This afternoon I picked up 6 Christmas hampers which had been lovingly packed by the members of Doxadeo church in Raynes Park and are destined for 6 homes in Kingston… tomorrow a couple of us from Everyday Church in Kingston and the Kingston Vineyard will deliver these hampers to six families in the borough of Kingston, blessing them with food and goodies in time for Christmas 2013; St Pauls in Kingston will deliver another 20; Doxadeo themselves will be delivering 500 hampers across the borough of Merton tomorrow, supported by members of Merton council, the police and the community, reaching an estimated 2400 people in the process…

This is the second year that Doxadeo have taken part in the Christmas Lunch on Jesus scheme which started in Barnet in 2007 and is coming to Kingston for the first time this year.

It’s great to celebrate an opportunity to give and to bless people like this but it’s symptomatic of a terrifying rise in food poverty in the uk, as 2013 will see an estimated 60,000 people (including 20,000 children) turn to the Foodbank for Christmas dinner this year.

Please pray as 526 families in Merton & Kingston receive their Christmas lunch on Jesus hampers tomorrow, pray for the Wimbledon Foodbank, supported again this Christmas time by Everyday Church in Wimbledon, and pray that  churches across London can continue to meet a need which is becoming alarmingly widespread….