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Experts say hunger in the world today has many causes: Often harvests fail and climates change. Some areas are less suitable to grow crops, and this leads to hunger. Another is that richer nations eat more meat and dairy products, using grain to feed cattle and leaving less for poor people. This causes food prices to rise so much that the poor can’t buy it. A third reason is that traders speculating on the stock market send prices so high they are beyond the reach of poor people. This often forces them to spend up to 80% of their meager resources on food. The early church became aware that food was being distributed unevenly. We read in Acts chapter 6 that the elders addressed the problem by appointing wise, well-respected, and Spirit-filled men to oversee food distribution to the needy. Since those early days, the church continues to reserve funds to help the poor. Even today, manychurches find respected, wise, and Spirit-filled people to look after the poor. Nations, too, discover that when they care for the needy, all their people prosper. Jesus clearly stated that one criterion He will use in judging people at His return to the earth will be whether they served Him by feeding the poor.
