Resources to guide your prayers, thoughts, and choices during World Hunger relief week.

Did you know that Hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined!?

This week is World Hunger Relief week. I would encourage all Churches to insert some prayers into their liturgies, service sheets, or weekly devotionals.

From the links below you can get Prayer resources, Bible verses, and even games to help focus your prayers, and the choices and thoughts of your cell group, or Church during world hunger relief week.

Here are a few facts about world hunger:

You can download a MS Word prayer guide that has 40 prayers, with additional information, to guide your prayer during the week by clicking on this link.

• 854 million people are hungry
  
• 20 million people are undernourished
• 1 billion people live on less than $1/day
• 146 million children under age 5 are underweight
  • 10 million children under age 5 die every year, over half of hunger-related causes
• 1 in 6 people is hungry
• 1 in 6 people lacks safe drinking water
• 
  
• In the developing world, 20 million low-birth-weight babies are born each year. They are at risk of dying in infancy or suffering lifelong physical or cognitive disabilities.
  
• 3/4 of all deaths in children under age 5 in the developing world are caused by malnutrition or related diseases.
  
• Each day in the developing world, 16,000 children die from hunger or preventable diseases such as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, or malaria. Malnutrition is associated with over half of those deaths. That is equal to 1 child every 5.4 seconds.
  
• Hungry children are more likely to be ill and absent from school.
  
• Hungry children suffer from 2 to 4 times more individual health problems--such as unwanted weight loss, fatigue, headaches, irritability, inability to concentrate, and frequent colds--as low-income children whose families do not experience food shortages.

---

Africa quick facts - hunger and HIV/AIDS

• The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that there are 206 million people who are hungry in sub-Saharan Africa. This region accounts for 13 percent of the world's population, yet it is home to 25 percent of the world's undernourished population.
  
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, 24.9 million people live with HIV/AIDS, which is 63% of the world's 39.5 million total cases.
  
• In half of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa, per capita economic growth is estimated to be falling by between 0.5 and 1.2 percent each year as a direct result of AIDS. (Bread for the World)

For detailed information, resources, and a truly wortwhile read, please visit Evangelical Lutheran Church of America's website.

Technorati tags: World Hunger, resources, Church, Social Gospel