I am hungry.

The WORDS I had heard before,
but not in this way. Her words were spoken in a whisper but with angst.

Hunger I couldn’t FATHOM.
A request made - not out of greed.
The WORDS burned my ears and I fought back tears that flowed straight from my heart.

(to cry would have risked embarrassment)
not for me, but for HER.

This young girl had beat the odds. She had made it through her teenage years. With every passing year, the chance of living to the age of 56, grew greater and greater.

I am hungry.

Words spoken just above a whisper.

As she leaned into me and lowered her head,

I heard the words again

I am hungry.

It was just the two of us, standing in a room with shelves full of food.

How could I ignore her unspoken question...
Will you feed me?

Her words were not new to her. She had thought them, felt them, and lived with them since the day of her birth. She had defied the odds. She was 1 of 5 who had lived.

She was a survivor in a country of desperate, hungry, and dying people.

"Peanut Butter and Jelly?" I replied.

I fought back the tears and swallowed hard to not show that I was so moved by her statement.
Her lips parted and I saw her white teeth appear as she produced a smile.

The request had made her feel VULNERABLE.

VULNERABLE was a way of life for her. She was still willing to hear NO, if it be the answer.

AS I SPREAD

the peanut butter on the bread, I realized, I had made countless numbers of these in my lifetime, but none of them had been more appreciated than this one.
Not looking as if she needed it cut into triangles or squares, I finished spreading the jelly and offered her the sandwich and some water.

A SIMPLE ACTION

taken for granted at home.
AN ANSWER

to a risky request
made through a simple statement...
I AM HUNGRY.

"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in..."Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink...
"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25:35-41 (with exemptions)

By Karin White- team participant