During the festive Christmas season, most of us dine on plates that are full of nature's bounty. Thanks to the hard work of Lower Susquehanna Synod congregations, some of our neediest neighbors are also enjoying plates full of delicious, fresh vegetables.

This year the three acres of gardens at Big Spring United Lutheran Church, Newville, yielded 250 dozen ears of corn, plus squash, tomatoes and 3,660 pounds of potatoes - and counting! There are still several rows of spuds yet to harvest. It's just what Big Spring has done ever since it moved to its 25-acre site in 2007.

"Even when we were in the planning stages for the new congregation, we saw hunger ministry as an important part of our mission," said Pastor Jean Kuebler. "We designed our new building so we could provide a better home for the local ecumenical food bank."

The ministry was a natural fit, Pastor Kuebler says. "We had land.  We had farmers with equipment.  We had people who were excited about a church garden."

The ministry has helped Big Spring's congregation to maintain a strong connection with the land and to be good stewards of the land and gifts that God has given them, Pastor Kuebler says. Moreover, it gets lots of people involved.

"Many people of all ages help with, raising potatoes, pulling corn,  cutting corn for freezing,  food bank distribution, etc.," Pastor Kuebler says. "Feeding people is part of who we are."

St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Enola began working to fight hunger with a vegetable project of its own. It began when Pastor Anne Rose Reeves heard about a project to grow potatoes in a box the size of a parking space.  

"When I mentioned this idea to one of our members, Ken Getz, at a Lenten luncheon, he got excited right away," says Pastor Reeves. Getz grows potatoes at home and was willing to take it on as a project, planting potatoes on the church's spacious ground.  

Getz is also a volunteer in St. Paul's after school program, and his grandchildren attend the church. He designed the project in a way to get the children involved by assigning each child a row of potatoes.  

"Occasionally, the smaller children would come out with their little watering cans to help things along," Reeves said. "It was fun to see."

Before the harvest, the children had challenged the adults of the congregation to match every pound of potato from the garden with 10 pounds of canned and dry goods. In mid-August the church dug up 187 pounds of potatoes - a steep challenge for the adults, who would have to come up with 1,870 pounds of matching food.

The congregation made the potato project its theme for the "God's Work, Our Hands" celebration of the 25th anniversary of the ELCA.

"We made a recipe booklet with nothing but potato dishes to celebrate the children's accomplishments," Pastor Reeves said. "We formed a work crew called "team potato" that went out after worship and before the Rally Day picnic to clean up our stretch of the highway. The Christian Ed committee gathered the children to make potato stamp cards for the shut-in. The picnic crew decided to include a baked potato bar with all the fixings in the picnic food offering. And of course, everyone was invited to bring canned and dry goods to match the children's work."

One family, Gary and Lana Stitzel and their children Gabriel and McKenna canvassed their neighborhood and gathered 350 pounds of food. St. Paul expects to reach the 1,870 pound mark by Christmas.

The congregation learned a great deal about feeding the hungry, as well as how leadership can come in unexpected ways.

"I think there is something in Isaiah about a little child leading the way," said Pastor Reeves. "It sure seemed that way to us this year."

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Note: Our Synod's World Hunger Committee recently conducted a survey of congregations to determine what kinds of hunger ministries congregations are engaged in and/or supporting. Responses were received from 77 congregations, and the variety and breadth of ministries is truly amazing. Look for more ministry highlights in the remaining weeks of Advent and throughout 2014. If your congregation is engaged in a ministry and you didn't yet respond to the survey, please share information with us. Contact either Cheryl Burns at cherylsburns@gmail.com or Pastor Sharron Blezard at sblezard@lss-elca.org.