Video: SNAP Matters More Than Ever

Joseph Llobrera of the Center for Public Policy and Priorities (CBPP), explains explains that due to the economic crisis, “rising food need and higher food prices are making it even tougher for many to make ends meet.” Growing numbers of households are reporting difficulty affording food and meeting other basic needs. Particularly alarming is the rise in the number of children whose families report that they aren’t getting enough to eat, which can have long-term consequences for their health and well-being. And, due to longstanding inequities exacerbated by COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on Black and Latino communities, families of color are likelier to struggle to afford enough food.

Video: A Collective Effort to Fight Hunger in New Mexico

Lilly Irvin-Vitela, executive director of New Mexico First, was the guest presenter at the Interfaith Hunger Coalition's Zoom meeting on July 27, 2020. Lilly spoke about the ongoing collective anti-hunger efforts in New Mexico before and during the COVID-19 health emergency and into the future. The actual presentation with announcements starts at about 7:00 minute mark, and Lilly's talk starts at the 13:00 minute mark

Fellowship in the Desert Hosts Hunger 101 Workshop Online

The Interfaith Hunger Coalition over the past few years has organized several Hunger 101 workshops in partnership with a number of congregations (First Presbyterian Church, Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Congregation Albert, the Albuquerque Baha'i Center) and organizations (Church Women United, the Jewish Community Center and Presbyterian Women).

We had been planning another one of these workshops with Chavurat Hamidbar (Fellowship in the Desert) in April. But then the COVID-19 health emergency occurred in the U.S. in March, which forced us to postpone the workshop.

We regrouped during the summer and put together a Zoom workshop.  Below is the video of a portion of the workshop, courtesy of Leora Jaeger-Siegel.

50 Countries Affected By COVID-19 Sing Amazing Grace

New Mexico Faith Leaders Offer Earth Day Prayers

New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light put together this video to commemorate Earth Day.  Reflections are offered by faith leaders from Baha'i, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Native, Protestant, Roman Catholic traditions. For some participants, we used only an excerpt of their full reflections.  We offer those full reflections following the main video.



Grandmother Flordemayo


Necip Orhan
 

Keely Mackey-Gonzales

PBS Releases Rick Steves' Video on Hunger in Ethiopia, Guatemala

Addressing a Bread for the World audience in Washington in June of 2019, travel writer Rick Steves spoke about a program he produced that connects the impact of climate change and hunger. To produce this documentary, Steves traveled to Guatemala and Ethiopia. We recorded a portion of his comments at a Bread Lobby Day reception.

"I want to empower development in the hungry world, to be able to develop in a way that is less impactful in a negative way to climate change. There are a lot of desperate people in desperate countries,..so that just to live, they have to deforest, they have to abuse their soil," he said. 

The program, "Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala," made its premiere on PBS on March 31.  



In this hour-long special, Rick Steves travels through Ethiopia and Guatemala to learn about extreme poverty and its solutions, including smart development aid, empowering women, child nutrition, and education.

World Food Day 2019 (Part 3): Collaborations, Chants and Blessings

While the emphasis of our World Food Day celebration was on local sourcing and sustainability (see Part 1 and Part 2), we also promoted the ability of our faith communities to collaborate and to work together to address local human needs.

Jessica Corley and Rachel Sternheim, Congregation Albert

Helping Central American Refugees
Jessica Corley of Congregation Albert spoke of the commitment by her congregation and Nahalat Shalom to support asylum seekers from Central America earlier this year.

The two Jewish congregations were part of a broad coalition of faith communities that supported the asylees. Others involved in this work were Catholic Charities, Lutheran Family Services, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church and Albuquerque Interfaith. '

Even though the federal government has shut down the flow of asylum seekers, Jewish Asylum Seekers Initiative continues to support efforts at the border by providing shelters in Juarez, Mexico, with life sustaining food, supplies and financial support.

