Bishop Ward and Steve Hickle discuss the mission of WesleyMen Worldwide, a movement striving to eradicate hunger around the world.
Bishop Ward: Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ.
Steve Hickle, clergy member of the North Carolina Annual Conference, has been Faith Outreach Director for Stop Hunger Now for some time now. Recently at the World Methodist Council meeting, he was selected as the director for WesleyMen. Steve, tell us about WesleyMen Worldwide.
Steve: WesleyMen used to be a long cumbersome name. We’ve shortened that to WesleyMen, no space, look that up, and we are anyone who is a man in any of the 80 denominations around the world is a Wesley Man.
Bishop Ward: Tell us about the mission focus of WesleyMen.
Steve: There’s only one and that’s to work to develop a movement, a Wesleyan movement, to end hunger. We are very excited to have a project called FastPrayGive.org. Hope you will immediately look that up. It’s a way we invite people to fast one meal a week and to pray during that time for hungry people and to donate what they might have spent on that meal. We’ve suggested $2 a week or $8 a month. We are very excited about how many gifts will work together to provide for many, many people who are hungry around the world.
Bishop Ward: So it’s our hope that men across the North Carolina Annual Conference will join in this great movement of WesleyMen Worldwide so that hunger will be a historical memory and not a reality. I am sure you would welcome fasting, praying, and giving on the part of children, youth, women, all people.
Steve: Exactly, exactly. We hope the men will drive this but we hope that the doors will be open to everyone.
Bishop Ward: This is one of the ministries in our annual conference that is most embraced by local churches through food pantries, crop walks, engagement with Stop Hunger Now and other organizations as we resist hunger and embrace the abundance of Christ. Thank you for your generosity.