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Church & Community
Hungry for a Change
Emily Okholm was 10 years old when her parents took her on a short-term missions trip to Sudan, an impoverished country in Africa. Eight years later, the images of the starving people she met there are still burned in her memory.
Two years after her trip, Emily was flipping through the pages of a magazine when she came across an advertisement for World Vision’s 30 Hour Famine. She encouraged her youth group to participate, and has now helped organize 30 Hour Famine projects for the last six years.
Emily, who attends First Presbyterian Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, says the 30 Hour Famine gives students like herself the chance to think about their responsibilities as Christians. “Living in the suburbs, you don’t realize all the pain and hunger that exists in the world,” Emily says. “[30 Hour Famine] reminds us of our role as Christians in the world. We have a responsibility to care for the poor and starving. You can’t really avoid that. It’s just something we’re called to do.”
Emily’s church’s involvement with 30 Hour Famine is just one aspect of World Vision’s Church Relations Program in Chicago, which is a vehicle to unite and educate local churches through fellowship, mentorship, and programs that identify and provide resources to meet needs within the body of Christ. Education, investment, and involvement are at the heart of the Church Relations program.
In Chicago, pastors and lay people from urban and suburban churches come together to share resources, build relationships, and encourage one another through the Church & Community program. World Vision also educates the body of believers about issues of global importance through activities such as 30 Hour Famine and the Vision to Reality program.
