Although many pastors would be content if their churches met in three different congregations with 14 separate services using seven different languages, Jim Baucom, pastor of Columbia Baptist Church in Falls Church, challenged the church leaders to “take it to the next level.” And they did.
Church member Cindy Fisher responded with a challenge to do something about hunger and the idea found ready acceptance. Although the idea began as an emphasis for their church, they soon realized that if they were to be true to the Scriptures they would have to think globally.
Isaiah 58:10 became the scriptural mantra adopted by Fisher and her Ignition Team as they prepare to confront world hunger head-on: “And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”
Cindy Fisher
“Spend Yourself” became the theme for Columbia's church-wide emphasis. Fisher observed, “At first, the idea was to focus on hunger for a month or two in the fall of 2008. However, within a matter of weeks, that kernel of an idea had exploded into a vision of long-term engagement in the fight against world hunger that would begin with a month-long fall emphasis.” The centerpiece of the four-week was a devotional guide written by church members who provided a reading for each day.
It is easy to see how Fisher's enthusiasm has caught on. She asks, “Would we allow our own children to be so undernoursished that their physical and mental development is permanently impaired? Would we be willing to watch the children around us die — one every five seconds, day in and day out — and do nothing? If not, then how can we let this travesty happen anywhere in the world and still claim that we value the lives of others? How can we let this happen and still claim that we love our neighbors as ourselves? How can we let this happen and still claim that we love God, the God who laid down his own life for us, the God who was willing to give everything out of his love for us?”
It is one thing to be concerned that every five seconds a child somewhere in the world dies of starvation. It is another to do something about it. But it is this very determination, Baucom says, that has caused the church to rally around this cause. “The message I get from people here at Columbia is, ‘If it's going to change the world, I'm all in. But I'm too busy to waste my time with things that won't make a difference.' ”
How will one church make a difference?
Using Acts 1:8 as a model, they considered Falls Church as their Jerusalem. Like many churches, Columbia operates a food pantry. In 2007, the church assisted 2,256 families. They now plan to broaden their gifts to the hungry to also help them transition out of dependency. As gifted, committed and giving as church members are, Fisher realizes Columbia will need to partner with other ministry-oriented churches to meet the need in their area.
But the vision spreads beyond their Jerusalem to include Judea — in this case, southwest Virginia. “In Tazewell County, one in three adults is addicted to oxycontin,” Baucom laments. “The addiction is enormous. In Tazwell, 80 percent of the crimes are drug-driven. In contrast, in Northern Virginia it's 20 percent.”
Again, other churches will partner in meeting the need. Already the pastors of Highlands Fellowship, First Baptist Church in Radford, Blacksburg Baptist Church and Community Heights Church have indicated their commitments to help develop a project is southwest Virginia that will be centered around the local churches in that region and that will increase their capacity to address hunger in their communities. Many more churches will be needed.
Jim Baucom
Haiti is Columbia's Samaria and the uttermost part of the world is, for them, India. Referring to 2008 World Development Indicators set by the World Bank for which Fisher works, she cites sobering statistics. “In Haiti, almost 19 percent of children under age 5 are underweight and almost 30 percent are short for their age because of malnutrition.” In India, those figures are 43 and almost 48 percent.
In Haiti, Columbia is partnering with World Vision to develop a project that will address hunger in the Central Plateau. A small team will visit Haiti with World Vision representatives in May. Another team, including WMUV executive director Laura McDaniel, Cindy Fisher, and Baucom and his wife, will visit to attend the South India Baptist Mission Conference being held at the India Baptist Theological Seminary in late February. “We will see what doors open up to us from there,” Fisher notes.
She notes that throughout the process the plans have developed as the needs arose. Citing her pastor's confidence that God will make the path clear in time, she says, “And, he has, one step at a time. He reveals just enough for us to keep moving forward, but never so much that we would feel in any way self-reliant.”
Still, the thought of eliminating world hunger is a daunting mission and Fisher is praying for help. “We also want to be actively looking for opportunities to form relationships and partnerships with other churches and Christian organizations. This is where the full potential of ‘Spend Yourself' lies. When churches and organizations join together, dedicated to pursuing a vision set before them by God, the possibilities are absolutely limitless! This is where a finite world hunger effort transforms into a infinitely expandable multi-church, multi-state, multi-country world hunger movement; one that combines the power of a direct, personal mission experience with the impact of a coordinated, collaborative effort. And all for the glory of God. Could there possibly be anything more exciting?”