We must share our daily bread!
Statement of the EMS Mission Council on the Ukraine War
The International Mission Council of the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) calls for a fair distribution of global food stocks. Only by sharing supplies in time, famine can still be prevented in the Global South.
“Our member churches in Africa, Asia and the Middle East report sharp price increases due to the Ukraine war. In Indonesia, which is sourcing around 15 percent of its grain requirements from Ukraine, this has severe consequences on the availability of basic foot items. In Lebanon, the war in Ukraine is exacerbating the already difficult economic situation. the price of flour here has risen twelvefold in the past two years. These developments affect especially the weakest members of society,” explains Rev. Dr. Dieter Heidtmann, EMS General Secretary.
The international EMS Mission Council declares:
“The war in Ukraine will lead to a terrible famine and will affect large segments of the population, if the world community does not take immediate countermeasures. This war threatens global food security, since people have used up all their reserves during the pandemic and the related economic crisis. The price of bread is rising faster than at any time in the past thirty years. Assistance is absolutely necessary. Otherwise, there is a threat of hunger riots.
We pray daily, “Give us today our daily bread.” Now is the time to share our daily bread to prevent others from going hungry.
We expect political and state actors to do the needful and not renege on their responsibilities in helping to bring an end to this war and its dire consequences on our global world. “War shall not be according to God’s will” – this clear message of the 1st General Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Amsterdam in 1948 has lost nothing of its validity.
We commit ourselves to continue the work for peace and the fight against hunger and poverty in our respective churches in India, Indonesia, Ghana, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Europe and the Middle East.
We recall Jesus’ command to share bread with those who suffer hunger. The Bible says: ” I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:35.40).”
The Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) is a fellowship of churches and mission societies on three continents. 25 Evangelical churches and five mission societies in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East together form an international network of long-term partnerships. Members of the EMS in Germany include the Protestant Churches in Baden, Hesse-Nassau, Kurhessen-Waldeck, the Palatinate and Wuerttemberg as well as the Moravian Church, the German East Asia Mission (DOAM), the Basel Mission German Branch (BMDZ) and the Evangelical Association for the Schneller Schools (EVS).