In addition to the threat of violence from criminal organizations and drug traffickers, many of the asylees were forced to leave their homeland because of the impact of climate change on their ability to survive."Smallscale producers and rural communities remain the most vulnerable to drought, an important socioeconomic phenomenon--given its effects on the loss of livelihoods, decapitalization of household economies, impoverishment and migration to overpopulated urban centres," the Food and Agriculture Organization said in a recent report.

America Burciaga

SNAP, Title I and Support for Public Schools
The formula used by Albuquerque Public Schools for counting Title I eligibility is unfair to schools with a large number of immigrants.

America Burciaga, a student at South Valley Academy, spoke about the appeal she made at an APS School Board meeting. APS uses SNAP eligibility as opposed to school lunch forms.

I am both sad and disappointed that my school is being treated unequally because we have undocumented students.  Title I is a federal program designed to help all students, not just those that were born in the United states.  Most parents at South Valley Academy, just like my own mom and dad, came from different countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and so many others, looking for a better future, for themselves as well as their children.

The reliance on SNAP for the APS forumla could create additional elegibility problems in the future if the federal administration follows through with its threats to remove more people (including legal immigrants) from the SNAP rolls.

"Last spring, [the federal administration] put out a proposal for new time restrictions on food assistance for adults. This summer their proposal took power away from the states and made it harder for hungry families to access the help they need. And now, they’re going after poor people once again, taking $4.5 billion out of SNAP benefits over the next five years," said Food Policy Action. "Congress debated – and rejected – each of these cuts when it passed a bipartisan farm bill in 2018. So they’re going after hungry people through regulations."

A Baha'i-Muslim Outreach
The Lighthouse of New Mexico mosque and the Albuquerque Baha’i community are working together to offer meals for homeless people in Albuquerque. The two communities first became acquainted at the 2018 World Food Day  at La Mesa Presbyterian Church.The joint effort provides 250 to 300 meals each Thursday.

A special byproduct of their collaboration  are the joint prayer gatherings held before the members for the two groups and other in the community go out with food sacks to distribute in Albuquerque's International District (still known by some by its previous name of "the war zone.")

According to Caroline Hess, members of the Albuquerque Baha'i Community meet on Wednesday evenings by preparing sandwiches and other items. Two other volunteers prepare other items, including cookies baked with nutritional ingredients like whey.

The effort, said Hess, has expanded beyond the Baha'i-Muslim community, as other groups like the Bosque Center for Spiritual Living have joined in the collaboration.

We come together as friends, as partners, and it has made a difference in doubling our output of food for homeless people, but also bringing two communities together in friendship with kindness and honor and respect. One of those special parts of our program before we go out into the street is a joint prayer. It's really a special thing.   Imam Abdur Rauf, The Lighthouse of New Mexico

One of the Baha'i community's principles is that service is prayer. It is the greatest prayer to God is to care for his trust. His trust are the poor.  -Caroline Hess, Albuquerque Baha'i Community

Prayers, Reflections, Chants and Blessings
Our World Food Day celebration included two Sikh reflections, prayers and chants and a Cherokee closing blessing.

Dr. G. Dave Singh


Manjeet Kuar


Beverly Wilkins

World Food Day 2019 (Part 2): Resiliency and Use of Local Resources

Achieving Zero Hunger is not only about working to alleviate hunger, but also nourishing people, while nurturing the planet.  World Food Day 2019

Our World Food Day event began outdoors by with a focus on sustainability and the organizations that place importance on local food production, sound environmental practices and resiliency.  We hope you enjoy these stories.

East Valencia Urban Garden Program
Lindsey Diaz related the first story about the communities of Meadow Lake and El Cerro-Monterey Park, which created a food system and community enhancement model in an area that had long been a food desert.

There was consensus that one of the best ways to build a stronger and more resilient community to climate change was for the area to produce its own food locally, and that this would also help the economy. And that these efforts these efforts should be emphasized working with youth and kids.

