Mississippi is “the Magnolia State” where Emmett Louis Till, a 14-year-old African American boy, was abducted, tortured and lynched in August 1955. Mississippi is where Medgar Evers was murdered June 12, 1963. Mississippi is where three civil rights activists — James Chaney, Andrew…
Faith compels the World Food Bank with supply chain, investment and agricultural engineering experts
Inspired by faith, entrepreneur Richard Lackey has turned his expertise in hedge fund management and emergency response into a passion for combating food insecurity and malnutrition across the planet. But rather than seeking donations to feed the hungry, Lackey founded…
Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project
Pastor Dennis Atwood concluded a sermon series focused on gratitude last fall by challenging his congregation at First Baptist Church of Mount Olive to seek systemic solutions to systemic poverty and food insecurity in their rural corner of eastern North…
Baylor Collaborative on Hunger proves success of summer food program, gets $5 million grant from USDA
The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty has received nearly $5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to maintain a summer program that delivers nutritious meals to at-risk children residing in rural communities in four U.S. states. The federal…
Following Saint Francis from a safe distance
Last week, Carol and I joined the 4 to 5 million pilgrims who will make their way this year to Assisi, Italy, the cradle of Franciscan spirituality, to walk in the footsteps of St. Francis and buy sacred refrigerator magnets….
In Africa, inflation and a food crisis threaten not just the economy but people’s lives
While inflation troubles the United States and economies around the world, the rising cost of food and essential commodities is having a deadly effect across Africa. The challenge on the African continent is not just about the rising cost of…
Pastors dabble in brewing and mining to survive Zimbabwe’s burning economy
Father Chukucha cuts a lone figure as he circles the withering garden of his parish in Mberengwa, one of the poorest districts of the middle of Zimbabwe. While 250 miles away in another district, Pastor Noel Fengu, a Baptist minister,…
Guess what tornadoes blow in? Racial inequality and segregation
Across the decades, residents of “tornado alley” — the expansive swath of central North America visited by twisters every year — have heard myriad stories of inexplicable storm damage. A single piece of straw driven through a tree trunk is…
In Zimbabwe, churches are among the few places where the poor can access Wi-Fi
In a sprawling township in Mutare, a border city in Zimbabwe, Laurence Moyo, 24, spends five hours each day resting his back on the wall of a gigantic church building that belongs to the United Baptist Church. He grasps a…