The Matthew Tree Project

This evening I have been at a special event organised by the BBC at broadcasting house called 'Bristol Food.' It is great news that a Christian charity that is committed to fighting the underlying causes of poverty is being included in such an event that is going to have a huge impact on Bristol and the whole country over the next 12 months and beyond. The reason The Matthew Tree is being embraced into such events as this is entirely due to the fact that it is completely focused on dealing with the complex causes of poverty which has a long term benefit not only to the individual or family concerned but to society as a whole....and it is all centred around food. NOT food aid but the imparting of good food nutrition, cooking good food, growing good food, making good food products, food socialising, the eradication of food deserts, providing food based skills and qualifications and creating food industry based jobs. It is absolutely clear to me that food has to be one of the most powerful tools to address social inequality issues, economic inequality issues, and environmental issues - all at the same time. Getting food right is good for every individual, it is good for the environment and it is good for the economy of Bristol and the region. It is also potentially good for the church and the body of Christ. Caring for the poor and caring for mother earth is our commission from God and in doing this we create a ripple of positive effects that penetrate through to the very heart of society, with profound and very positive consequences.

The sad fact is that it is our experience that the church are not keeping up with what is happening. There is a human tragedy of enormous proportions unfolding before our very eyes and it is our first hand experience that there are only small 'pockets' of the church body that are engaged and helping with the work in the field. "The need is great but the workers are few" come to mind.

Having celebrations and conferences are good and I support this completely but they must be accompanied by day to day action on the front line where the needs exists otherwise how can we possibly claim to be relevant at all and if this is the case why would anyone want to come to a celebration we stage?

It is our actions and the outcomes of these actions we achieve (in terms of transformed lives - faith without works is dead) that will attract people to our celebrations and meetings. Not the other way around.

As you all probably know, The Matthew Tree Project need a significant amount of food on a weekly basis to meet the needs of the people who come to us with no-where else to turn to for support. We currently have four centres in Bristol and fully expect to be opening at least one more in the not too distant future. The sad fact is that we are now getting many more volunteers for the food collections and the FOODStORE's themselves from other secular organisations and sources than we are from the church.

The world is fascinated and inspired by what God is doing through TMTP and this presents a significant opportunity for the church to step into the spotlight and demonstrate to the watching world the power it has to transform lives. This is a serious crisis in every sense of the word and the crisis is now!

Mark Goodway
Founder and Charity Director - The Matthew Tree Project
www.thematthewtreeproject.org
 
To help please contact The Matthew Tree Project on 0117 329 0533 or e-mail at: info a_t the-matthew-tree-project d_o_t org