The Garden's Edge and Qachu Aloom
The Albuquerque-based organization provides resources and training to farmers and community organizations that fight environmental degradation, global climate change, loss of small-scale farms, and the erosion of indigenous cultural knowledge. Qachuu Aloom Mother Earth Association, based in Rabinal, Guatemala, works closely with The Garden's Edge on these same goals. In this video, Sarah Montgomery and Josselin Chun Cojom spoke of the work of the two organizations, offering a presentation on the use of amaranth. 

We've had a lot of success working with amaranth. It's native from Mesoamerica, but it's also grown in New Mexico. It's very weedy. You'll find it a .lot of growing in cracks, and it's probably one of the plants that you pull out of your garden when you're weeding. But it's also super highly nutritious. You can eat the leaves and you can eat the seeds.

The Garden at St. Therese Catholic School 
Principal Donna Illebrun and students Hayden Rodriguez and Willow Luna spoke about the vegetable garden and greenhouse located on the grounds of St. Therese School in Albuquerque. 

When we got here, (the site) was in rubbles--all of this was all asphalt, falling apart. We knew that we needed a safe place for our children to run and play and learn about the many blessings that our Earth has for us. Over 10 years ago, a grant was written, and we got our greenhouse that is very active in the lives (of our students).

Agri-Cultura Network 
Helga Garza spoke about the challenges facing farmers in the South Valley of Albuquerque and also the work of the Agri-Cultura Network, which provides access to local produce to promote nutrition and economic development through traditional and innovative agricultural practices. This presentation took place indoors in the church (so please pardon the echo).

As small farmers, we came together because we were on our last generation of traditional farmers, reaching (the ages) of late 50s to late 70s, and no longer having the strength to keep up their farming.  So in 2008, we sought farm techiques and a new generation of farmers.  In 2010, three of those farmers formed the cooperative. 

World Food Day 2019 (Part 1): A Locally Sourced Path to #Zero Hunger

Sarah Montgomery, The Garden's Edge

This year's global celebration of World Food Day (a Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World) calls for action across sectors to make healthy and sustainable diets affordable and accessible to everyone. At the same time, it calls on everyone to start thinking about what we eat.

As part of our celebration in Albuquerque, we invited three organizations that promote the cultivation of locally sourced and native plants to help address the food gaps in the Albuquerque area.

The East Valencia Urban Garden Program, The Garden's Edge and its Guatemalan partner Qachuu Aloom, and  the South Valley farmers association Agri-Cultura Network offered examples of how they promote sustainability, availability, and local options for food production. Two students and the principal from St. Therese school also spoke about the vegetable garden and greenhouse present on the school grounds.

A Focus on Human Needs
As a secondary theme, we looked on efforts to address local human needs, including  the five faith communities/organizations that came together during a refugee crisis, the challenges faced by two schools in the Albuquerque South Valley with primarily Latino and immigrant populations, and a collaboration between The Lighthouse of New Mexico mosque and the Albuquerque Baha’i community to offer meals for homeless people in Albuquerque. Videos and/or accounts of all our stories will be featured in subsequent posts.

Manjeet Kuar leads Sikh chant

In between the seven stories that resonated with nearly 70 people who attended the event, we were also fortunate to have two prayer/reflections from the Albuquerque Sikh Gurdwara and a Cherokee closing blessing

As has been our tradition for the past four years, David Poole taught participants the World Food Day chant that he composed (words and music) for our first celebration in 2016. Keri Sutter developed some movements to go along with the chant, which we have used for all four of our annual celebrations. 

Grandparents Raising Children and Other Hunger-Related Issues

It's no coincidence that the director of  a food bank and northern New Mexico and the representative of the U.S. Census for Santa Fe and surrounding areas would make the same observation: many  grandparents are raising children, which has a direct correlation to hunger.

On recent trip to Española, Sherry Hooper engaged in a conversation with a local official about demographics in area schools. "Someone told me that 60 percent of the children in Española schools are being raised by their grandparents. Sixty percent!"said Hooper. director of The Food Depot, which covers Santa Fe and a good portion of northern New Mexico. "I knew there were some, but I had no idea there were that many."

