At 7 p.m. Sunday, the First Congregational Church, 615 N. First St., will host a guest speaker at a prayer service for the hungry sponsored by the Church World Service.

Cecilio Nsambila Mbolela, a native of Zambia, received his bachelor of philosophy degree in South Africa. After a year of mission service in Cameroon, he moved to Chicago in 1999 where he served as an intern for Bread of the World.

“I like to give talks on the impact of AIDS and famine on the civil society in Sub-Sahara,” said Mbolela in a press release.

Mbolela recently received a master of divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union and is currently studying at North Park University.

His liturgy will help create an awareness of the needs of people in Third World countries.

“We’re delighted to have Mr. Mbolela speak to our church,” said the Rev. Joe Gastiger, from the First Congregational Church. “It’s our turn to help those overseas without food, or children who have lost parents to AIDS.”

In addition to the service, the church will host a CROP Walk starting at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, at the United Campus Ministries, 633 W. Locust, next to the NIU parking garage.

The CROP Walk is an international organization devoted to the eradication of hunger around the world.

The walk for hunger has been a worldwide event for almost 30 years. Nearly four million people have participated for its cause.

Foreign and development assistance have declined in recent years, although the need for assistance has remained the same.

“The only way to make up this shortfall is private contributions to local and international organizations such as Church World Service, which runs the CROP Walk,” said Gingie Noe, a DeKalb resident and advocate of the CROP Walk.

The organization has raised $206,447,000 for overseas aid since 1986, and $4 million was donated last year alone. The money raised goes to food banks and local hunger-fighting agencies.

“The CROP Walk is a big event around here,” Gastiger said, “since the organization originally started in the Midwest. Local farmers collected extra grains and crops to send to countries in Europe and Africa ravaged by World War II.”

Sunday’s walk is focused on the development of Zambia.

“Nearly 24,000 people die overseas due to malnutrition or other hunger-related causes,” Noe said. “Most of them are children 12 or 13 years old who have lost their parents and may have to run their households by themselves.”

A portion of the proceeds from the walk stay in DeKalb and go to local agencies such as Meals-on-Wheels, Hope Haven and Safe Passage.

For information on the CROP Walk, or if you want to be part of the walk, call the Rev. Gastiger at 758-0691 or Noe at 758-5804.

A donation is appreciated for those participating in the CROP Walk. Donations are also accepted over the Internet. For more information about the CROP Walk, visit www.cropwalk.org.