Until Hunger Is Gone

On World Food Day, we pause to remember the millions around the world who still face food insecurity — and consider what we can do to make a lasting impact.  

I can still remember the dire situation of a mother in South Sudan. Right now, a war is ravaging the country.  

A colleague and I flew over the fighting and into the capital called Juba. Surprisingly, the war has not penetrated the capital. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced war victims live there in all kinds of shelters, from out in the open to tents provided by the United Nations and other organizations.

By the time we arrived, most of the humanitarian organizations had left, and the tents and temporary shelters were in various states of disrepair. Cyndi, my colleague, and I visited multiple sites with our in-country Cru^® partner. We met with church leaders who talked about the plight of the hungry. 

Then I saw the dire reality for myself … 

Gabe, our in-country Cru leader, took us to a camp. As we drove in, it looked empty. But then from seemingly out of nowhere, hundreds of people appeared and began following us around. We met with a doctor who worked in the makeshift clinic. He had no equipment, no medicine and no walls on his tent. The line of women waiting to have their children seen at the clinic stretched for miles. He reported that everything he was seeing was related to severe malnutrition. The children looked hollow.

I met one of the mothers. She invited Cyndi and me to see where she was living. It was a very tattered tent, about thirty feet long and eight feet wide. She told me that over 150 people slept there. Half of the tent top was gone, so if it rained, they would take turns sleeping under the part where there was a tent roof. 

She had a little pot. I asked what food she fed her children. She pointed to some weeds and said, “I go there, and I pick those weeds. I put them in a pot with some water and a teaspoon of sweet sorghum. I am just trying to stop them from crying about how hungry they are …”  The gravity of her statement still haunts me today.

I looked her in the eye and told her what a good mom she was to take care of her children. She was absolutely doing the right thing, and her children were blessed to have her. Her eyes welled up with tears. I think she was expecting judgment. But this mom was doing the very best she could with the resources she had available, trying to keep her children alive. Cyndi and I spent time praying for her.

That night as I rolled in bed, I could hear God saying something very familiar to me. He brought to mind when Jesus, following the Sermon on the Mount, told His disciples, “you give them something to eat” (Matthew 14:16). 

In that moment, I could feel the Lord prompting me to do something about the situation I had seen. I made up my mind that our team at Unto would find a way to send food to South Sudan. We would, with God’s help, send meals back to this camp and others like it! 

In spite of many barriers, the Lord has allowed us to overcome and get many meals into South Sudan. Maybe you have given money for meals, packed food at your church or at Unto’s Global Logistics Center or prayed for God to get food through the fighting and into the hands of those who needed it most. Together we have fed thousands of displaced people. Most of them have also had the opportunity to hear the message of Jesus and are now experiencing the Bread of Life.  

But our work is not done. It is just beginning.

Today, chronic hunger affects about 673 million people worldwide (8.2% of the global population). 

War and conflict are the top contributors to rising acute global food insecurity in 2025, directly causing tens of millions of people to face hunger and famine. But the story does not have to end there — with mothers wondering how they will feed their families or stave off hunger pains for another day.

You can join Unto as we work to provide food in areas where economic hardship, armed conflict and other crises take place. Our staff around the world are asking for food to feed the hungry, and the Lord is still saying to us “You feed them.” Would you join us in providing food and sharing hope with suffering people in South Sudan and many other tough places?