Incidentally, the organization Grandparents Raising Grandchildren was created in Española and is supported by Las Cumbres Community Center.

Below is an excerpt of Hooper's talk about hunger in northern New Mexico at Feeding Our Neighbors, a workshop sponsored by the Interfaith Hunger Coalition (IHC) and Temple Beth Shalom.



Many problems are associated with this scenario of grandparents raising children. For one, many seniors or near-seniors are income-limited and already have to make tough decisions like choosing on whether to spend their funds on utilities, medication or food. On top of that, they must take care of all the expenses associated with raising children. The New Mexico state government offers some resources to grandparents who are raising grandchildren.

Marisa Santistevan

From the standpoint of the census, some seniors often won't admit to authorities that they are raising grandchildren for fear that they would lose privileges, such as the right to live in subsidized housing that is limited to people of a certain age. According to Marisa Santistevan, partnership director for the U.S. Census Bureau in Santa Fe, there is the risk that these children living with grandparents will not be counted in the 2020 Census. Among other things, an accurate count would help a state of New Mexico obtain all the resources to which we are entitled. Read more on why the census is important.

Santistevan was  among the speakers at Feeding Our Neighbors. Other presenters included Tracey Enright from Feeding Santa Fe and Rachel White Sternheim, education director at Congregation Albert in Albuquerque and a member of the IHC steering committee. White Sternheim prepared the opening reflection based on Psalm 137 and also spoke about MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger.  Carlos Navarro, convener of the IHC, presented a history of our organization and additional statistics on hunger in New Mexico.

We also offered participants an opportunity to write letters to Rep. Ben Ray Lujan urging him to oppose new administrative rules that would restrict many more families from retaining access to the SNAP program. Ellen Buelow, chair of the IHC advocacy committee, explained that new rules offered by the federal administration would push more than 3 million Americans off food stamps,

We are thankful to Judah Horowitz, social justice director at Temple Beth Shalom, and Rabbi Neil Amswych for hosting our event.

Judah Horowitz

Tracey Enright

Ellen Buelow

Workshop participants

Rick Steves Addresses Structural Poverty, Climate-Smart Agriculture

I innovated a way for me to be a more ethical travel company by giving myself my own carbon tax...I'm creating a portfolio...What I want to do is empower development in the hungry world...to be able to develop in a way that would not be impactful in a negative way to climate change....  -Rick Steves, travel writer and television host

Rick Steves was a surprise guest speaker at the Bread for the World Lobby Day reception on June 11. Steves happened to be in Washington lobbying Congress on another topic, and by coincidence found himself on Capitol Hill on the same day that a few hundred Bread advocates were meeting with their members of the House and Senate to advocate for global nutrition initiatives.

So Steves, a very close friend and supporter of Bread for the World, came to our reception.  His presence was serendipitous because it gave him a chance to tell us more about the television special on hunger that he plans to release later this year, entitled Hunger and Hope: Lessons Learned from Ethiopia and Guatemala.

Ending Structural Poverty
"I went down there not to do a tour show on Ethiopia and Guatemala...We didn't even go to the famous places..We can use those countries as a classroom for why there is poverty," Steves told dozens of people gathered in the  It's structural. Bread for the World tackles the structural underpinnings of poverty and hunger."

As an example, Steves mentioned the global debt relief campaigns, that Bread and other organizations supported in 2000. "Bread for the World spearheaded this. We led the way in forgiving the debt of the more heavily indebted nations on this planet.  That's structural poverty. And we took away that bit of structural poverty."

Climate-Smart Agriculture
In his comments at the Lobby Day reception, Steves spoke of the need to take climate change seriously when creating development programs for poor countries. 

"I want to empower development in the hungry world, to be able to develop in a way that is less impactful in a negative way to climate change. There are a lot of desperate people in desperate countries,..so that just to live, they have to deforest,  they have to abuse their soil."

Steves spoke of the need to develop "climate-smart agriculture," which would allow people to produce food and at the same time not contribute so much to the carbon problem on the planet.

