Together4Bristol : Harvest Blog 2024 Inflation

Harvest Blog 2024 Inflation

Welcome back to the second day of our Harvest Blog and thank you again for your time. James Vaughton (TEN CEO) starts things off with some thoughts about inflation in real terms for Europe's poorest nations.

Naomi Greenwood
Communications Officer

Banner Photo: Thanks to Katharina Kammermann (Unsplash)

Inflation

Recent headlines have informed us that inflation has been falling, however (and it's a big however) prices continue to rise in Eastern Europe and they rise on the back of very high inflation over the last two years in some countries. Moldova saw over 30% and Bulgaria 18% during the last two years. This is set against wage rises of 7% in Moldova in 2024, following a 2% drop in 2023. You see the challenge.

When considering the impact on the poorest, it is even greater. The poor in society spend a much higher proportion of income on food. Food inflation in Moldova in the same period is over 40%! There is no hiding from the fact that it is a difficult picture all set against a backdrop of war in Ukraine, creating instability in the region.

In the context of Harvest for the Hungry, this of course presents challenges for pastors buying food parcels too as [Pastor] Dragan Nedic in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) told me when I saw him, "We cannot help as many people as funds buy less than they did two or three years ago." BiH has seen over 30% increases in food inflation during that time but wage increases, like Moldova, lag far behind.

James Vaughton

In Albania, Pastor Erion Cuni (pictured with his wife, Gentiana) and the believers at Life in Christ (Church of God) distributed 60 food parcels in Tirana and Polican. Polican, a small town, has an unemployment rate of 85%. A gifted church member there would like to serve full-time, but cannot because his wife has been sick for some time and their son needs support for additional needs.

‘Our help is crucial,' Erion writes, 'as only for medication what is needed in his family is never enough. He is very thankful and prays that God will give him strength to take care of his family but also to help in church, something he really loves.’

Erion concluded:

It is a hard and depressing time as living costs increase and many have already left the country. Many times as I stand in front of the pulpit and see the faces of the young people, a question comes to my mind; who is next? Who is leaving the country? Harvest is a powerful tool to show the gentle heart of God from the hand of the local church… We don’t see all, but we do trust that he has a plan. Since December we have blessed and helped many families and individuals with special needs and will continue to do so until March. We know we are not the solution, but for sure we can lighten their burden through the love of Jesus Christ.

In BiH, Evangelical Church “Kosevsko brdo”, Sarajevo received a generous gift from their UK partner church and a top-up grant from donations, both in response to Harvest for the Hungry. Dragan Nedic's church implemented a more strategic and creative approach to helping people in need, providing vouchers each month over the course of a whole year.

Watch Dragan’s video to find out more:

Harvest for the Hungry: Dragan's Report - Good Stewardship

Rising costs, disproportionate wages and unemployment for the foreseeable future present a picture of utter hopelessness. Harvest for the Hungry helps to combat that, even though it does not resolve every issue. But as Erion Cuni says, 'it is a powerful tool to show the gentle heart of God', the God who sees us all and works through his people to bring hope in the details, and the great hope of Christ.