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Meal Four - Bangladesh

Spotlight on Bangladesh

Region: Asia
Population: 158,065,841
Life expectancy at birth: 60.63 years
Population below poverty line: 36.3%
Literacy rate: 47.9%

Printable Table Tent

Download and print this table tent, designed for the Bangladesh 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 Bangladesh meal, contains a reading, litany, monologue, prayers and discussion questions.

Table Prayer

Try this traditional prayer from Bangladesh before or during the meal: In the name of God in its beginning and end.

After the meal: All praise is for God who fed me this and provided it for me without any might or power from myself.

Story: Salma
Eight years ago, Salma and her husband, Ali, didn't have enough money to feed their children and still put a little aside as savings. In fact, they were frequently hungry...
Read the full story.

Download and print this story to share at the meal.
Download this story: PDF | DOC

Local Recipes

Popular foods in Bangladesh include tandoori chicken, paratha (bread) and melon curry. Find these recipes and more at www.justfoodrecipes.com/bangladesh_recipes.html.

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.