To this end, Steves has pledged $200,000 for Bread for the World to support climate-smart agriculture in the hungry world. He is raising these funds by giving himself a carbon tax applied every time he travels to Europe or other destinations to produce his popular programs. Steves outlines his commitment in an article on his website.

This video contains about six-plus minutes of Steves' comments at the Lobby Day reception.

A Discussion on Global Nutrition; Chatting with a New Board Member

Representatives of nine congregations gathered on Saturday morning, March 16, to discuss the 2019 Offering of Letters: Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow and to hear from one of our newest members of the Bread for the World national board of directors.

About a dozen people attended the workshop, which included members of Albuquerque Mennonite Church, Annunciation Catholic Church, Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, La Mesa Presbyterian Church, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Community, St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, St. John XXIII Catholic Community, St. Paul Lutheran Church and St. Timothy Lutheran Church. Most of these churches also participated in our 2018 letter-writing campaign, which yielded 1, 353 letters to Congress on protecting safety-net domestic nutrition programs.               

Talking Child Nutrition
The topic of this year's letter-writing campaign is very straightforward. We are asking Congress to pass legislation to establish a new, scaled-up approach to global nutrition. Passage of a bill or resolution will strengthen U.S. commitment to global child nutrition and will lead other countries to join us in the global effort to end hunger.

Still, there were some questions. For example, one participant asked whether the legislation Bread supports would target the health of a child before he/she is born. This would mean an emphasis on providing nutrition for expectant mothers.

The answer is yes, of course. The 1,000 Days Campaign, which provides a model for global nutrition initiatives, takes into account the health of a child from the beginning of a mother's pregnancy to the boy or girl's second birthday. "Nutrition programs for pregnant women and young children are highly cost effective. Every dollar spent on them produces on average a $16 return from reduced health care costs and people's improved ability to participate in the labor market," says the Hunger and Poverty Facts section of the four-page position paper on this year's Offering of Letters.

E-Mails, Handwritten Letters and Lobby Day(s)
There were also discussions on whether e-mails are effective, on the timing of letters, and on the mechanics of delivering the actual letters to Congress. We agreed that electronic communications are a relevant way to connect with legislators, but that messages should be personalized and that a postal mailing address should be provided.

St. Timothy Lutheran members

In Albuquerque, some congregations are planning to continue the tradition of delivering the letters to the local office and perhaps taking the opportunity to discuss global nutrition with a local aide. St. Timothy Lutheran and La Mesa Presbyterian Church have both recently organized visits to the local offices of our elected officials in downtown Albuquerque.

Along those lines, we are working on setting up local visits in Albuquerque to the offices of Rep. Debra Haaland, Sen. Martin Heinrich and Sen. Tom Udall, in conjunction with Bread for the World's Lobby Day, which is on June 11. At least two people from Albuquerque are planning to visit Capitol Hill on that day. Several churches and one synagogue (along with a national representative from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger) organized a local Lobby Day in June 2017.

Board member Kara Bobroff
One of the two people planning to attend Lobby Day in Washington this year is Kara Bobroff, a new member of Bread for the World's board of directors. The visit to Capitol Hill would coincide with the summer board meeting. I (Carlos Navarro) also plan to attend Lobby Day.

Bobroff, founding principal of the Native American Community Academy (NACA) in Albuquerque, was a special guest at our Offering of Letters workshop. She spoke on strategies to engage Native American communities in our anti-hunger work in New Mexico and elsewhere. "As far as getting more Native American communities involved [in anti-hunger efforts], the focus on children is one of the primary ways to do that," said Bobroff.  She pointed out that ensuring that children have adequate nutrition is a universal goal for communities across the globe.

In part because of her great success with NACA (which serves as a model for Native communities elsewhere in the country) and her 30-year track record in education, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham earlier this year appointed Bobroff as one of the deputy secretaries of New Mexico Public Education Department (PED). "She helped to create a network school scorecard to provide a more holistic view of school and student success in order to guide future educational growth," said a press release from Gov. Lujan Grisham's office.

