Just 3 Days Eating as Most of the World Does
Recently over 100 people participated in a Global Dinner Experience at Crossroads Church. Some left
with their tummies full and others left hungry (not your usual church dinner!) but all left with plenty of food for thought. They also left with a challenge; to continue their experiment in learning how most of the world lives by taking the Rice and Beans Challenge.
Some brave participants took up the challenge, eating only meager meals of basic food items such as rice, beans or plain oatmeal. Half cup measures of these basic food items per meal were recommended to give the participants a small experience of what it is like for more than half the world’s population.
The following Sunday some of us met to exchange thoughts on how we had fared. We all agreed that we really didn’t fully experience how most of the world lives – the uncertainty and insecurity of knowing whether there will be sufficient food for the next meal, since we had only to look in the pantry or refrigerator or drive to the store to see the overwhelming choice of food available to us. However, we did experience hunger, some weight loss, and a very deep gratefulness for the plenty and diversity of our food supply.
If you would like to organize a Global Dinner Experience or take the Rice and Beans Challenge please contact CEP for support materials and resources.

Globally a world record number of people stood up to declare their committment to end poverty and to support the Millennium Development Goals as a means to doing that. In Escondido we had 129 people attend the San Diego County event.
This high level of public engagement on the issue of extreme poverty reflects the same results as a recent survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org which found that 75% of Americans expressed a willingness to pay the estimated required amount (approximately $56 per year) to meet the goals of cutting world hunger and global poverty in half. There is a way (demonstrated by the Millennium Development Goals) and there is a will (demonstrated by the 116,993,629 people around the world who participated in StandUp) The time is now!
Read an op-ed by Anita Sharma here.

Join the Five Hundred For Compassion
It was with great thankfulness and anticipation that I approached the meeting with Congressman Issa in August. CEP and Jubilee members have been visiting with Congressman Issa’s aides for several years and largely due to the persistent efforts of Jubilee San Diego the Congressman arranged to meet with a small group of us to discuss his failure to support International Debt Forgiveness and to discuss his views on ways to respond to global poverty. It is with great regret that I report now on the actual reality of the meeting.
To read our letter to the Editor click here

Submitted by Su kraus

My main impression walking out of that meeting was that I had been run over by a talking steamroller. Instead of a civil exchange of views and an opportunity for constituents to express concerns and detail their priorities, the meeting became a monologue. A mere platform for the congressman to expound his views with little opportunity for discussion or dialogue. Added to that the disrepectful description of a former president as a “Shithead”, and a prejudiced and simplistic view of the causes of the troubles now facing Zimbabwe, left a bad taste.
Nonetheless, Congressman Issa has been returned to Congress by his constituents and I am still a resident in his district. So now my struggle is how to continue to advocate for those whose voices cannot be heard in an environment so hostile to compassion. I pray that I will continue to be grateful for the opportunities our nation provides for citizens to meet their representatives and that I will find ever more constituents who are willing to express their views on behalf of the poor to their representatives. I have set myself a goal of finding 500 constituents who care sufficiently to speak out for the least of those among us. 500 votes do matter to our Congressman. Will you be one of those 500. It begins with just 1! To join the Five hundred For Compassion email info@christiansendingpoverty.org