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A UMNS Feature
By Rich Peck*
7:00 A.M. EST May 25, 2011
The Rev. Nathaniel Long, a North Georgia pastor who calls himself The
Hog Father, drew attention to hunger relief on a 451-mile birthday
roadtrip. A UMNS web- only composite photo courtesy of the Rev.
Nathaniel Long.
The Rev. Nathaniel Long, a North Georgia pastor who calls himself
The Hog Father, celebrated his 49th birthday by riding his motorcycle
451 miles to the Tennessee and Alabama borders.
He describes himself as an out-of-shape and over-fed pastor of a
rural church. However, on this trip, he was feeling a good deal
healthier and lighter.
Long, along with three other United Methodist clergymen in Georgia, had been living only on Stop Hunger Now
packages during the 40 days of Lent. The international organization
provides prepackaged food for hungry people for 25 cents a day.
“We call ourselves the ‘4 for 40,’” Long said.
The clergymen’s unusual fast drew attention and funding to the
Raleigh, N.C., an organization has already distributed 43 million meals
to hungry people around the world.
Members of the clergymen’s four United Methodist congregations
pledged $1.50 a day during Lent to fund four packaging events where dry
ingredients would be poured into plastic packages.
The events will provide a total of 40,000 meals to be distributed by Stop Hunger Now.
Helping to relieve hunger was not the only benefit of the Lenten effort, Long discovered.
After living almost all of Lent on a daily diet of 13-ounce Stop
Hunger Now packets of rice soy protein, dehydrated vegetables, vitamins
and minerals, Long weighed some 40 fewer pounds on his 49th birthday
ride than he did on his 48th birthday.
United Methodist Men’s effort
The fast is just one of the many ways members of United Methodist Men are contributing to the work of Stop Hunger Now.
The Rev. Ray Buchanan, a Marine Corps veteran and a United Methodist
clergyman, founded the international hunger-relief group in 1998. He
was also the founder and co-director of the Society of St. Andrew, a
Virginia-based food-relief organization for the United States. Both
hunger-relief agencies are partner organizations with the Commission on United Methodist Men.
Stop Hunger Now packets are easily transported, and they have a
shelf life of five years. Contents are boiled in water for 20 minutes.
The rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables and 21 vitamins and minerals in
each plastic packet provide six nutritious meals at 25 cents per
serving.
Long was even able to bring attention to the group during his
birthday road trip. The entire journey, his beloved Harley Davidson
sported Stop Hunger Now decals.
“During my birthday ride, I stopped at a store to look at my map
when the owner of a red Harley with a trailer in tow approached me,”
Long said. “The fellow cyclist asked about the Stop Hunger Now logos on
my bike.”
Long told his fellow motorcyclist all about the organization and his fast.
The man, a firefighter, asked Long for his card and the address of the Stop Hunger Now website.
“I had a wonderful time,” Long said upon his 11 p.m. arrival back at his home in Senoia, Ga.
In a blog about his experience
living only on the Stop Hunger Now food, Long wrote that his only
failure came during a trip to Disney World where he had no way to heat
the contents.
“Trust me, this Stop Hunger Now food is pretty good hot,” Long said, “but I just can’t do it cold.”
Packaging events planned
With financial gifts hovering around $5,000, Senoia United Methodist
Church — Long’s congregation — will package 10,000 meals on June 1.
Another event will be at a nearby middle school where two groups of
100 sixth-graders will each work for 90 minutes pouring ingredients into
plastic packages, sealing the packs and placing them in shipping boxes
for an additional 10,000 meals.
While the four North Georgia pastors are planning packaging events
in their area, annual (regional) conference presidents of United
Methodist Men have agreed to raise $10,000 for a food packaging event
during the August 4-8 World Methodist Conference in Durban, South Africa.
The National Association of Conference Presidents of United
Methodist Men agreed to raise funds for a Stop Hunger Now food packaging
effort to provide 100,000 meals for hungry people in southern Africa.
World Methodist Conference participants will be asked to fast for
one meal during the five-day gathering prior to the packaging event.
Larry Malone, president of The World Fellowship of Methodist and
Uniting Church Men, an affiliate of the World Methodist Council, is
spearheading the Durban packaging event. Malone is also contacting
United Methodist leaders and congregations for funding support.
“Every six seconds a child dies of hunger-related causes,” Malone
said. “The 43 million meals packaged to date by Stop Hunger Now slow
that terrifying pace.”
Motorcycle meditation
Long, the father of five children ranging from 7 to 24, says that
his birthday ride gave him time to reflect on why people have failed to
do anything about the 925 million hungry people in the world.
“Most of the time our lack of effort in ending the plight of world
hunger is not indifference, selfishness, hard-heartedness, hate or any
other negative action,” Long said. “It is usually due simply to the
fact that we live our lives with blinders on. We live, sleep, work,
play (and) relate in a place where we are usually untouched by the
realities of others around the world.
“One of the things I love about Stop Hunger Now is that the solution
to the hunger in the world already exists; we just have to decide to
make it a reality,” he added. “And you and I can do that one child, one
meal and one-quarter at a time.”
*Rich Peck is a retired clergy member of New York Annual Conference.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., 615-742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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