Bobroff spoke enthusiastically about a new initiative in this year's 60-day session of the New Mexico State Legislature that created a new early education agency. The Early Childhood Education Department, which was approved by the State Legislature, would develop programs for infants and young children up to age 4. The programs would include home visits for families, child care assistance and prekindergarten. "I think there might be way to have the efforts of [local Bread advocates] connect with some the programming with women and children at that age level," said Bobroff.

So how did Bobroff become acquainted with Bread for the World? She learned about the organization while serving with Bread president David Beckmann on former President Barack Obama's Advisory Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Beckmann asked her to consider becoming a member of the Bread board, and she accepted an invitation to be part of the ballot for the board of directors. She became a member of the board, beginning on Jan. 1, 2019.

As a new board member, it was very valuable for Bobroff to meet with some grassroots members  at our Offering of Letters workshop. "It's interesting to know the work that you're doing locally, but also what's happening at the other levels as well," she told participants at the workshop.

Here is a four-minute clip of Bobroff's talk at our local Offering of Letters workshop. (Ivan Westergaard of St. Paul Lutheran Church and Rena Dragoo of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church look on).

David Beckmann Introduces 2019 Offering of Letters

Bread for the World’s 2019 Offering of Letters: Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow urges our government to accelerate progress toward ending hunger by increasing funding for global child nutrition programs. In this video, Bread President David Beckmann introduces us to the letter-writing campaign for this year.

Sister Simone Campbell to Speak at the Roundhouse Next Week

Simone Campbell, executive director of the Catholic Social Justice Lobby NETWORK and founder of the Nuns on the Bus movement, is the featured speaker at the 10th Annual Witness for the People Rally at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe on Wednesday, January 16.

The rally is sponsored each year by a coalition of social justice organizations, led by New Mexico Interfaith Worker Justice and New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light.

Sister Simone, a member of the Sisters of Social Service and author of A Nun on the Bus, is a lawyer, lobbyist, poet, and Zen contemplative working on issues such as “mending the wealth gap,” “enacting a living wage,” and “crafting a faithful budget that benefits the 100%.”

She is a powerful voice for longings so many of us share, across differences, about how to engage with the well-being of our neighbors in this complicated age.

Here is the schedule for her visit on Wednesday, January 16.

10-11:30 Legislative Briefing
Sr. Simone Campbell
Advocacy using an Ethical/Moral Framework
First Christian Church, 645 Webber St., Santa Fe, NM 87505
RSVP to joan@nm-ipl.org to get count for materials and snacks

12 Noon-1:00
Rotunda of Capitol in Santa Fe
Sr. Simone Campbell
New Mexico Peace Choir
Faith Leader Prayers
visits to legislative offices

6:30 pm
Sr. Simone Campbell
St. Therese Church
3424 4th Street NW, Albuquerque
"Nuns on the Bus: Living a Faith that does Justice and Community"
With information tables and opportunities to get involved

NMIPL Annual Gathering: Our Response During 'theTwilight'

"Twilight: A time of pause when nature changes her guard...." -Howard Thurman

New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light invites the public to its Annual Fall Gathering

Twilight: A Time to Pause, Community Reflections in a Time of Climate Change

Thursday, November 15, 6:30 pm
Albuquerque Mennonite Church,
1300 Girard NE, Albuquerque (map)

Join participants in reflecting upon the "twilight" time we find ourselves in. What sustains us? What wisdom can we share? How shall we proceed knowing so much and yet sometimes feeling so small as we face an enormous reality? What inspires us? What new directions call to us?

The event will feature an interfaith prayer, including music by Eileen and the In-Betweens
and a celebration of SEED and SPROUT Awardees

Additionally, a panel will discuss environmental issues and how we respond to these concerns.

