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The Citizen, 2019-09-26, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019. PAGE 13. Food bank use on the rise The North Huron Community Food Share served 3,349 individuals, a one per cent increase between June 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019 over the previous year. Thirty- eight per cent of those benefitting from the Food Share were children under the age of 18. Nine per cent were seniors over 60. Twenty-four per cent of families were new to the service. While 49 per cent of our visitors live alone, 20 per cent live in households of two. Families visit the Food Share an average of five times a year. The Ontario Disability Support Pension (ODSP) was the income source for 48 per cent of our visitors for the 2018-2019 year. Thirteen per cent of visitors receive financial resources from the seniors Canada Pension Plan (CCP) and Old Age Security (OAS). Thirteen per cent of users worked either full- or part- time. The balance of visitors had income from Ontario Works, Child Tax Benefit, Employment Insurance or no recorded income. Eighty-two per cent of visitors rent their homes. Seventeen per cent have geared-to-income housing while the other sixty-five per cent pay market rent. Thirteen per cent of customers own their home and five per cent live with family and friends, in a shelter or on the street. There are individuals who question why clients are asked the above information. Identifying information is never shared, but it is important to be able to report statistics to the government to identify who experiences food insecurity. Individuals on a fixed pension or minimum wage and those with part-time or precarious work are at risk of needing food bank support. The lack of social/affordable housing also increases the need for food banks. Food bank supporters appreciate knowing where their donations are going. The Food Share is extremely grateful for the generosity of the community. Without your ongoing support some of your neighbours would be hungry. The CKNX Relief Truck, Montgomery’s Stuff the Bus event and numerous other business campaigns are strong contributors to the Food Share along with community groups, churches, service clubs, schools, businesses and the general public. There are regular donations from pork, poultry and egg producers. Individual farmers donate meat and receive a charitable donation receipt. As a member of Feed Ontario, donations By Pastor Gary van Leeuwen Blyth Christian Reformed Church A few days ago I was visiting a friend’s house, and they had a duck with about a dozen ducklings following it. This image reminded me of the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. I had never thought about it before, but I suddenly realized that all those ducklings were all the same size. Obviously, they had hatched on the same day. I also know that a duck lays only one egg per day, which means that those eggs had been laid over a period of almost two weeks. And, yet, they all hatched on the same day. How can that be? I asked my friend about that, and she told me that the ducklings inside the eggs do not begin to develop until the duck begins to sit on them. Thus, for one day over the course of two weeks, this duck had laid an egg, but she had not sat on those eggs until the last one was laid. Then she began to sit on them and after four or five weeks all the eggs hatched within a few hours of each other. That’s why the ducklings were all the same size. The same is not true of birds of prey, my friend told me. An eagle or a hawk normally lays between one and three eggs, and those eggs hatch a day apart. In other words, the second egg hatches a day later and the third, if there is one, a day after that. Eagles will never have a dozen offspring in one sitting as do ducks or chickens. In fact, unlike ducklings, who seem to quite enjoy the company of their siblings, an older eaglet will act aggressively toward its younger siblings and will also kill them. As we understand how eagles and osprey and hawks reproduce, we can also understand why they are often far more endangered than are ducks, which can produce 10 times that of an eagle. I am amazed at how intricate this world is. Maybe most of us already knew what I just discovered, but I don’t think we can think about ducks and eagles and their offspring without being amazed. I, for one, have a hard time believing that all this just happened to come into being without someone directing this world’s development. Certainly the different ways birds reproduce strengthens my belief in a God who has designed this world and