by Katie Harvey, GBHT Child Sponsorship Director
Did you go to sleep hungry last night?
My guess is that the majority of my readers would answer this with a “no”. Unfortunately, that’s not the case with the majority of the children we serve at the Hope Center.
On most Saturday mornings, I meet with the middle school girls at the Center. We do a Bible study and talk about issues that they are facing in school and at home. A couple of weeks ago, I talked to the girls about peer pressure, what the Bible has to say about it, and suggested ways to be effective in standing up to peer pressure. We had a great discussion and I hope they all took something away from it.
Afterwards, Lydia, our teacher at the Hope Center, came up to me with a small piece of paper wth a question on it. The question was from one of the girls (we’ll call her “M”) who wanted to talk to us individually and not in front of the group. So Lydia and I called her in and sat down with her. The question was, “What do you do if you are receiving pressure from a parent to do something you don’t want to do?” I started asking M questions to get to the bottom of what was going on so I could answer her properly.
M explained to us that she lives with a single mother and her younger sister. Her mom works when she can find jobs which is often just once a week. That one day she works is the only day they eat a meal at home. M gets lunch at school and a snack at our after-school program in the afternoon. Sometimes that is the only food she gets for that day. On Saturdays, she receives what we serve at the Center — and that is the only food she gets for that day.
On Sundays, M’s mom makes her go out and beg for food. She does not want to do this, and this was what resulted in M’s question. M knows, though, that if she doesn’t go and beg, her little sister won’t have food that day. As M was explaining this, I was just heartbroken and holding back tears.
M’s problem is a common and large problem that the children whom we serve at the Center are facing. We are trying to figure out how we can best address this issue with the resources we have. One way we can immediately address this for some of the children in our programs is through our child sponsorship program. Have you considered sponsoring a child through GBHT? GBHT sponsorships not only include sponsoring the schooling of the child you choose, but also food support for that child’s family. If you are feeling led to sponsor a child facing needs similar to those that M faces, you can learn more about our children who need sponsored here.