• Michelle Otero: Albuquerque Poet Laureate
• Larry Rasmussen: Reinhold Niebuhr Professor Emeritus of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary, New York, Santa Fe, Earth Ethicist, writer and lecturer)
• Laura Paskus: Award winning journalist covering climate change, water and love of environment and communities in New Mexico, NM In Focus regular
• (See videos below)

Refreshments and community sharing will follow
Information joan@nm-ipl.org, 505-566-6966. RSVP NMIPL Facebook

Michelle Otero



Laura Paskus



Larry Rasmussen



Event will be streamed and on You Tube.

Snapshots of World Food Day in #ABQ (Part 4)

Our Third Annual Albuquerque World Food Day was held  at La Mesa Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 14, 2018.  Our commemoration featured stories of hope, offered by six inspirational individuals. Here is Part 4 with a Closing Blessing by Imam Abdur Rauf, a brief comment from Lungile Sinandile and a song from the Matunda Yesu Refugee Choir  (All four parts are consolidated in the World Food Day 2018 page in the IHC blog)

Song: Lungile Sinandile and Matunda Ya Yesu Refugee Youth Choir





World Food Day Chant (Composed by David Poole. Sacred Movement led by Surgite)



Closing blessing: Imam Abdur Rauf

Snapshots of World Food Day in #ABQ (Part 3)

Our Third Annual Albuquerque World Food Day was held  at La Mesa Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Our commemoration featured stories of hope, offered by six inspirational individuals. Here is Part 3 with two more stories, the World Food Day chant and the prayer of commitment.  (See Part 1 and Part 2)

Fifth Story: Katie Morris, MPH, has worked overseas for Catholic Relief Services in four countries over the past 10 years. Her most recent posting was in Ethiopia, managing an integrated food security program for over 240,000 individuals. She served in the Albuquerque chapter of Amigos de las Americas in several Latin American countries from volunteer, supervisor, Program Director, and Board of Directors from 1998-2007.



Sixth Story: Rachel White Sternheim is education director at Congregation Albert responsible for developing, planning and supporting youth and adult education programs. In addition, she is a local synagogue representative for MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and serves on the Interfaith Hunger Coalition steering committee.



Prayer of Commitment: (alternate side beginning with right)

As we pray, Holy One,
we ask you to keep us from using prayer as an escape;
keep us from the temptation of uttering a few words,
in the hope that you will swoop in and do the rest
with no further requirement from us.

May our prayers be a constant,
unending rhythm that drives not just our words,
but our thoughts, our attitudes and our actions;
may we never stop seeking, asking, knocking, pleading for justice, wrestling with the call to love all of creation and humanity.

As we pray for our world,
may we also live lightly on the earth,
aware of the effects of climate change,
may we use only what we need, and live lives so others might live. As we pray for our nation, may we also live as good neighbours,
protecting the weak and vulnerable,
and celebrating goodness and grace wherever we may find it;

As we pray for our community,
may we also live with open arms and hearts,
embracing both familiar companions and unknown strangers,
and welcoming all as you do.

As we pray for our friends and families,
may we also live as those who lay down their lives,
selflessly serving those in our care, and always choosing the sacrificial way of love.

All: And so may our prayers be the catalyst,
that changes us into little incarnations
– ordinary people who manifest a holy life of love in action. Amen

Snapshots of World Food Day in #ABQ (Part 2)

Our Third Annual Albuquerque World Food Day was held  at La Mesa Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 14, 2018.  Our commemoration featured stories of hope, offered by six inspirational individuals. Here is Part 2 with three more stories.  (See Part 1)

Second Story: Abdur Rauf is Imam at The Lighthouse of New Mexico, a Muslim non-profit organization established in Albuquerque in May 2017. Community activities include the Homeless Feeding Program, where members distribute food to the homeless community Thursday, in addition to conducting religious Islamic services.



Third Story: Albino Garcia,is executive director of La Plazita Institute, a non-profit organization engaging New Mexico’s youth, elders and communities in a comprehensive, holistic and cultural approach. One goal is to promote focuses on conversion of weapons of destruction (guns) to tools of construction (gardening implements).