who cares for it very much. But my point here is not to convince anyone that this world was created by a intelligent and loving God. My point is otherwise. If this is how wonderful and intricate this world is, then I suspect that there are a lot of things about the creation that we don’t understand. In fact, there is probably more for us to learn than we already know. As one who believes that the world has been brought into existence by an intelligent and loving God, I also believe that we, as human beings, who are the most intelligent of species to inhabit the world, have the responsibility to take care of the world and treat it as God would treat it. In other words, we are to care for it not as if it belonged to God. We are merely stewards of the world, which each of us will inhabit for only a short time. In fact, God has given us the responsibility to care for the world from the moment he created us to live in it. When we fail to do so, we place ourselves in direct opposition to him, acting as thieves who have stolen the world from him to use for our own purposes and benefit. In the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about the changing climate and the implications it has for almost every area of the world. I know that there are climate change detractors, but let’s consider this: even if one questions climate change, there can be no question about the huge impact human beings have had on this world. We can’t burn that much oil, for example, without it affecting every part of the creation. Because we don’t know many things about this world and its parts interrelate, we cannot know how drastically human activity will affect the more fragile parts of the creation. This is God’s world, and we are given the responsibility of caring for it. When we fail to do so, we are offending God. So, I raise my voice with others who are crying out to their fellow citizens of this world, calling us all to be responsible in what we do so that the beauty of creation is not lost. But I do not raise my voice, first of all, so that we can preserve for ourselves a home in a habitable world, but rather because we are responsible to a wonderful God who has made this world for us to enjoy and care for. We care for this world because, like us, it is fearfully and wonderfully made. It has been given to us for us to enjoy, but we are to live in it and enjoy it so that God’s work is maintained and God is glorified. huronchapel.com huronchapelkids.com huronchapelyouth.com 519-526-1131 ~ 119 John’s Ave., Auburn Evangelical Missionary Church Wednesdays 6:30 - 8 p.m. – YOUTH GROUP (Gr. 7-12) HEIRBORN for kids JK-Gr.6 resumes Wed. Oct. 2, 6:30 p.m. Tues. Oct. 1 7-9 p.m. “Celebrate Recovery” 9:30 a.m. Sunday School, 10:30 a.m. Worship Chuck Talbot (Ethnos Canada) - “The Gospel Amongst the Ga’dang” (Rom.10:12-15) Sunday, September 29 Office Hours: Thursday ~ 9:30 am - 2:00 pm blythunited@tcc.on.ca Joint worship service in Brussels at 11:00 am Accessible Sunday, September 29 Blyth United Church Facebook: Blyth and Brussels United Churches OFFICE: 519-523-4224 MELVILLE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH BRUSSELS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 Nursery care available 519-887-6687 Fridays 11:30 am - 1:00 pm ~ Soup & More 2 - a free community meal held in Melville’s basement, and made possible by the Brussels churches working together. Worship & Sunday School - 11:00 am Coffee & Snacks following the service We invite you to join our church family in: Youre Invited to come worship with us Sunday, September 29 at 10:30 a.m. & 6:00 p.m. 650 Alexander St. (former Brussels Public School) Sunday School for children 4 to 12 years of age at 9:30 a.m. Childcare provided for infants and preschoolers during the sermon. Coffee & cookies after the morning service. For additional details please contact Steve Klumpenhower 519.292.0965 Rick Packer 519.527.0173 Hwy. 4, Blyth www.blythcrc.ca 519-523-4743 Minister: Pastor Gary van Leeuwen BLYTH CHRISTIAN REFORMED CHURCH SUNDAYS Morning Service 10:00 am Evening Service 7:30 pm You’re Invited To Join Us In WorshipBRUSSELS United Church Sunday, September 29 Brussels & Blyth United Churches Combined Worship at 11 a.m. Lunch and fellowship to follow All are Welcome The Regional Ministry of Hope BLYTH BRUSSELS Trinity St. John’s 9:15 am 11:15 am COME WORSHIP WITH US! Rev. JoAnn Todd, Rector 519-357-7781 email: revjoann@hurontel.on.ca The‐Regional‐Ministry‐of‐ Hope St. Paul’s Trinity WINGHAM 11:15 am These Anglican Churches Welcome You From the Minister’s Study Care for the world as if it belonged to God Continued on page 19