Food Grains Bank takes centre stage at World Day of Prayer
By Liz Dadson 

Religion

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Canadians live in a wealth of money, but in developing countries, the citizens live in a wealth of community filled with joy and happiness. So, who is really better off?

That was the compelling message brought by guest speaker Gerry Grubb to about 80 people at the World Day of Prayer service Friday afternoon at Kincardine Baptist Church.

Hosted by Chalmers Community Church, the service was written by the World Day of Prayer committee of Cameroon in central Africa.

The service involved representatives from Chalmers, and Kincardine Baptist, as well as the Anglican Church of the Messiah, St. Anthony's Catholic Church, Kincardine Pentecostal, Knox Presbyterian Church and the Kincardine United Church. This year's theme was taken from Psalm 150:6: "Let everything that has breath praise God," urging people to praise God constantly, whatever they may be engaged in - even working in the fields.

Grubb is a farmer in the Mildmay area, a certified crop advisor, has a seed dealership and works as a maintenance person for South Bruce Flooring in Walkerton. He is married with four children and one grandchild.

He has travelled to many countries, including Australia, New Zealand, China, South America, Mozambique and Malawi, England and India. His most recent trip was to Bangladesh.

Two of his journeys have been on food study tours with the Canadian Food Grains Bank to see how the aid is distributed and how it affects the country.

The program began years ago in Western Canada where farmers were growing crops they couldn't use, while they knew of Eastern Block countries whose citizens were starving. The farmers decided to send the grain to the people who needed it.

Now, said Grubb, the food grains bank consists of 15 Christian churches who donate money for food aid to be distributed to the rest of the world. The program has different missionary groups around the world who present projects they want funded.

The best part about the Canadian Food Grains Bank, Grubb said, is that for every dollar donated, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) matches it 4:1, which means a lot of money for food aid where people are in need.

Grubb said his trip to India was an eye-opening experience. In 2003, a Right to Food law was implemented which means individuals can generate 100 days of work to purchase the food they need. However, 70 per cent of India's population is illiterate so the program is of little value.

The missionary group there has begun a project to send people to the village to get an education, said Grubb. A leader from each community is encouraged to talk to the government to get the money flowing for this project, but the government is corrupt.

"We spoke with one leader who told us that he had a conversation with a government official who told him he must be the biggest fool of all to be working for these fools," said Grubb. "We went to the villages and it's almost impossible to describe. There were open sewers, no washroom facilities, no cooking facilities, and mountains of straw around for their fires."

They also travelled to Calcutta and visited Mother Teresa's tomb. "It was a very powerful moment," said Grubb. "She was such a little lady trying do what she could, and she had such an impact on the world. Now, we must think of what we can do.

"I've heard it said that: 'You may not be able to change the world, but to the child you touch, you are the world.' There were a lot of depressing moments out there. To these people, just one to two meals per day is a full stomach. We with a full stomach have so many problems; those with an empty stomach have but one."

He said Bangladesh was cleaner but in an area the size of New Brunswick, there was a population of 170 million.

In that country, the food grains bank was purchasing goats and heifers to help the poorest 3,000 families in the area. The first off-spring from the goats went back to the program and were given to other needy families.

Gerry Grubb speaks to the crowd at the World Day of Prayer

"We met some of the participants and it was touching to see what was important in their lives," said Grubb. "The heifer lived in one half of the home, while the family lived in the other half during the winter. In the summer, the family moved outside and the heifer stayed inside.

"All the agricultural work is done by hand. Brick-building is the next largest industry and it is also all done by hand."

Grubb said when he returned home from Africa, his heart seemed to go downhill for about three weeks.

"I couldn't figure it out," he said. "Here in Canada, and the whole western world, we live in a wealth of money. But in Africa and India, they live in a wealth of community with zero money. Yet, they seem so happy, and in Canada ...?"

An offering was collected at the World Day of Prayer service. A small portion of that pays for the resources used for the service, with the rest used for projects around the world, such as classroom construction in Kenya, rural youth empowerment through communication in Uganda, micro-trade skills training and start-up capital in Bangladesh, women's vocational training in India, woman power in Guyana, workshop and women's rights and empowerment in Haiti, a getting started program for refugees at Matthew House in Ontario, women with disabilities and deaf women's program in Ontario, prevention of violence against women in British Columbia, and youth services in Nova Scotia.

Next year's World Day of Prayer service will be written by the women of Chile on the theme, "How Many Loaves Have You?"

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Saturday, March 06, 2010