug":"1965","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/1965\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep engagement versus enough engagement?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about David\u2019s last post (<a href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/post\/confessions-08032011\/\">here<\/a>), and have a few thoughts to share.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t think it is realistic to expect people to engage deeply with every issue, even those that are important to them.\u00a0 Many people I know have their own issue(s) that they are already engaged deeply with &#8212; they may care about\u00a0world hunger, but they simply not have the time or energy to invest in deepening their engagement and understanding of it.\u00a0 Ending world hunger is\u00a0complicated and\u00a0not as simple as increasing crop yields, or sending people food.\u00a0 Working to end world hunger is\u00a0also pretty overwhelming, and frankly many people are already overwhelmed with their day-to-day lives.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re not deeply engaged, fully informed, and thinking systematically about hunger, and if you\u00a0jump into feel-good activities that may not be sustainable, there is potential for unintended consequences.\u00a0 David\u2019s previous post on this topic <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/hungerrumblings\/post\/is-caring-enough-01032011\/\">here<\/a> really resonated with me.\u00a0 Most people in the pews on Sunday are not experts on the complexity of world hunger issues &#8212; they are experts in their own chosen fields and their own personal causes.\u00a0 You don&#8217;t have to be an expert to make a difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To me, it is critically important that <strong>every <\/strong>ELCA member understand that they are part of a larger church that <strong>does<\/strong> have a deeply engaged, comprehensive and sustainable program that uses multiple strategies \u2013 relief, development, education, and advocacy \u2013 to address the root causes of hunger and poverty.\u00a0 Obviously, I am referring to ELCA World Hunger.\u00a0 ELCA World Hunger responds to neighbors around the corner and across the world, working through trusted global partners and companion synods.\u00a0\u00a0 People who are suffering from poverty and hunger are connected to the resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For those Lutherans who are busy engaging with special education needs for their children, illness or disease in their family, or myriad other issues \u2013 I believe it is enough for them to donate to\u00a0ELCA World Hunger (<a href=\"http:\/\/https:\/\/community.elca.org\/NetCommunity\/SSLPage.aspx?pid=523\">here<\/a>\u00a0or <a href=\"http:\/\/http:\/\/www.elca.org\/Our-Faith-In-Action\/Responding-to-the-World\/ELCA-World-Hunger\/Donate-Now.aspx\">here<\/a>), and trust that their investment is in good hands.\u00a0 You can give (generously) to ELCA World Hunger and know that you are making a wise investment in fighting world hunger, and that your dollars are making a difference \u2013 even if you don\u2019t have time to fully engage with the issues and become an expert on world hunger in your own right.<\/p>\n<p>Erin Cummisford<\/p>\n<p>Note: This post was written before the unprecedented earthquake hit Japan today. Please know that our prayers are with all in Japan and across the Pacific who are affected by both the earthquake and tsunami. Also know that ELCA Disaster Response is already\u00a0in communication with our partners in Japan to learn about\u00a0what&#8217;s happening and what\u00a0will be\u00a0needed. Current information is posted at the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/disasterresponse\/\" target=\"_blank\">ELCA Disaster Response blog<\/a>, and donations to respond to disasters &#8211; wherever they occur &#8211; are always needed. Please consider <a href=\"http:\/\/www.elca.org\/disaster\" target=\"_blank\">making a donation<\/a>. Thanks!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about David\u2019s last post (here), and have a few thoughts to share.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it is realistic to expect people to engage deeply with every issue, even those that are important to them.\u00a0 Many people I know have their own issue(s) that they are already engaged deeply with &#8212; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-post"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Deep engagement versus enough engagement? - ELCA World Hunger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.elca.org\/worldhunger\/1965\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deep engagement versus enough engagement? 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