Fourth Story: Caroline Hess, a member of the Albuquerque Baha'i Community, is associated with La Cosecha Community Supported Agriculture, which provides subsidized and sponsored produce for low-income families.

Snapshots of World Food Day in #ABQ (Part 1)

Our Third Annual Albuquerque World Food Day was held  at La Mesa Presbyterian Church on Sunday, October 14, 2018, two days before the actual World Food Day. The theme of the global commemoration this year was Greening the Blue. We chose the theme Food Sustains Us All for our local celebration, which was co-sponsored by the Interfaith Hunger Coalition, New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, East Central Ministries and La Mesa Presbyterian Church.

Our commemoration featured stories of hope, offered by six inspirational individuals. The stories reached the ears and hearts of about 50 people who attended the event. We planed to start the commemoration outside in  fruit garden/park located between La Mesa Presbyterian Church and La Mesa Elementary School, but moved the event indoors because of inclement weather.

In between each of the stories, the audience chanted a simple but beautiful piece that local musician David Poole wrote for our first commemoration (see words below), and which we have used for each of our three local World Food Day celebrations.

The Matunda Ya Yesu Refugee Youth Choir, led by Lungile Sinandile, helped us celebrate with two songs of joy and commitment at the beginning and at the end of the event. We have a video of  the closing song (in Part 4 of this series).

The videos and images contained in this series of blog posts follow the sequence of the program.

 Opening Song: David Poole started us off with a simple song

Welcome. Rev. Bre Roberts, Lutheran Campus Pastor at the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, welcomed all participants and offered brief instructions.

Our World Food Day Chant followed (including movement by Surgite, A Sacred Dance Company)

Open our hands that all may be fed 
Open our hearts that all may find refuge
Open our eyes that all may see
The Oneness of earth’s family.

Opening Blessing: Rev. Trey Hammond, La Mesa Presbyterian Church



Song: Matunda Ya Yesu Refugee Youth Choir led by Lungile Sinandile

First Story: John Bulten has lived and worked in the La Mesa neighborhood for 20 years. He is the Executive Director of  East Central Ministries with a passion for cultivating Shalom within our community.

'Humanity Can Survive Environmental Disaster, But We Must Act Now'

The Kogi, an aboriginal people of Colombia, believe that they know how humanity can survive. The tribe that lives in Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta warned the world, through a film, as early as twenty years ago of people destroying the earth. The film was a BBC documentary called From the Heart of the World that was directed by Alan Ereira and attracted a great deal of attention. The documentary was also shown at the UN conference on the environment in Rio de Janeiro. However, the thoughts of the tribe were soon forgotten. Now Ereira makes the concerns of the Kogi visible again, this time in an illustrative form: by showing the global destruction of the environment in miniature. The Kogi travel on the Columbian coast, showing how human actions have changed the cycle of Nature, led to extinction of animal species and affected our everyday lives.

A visit to Albuquerque
Albuquerque is honored to host the Teyuna mamos and zagas, spiritual leaders of the Arhuaco, Kankuamo, Kogii and Wiwi people of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia. Known as Guardians of the World, they were featured in several documentaries, including Aluna, which can be viewed online (see trailer below).

For eons these indigenous peoples hardly ventured beyond their homeland. But, now they are concerned for the health of the planet and believe it is critical to speak to the industrial world about climate change and water. The group is touring particular water places in the United States to speak, to pray, to offer healing, and to beg us to act.

Here are details of the group's national tour. This includes a handful of events in Albuquerque.

• Sunday, August 12, Peace and Justice Center, 202 Harvard Dr. NE.  7:00 p,m
• Monday, August 13 First Congregational Church, 2801 Lomas Blvd NE  6:30 p.m. (Free will donations accepted for the first two events)
• Tuesday, August 14, Healings at  St. Thomas of Canterbury, 425 University Blvd. NE,  2:00-4:00 p.m.  (Donations of $50--$100 to $1,000. Contact Swami at 505-842-5697)

Here is the trailer to Aluna.