BWA General Council Resolution 1986.7

WHEREAS, estimates of the number of chronically hungry people range from 500 million to one billion, from one-eighth to one-fourth of the world’s population; and

WHEREAS, chronic hunger, poverty and poor health show few signs of retreating in the years ahead and threaten to cripple many of the next generation of parents and potential leaders around the world; an

WHEREAS, Baptists believe that feeding hungry people is one of the issues at the core of the Bible’s message and at the heart of Baptist mission; and

WHEREAS, Baptists have responded with steadily increasing compassion in the past decade to the needs of the hungry around the world,

Therefore be it Resolved

1. that the BWA General Council, meeting in Singapore, July 1986, expresses appreciation to all Baptist mission boards and relief agencies at work in the field of hunger for their faithful efforts to feed the hungry and to help the hungry feed themselves;
2. that we confess that too often we ourselves have shared only table scraps, like the condemned rich man, and that we have failed to share from our abundance, like the redeemed Zacchaeus;
3. that we commit ourselves to pray regularly at home and in our churches for the poor and the hungry, and for God’s guidance about we as individuals and members of churches should do about hunger;
4. that we urge Baptists everywhere to study the causes of hunger holocaust, including poverty, war, climatic conditions, population growth, economic structures and government neglect and abuse, as well as the cures available, including development projects, land reform, tax reform, human rights improvements and peacemaking;
5. that we plead with Baptist people everywhere to expend as much effort to eliminate hunger resulting from political repression and economic exploitation as we do to relieve hunger arising from natural disasters;
6. that we implore Baptists around the world to join us in making a long-term commitment to translating our Christian faith into action through Christian charity, Christian citizenship and Christian witness.

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Claas, Gerhard, editor. Baptist World Alliance 1986 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory. McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1986.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Gerhard Claas, ed., Baptist World Alliance 1986 Yearbook: Minutes of the General Council Meeting and Directory (McLean, VA: Baptist World Alliance, 1986), pp. 52-53.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA General Council Resolution 1986.7 World Hunger; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA General Council Resolution 1986.7).
For more information about Baptist World Alliance resolutions, visit BaptistWorld.org/resolutions.