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Meal Nine - Mexico

Spotlight on Mexico

Region: Latin America and Caribbean
Population: 113,724,226 (July 2011 estimate)
Area: slightly less than three times the size of Texas
Life expectancy: total population: 76.47 years
Urban population: 78% of total population (2010)

Printable Table Tent

Download and print this table tent, designed for the Mexican meal. This table tent includes conversation starters and information about your gifts to ELCA World Hunger in action.
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Placemats

Download, print and use different placemats during your Lenten meals to raise awareness about hunger, poverty and related issues.

Program

This 30-minute program, specifically designed for the Mexico meal, contains a reading, litany, monologue, prayers and discussion questions.

Table Prayer

To those who have hunger, give bread. And to those who have bread, give the hunger for justice.

Story: Esperanza

Esperanza used to sell small goods door-to-door to make a living. On the outskirts of Mexico City, where millions of people live in extreme poverty, she struggled to provide for herself and two teenage children. When the price of tortillas and other staple foods skyrocketed, she feared that her children would go hungry...

Read the full story.

Download and share this bulletin insert.

Local Recipes

Popular foods in Mexico include burritos, enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, beans and rice. We recommend beef tacos. Find these recipes and more at www.mexicanfoodrecipes.org.

Skip the Coffee. Feed the Hungry.

Many are familiar with the tradition of giving something up during Lent. Last year, Pastor Steve Biegner of Zion Lutheran Church in Clarence Center, N.Y., decided to add something to his Lenten tradition. For 40 days, he stopped drinking coffee. And in its place, he gave whatever money he normally spent to support ELCA World Hunger.

“What does giving up coffee have to do with my relationship with God?” Pastor Steve asked. “Nothing. But focusing on the problem of hunger does. It helps ‘enlighten my eye’ to the ongoing problem.”

He placed a large, empty pickle jar outside the sanctuary of his church and asked others to join him. Each day, members of the congregation would sacrifice their favorite morning beverage and save the money they would have spent. By Easter Sunday, the pickle jar was full of donations to help end hunger and poverty.