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It is easy to think of malaria prevention as simply providing mosquito nets for prevention and medicine to those who have fallen ill. But there’s much more to it than that.

Burure is in the Gokwe Region of Zimbabwe, bordered by rivers that are notoriously difficult to cross during the rainy season. It is an area that has been plagued by outbreaks of malaria in the past. It is one of the most remote areas served by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ).

St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry offers a warm meal, hospitality and community to neighbors in Hoboken, N.J.

The ministry serves about 65 people per day. In addition to meals, they offer free haircuts, music and a sense of community. Stanley Enzweiler, the program manager, said while different things bring people there, the only requirement is respect for the space and the people around them.

Lent carries us with the Hebrews in search of the promised land, with Jesus into the wilderness and, ultimately, to the cross at Calvary. It is a somber season in the church year, so somber, in fact, that by the end, Christians will have gone 40 days without hearing “Alleluia” during worship. There is no other time during the church year when language in worship is so circumscribed as this. Many congregations even practice the tradition of “burying the Alleluia” at the start of the season, a ritual with ties going back to the Middle Ages by some estimates.

Yim Kheng and her husband, Yi Pheng live in Cambodia with four of their children and one granddaughter. They received a plot of land through a social land concession, a government program intended to provide people who don’t own land with space for homes and to generate income through agriculture.

At St. Matthew Trinity Lutheran Church’s Lunchtime Ministry in Hoboken, N.J., about 65 people each day come through the doors for a warm meal, extra clothing, a listening ear and a brief respite from the streets many live on each day. On Mondays, volunteers provide free haircuts. On Wednesdays, Chef Bill makes special “bill-ritos” from scratch. Every day, visitors are welcomed like honored guests, treated with the respect and hospitality that can be hard to find when you are experiencing homelessness.

Hoboken is a long way from Calvary. But for people who face the threats of homelessness, hunger and poverty, the shadow of the cross looms large. The jeers of the crowd that greeted Christ on that lonely hill are echoed in the derision and dismissal so many of us and our neighbors face when living in shelters, in cars or out on the street. The threat of a legal and political system tilted against Christ is felt still today, as laws that criminalize poverty and homelessness make the challenges our neighbors face seem almost insurmountable.

In the remote and mountainous community of Llano de las Piedras, Cochoapa el Grande in Guerrero, Mexico, poverty and lack of opportunity can make healthy food hard to come by. As a result, children can suffer from malnutrition and slowed growth and development. Marcelina and her daughters, Imelda, 12, and Esmeralda, 10, were among the families who had a tough time affording enough healthy food.