‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? We are sick of the unsatisfying food’
(see Numbers 21:4-9)
In a report commissioned by the Trussell trust in 2021 (the largest study in hunger in the UK) it was reported that almost two in three of the people of working age who were referred to a food bank in early 2020 were disabled while single parent families were more likely to be forced to a food bank. Almost 19% of households referred during the pandemic were lone parents – more than twice the rate in the general population.
One main reason people had such low income which brought them to a Foodbank was due to social security payments failing to cover the cost of living. This was often due to weaknesses in the system, including the five-week wait for a first Universal Credit payment and low levels of payments.
Whilst in the wilderness and on the run—as people on a journey seeking asylum from slavery, and with the promise of a new land—the people of Israel suffered hunger and unsatisfying food. They grumbled against God who responded by providing them with ‘Manna from Heaven.’ Today, in the UK, there are many grumbles as people struggle to put food on the table. An immediate response to this is the growth of Foodbanks throughout the country but this just responds to the presenting need, as important as that is. There is a further need to prevent this from happening in the first place.
PRAY FOR those who work in our food banks, and for a situation that prevents people from slipping into poverty and need.
Our daily reflections for Lent focus on the many injustices which exist in our world, as we seek to connect our life of prayer to social justice, the Justice of God which Christ proclaimed. More resources are available at www.southcardiffministryarea.co.uk/just-lent
South Cardiff Ministry Area 