The Rice Dinner

Our family has a tradition that has become a community tradition.

We take a night close to Thanksgiving and eat rice for dinner. This helps us to be exposed to how much of the world lives; almost 50% of the world goes to bed hungry at night.

No one looks forward to the Rice Dinner. My family moans and groans, but they embrace it as a way to remember the many blessings that we have been given. Our neighborhood community is also embracing it and is helping to make it happen this year!

But, as a next step we are asking people to donate food to the foodbank. This is well timed as the Issaquah foodbank is struggling to keep up with the needs right now. Our plan is to go to each house in our neighborhood and leave a paper bag with the invitation to come to the Rice Dinner and to donate food for the foodbank.

The next step takes place as we take the food to the foodbank and help to put it on the shelves. This brings is home that there are children in our area that go to bed at night hungry.

I feel so strongly that we need to expose our children to life outside of our area. We live in a very affluent area and the pressure to "have things" starts at very early ages for children. Exposing kids to the greater way of life for the world helps to develop character and compassion in them and combats the "keep up with the Jone's mentality" that exists here.

Missio Lux is all about circles. The first circle is to be exposed to the reality of hunger in our world. The circle beyond that one is the invitation to "experience hunger" through the Rice Dinner. The next circle is to reach out and to collect food for the foodbank. The next circle is to go and stock the food we collected at the foodbank. Perhaps next year the expanding circle will be for several neighborhoods to come together to eat rice together and collect food for the foodbank!

It just makes me wonder if the next expanding circle will be God calling one of us to go and to help the poor around the world. It's always a lot bigger than it seems at first glance.

You are invited to join us for the Rice Dinner November 22nd at the Buchan house!