But get this…

That same $80 billion, invested properly, could actually wipe out hunger of a different kind, while at the same time allowing us to be a part of something that transcends the self-focused lives we tend to live. And in the process, our own emotional hungers will begin to be met.

Think about it…

Life for a young girl living in northern Kenya is brutally harsh. Her culture tells her that a woman’s life is shaped by hard work and long hours, and that she has less value than a man. Her earliest concerns are directed toward preparing for marriage (sometimes as young as 10 yrs. old), bearing children, and working well into the night. The common practice of female genital mutilation adds layers of pain, shame, anger and confusion about her identity.

This is starkly different from the experience of the average pre-teen girl in America who is more frightened of getting fat than she is about cancer or losing her parents. A product of a culture that values thinness over character, she joins millions of sisters, daughters and mothers in a never-ending obsession with weight, exercise and appearance. She’s afraid, insecure and confused about her identity.

There is something wrong in both of these cultures, but we can do something about it!

true:shift is a partnership between Food for the Hungry and the True Campaign. It’s an effort to create a practical way for all of us to make a difference, one step – or “shift” – at a time.

First, we need to shift our thinking. It’s not about feeling guilty but about living based on who God made us to be. More importantly, as we think more about others we will shift the focus off of ourselves and our fears, resulting in hearts that are free from the obsessions that bind us.

Next, we must shift our resources. It’s absurd to spend $80 billion a year on an industry that doesn’t deliver on its promises. As we shift those dollars to where they are truly needed, we challenge our appearance-obsessed culture and help end a crisis of poverty and hunger.

A Mission to El Gade, Kenya

Through Food for the Hungry, we have begun a partnership with the village of El Gade, Kenya. For $32 a month – less than many popular diet aids – you can be an integral part of meeting physical and spiritual hungers in this community. In fact, if just 50 of us will participate, we can complete this community’s sponsorship needs and begin expanding our impact to additional communities. (Look for a community in Peru to come next).

Meet Your Child Face-to-Face, In Kenya!

Once you sign up to sponsor a child in El Gade, you’ll receive a packet in the mail with a photo and information about that child. Write letters back and forth, pray for one another, and connect with a very real person on the other side of the world. For those of you seeking an even deeper connection with your sponsored child, you will have a chance to join Constance and Travis on a mission trip there in spring of 2010. We might paint schools, build fences or teach workshops, and we’ll definitely come home with stories (and pictures) to share with those who doubt that $32 a month can really make a difference in someone’s life. (It can!)

So if you’re tired of the mess we’re living in, and if you want to be a part of change, then we invite you to make a “shift” in a tangible way. Sponsor a child and join us in making a true:shift.

Today.

Now.

(Go do it...)