Loving Hungry

I thought the noise of my tummy grumbling, and feeling of my stomach twisting, would be with me for the entirety of the 30 hours.  Luckily, I was wrong.  Intense anxiety about how I would deal with the attitudes, fears, and worries of  12 6^th-12^th graders distracted me from my  the uncertainties of my own huger.

Anxiety was quickly replaced by awe as the kids trickled in, some of who I expected, some of how I was presently surprised at their commitment to this project.  We were all smiles.  As  Cole Glover led worship, the words:

Lord we are hungry, We are hungry for more of You

We are thirsty, oh Jesus, We are thirsty for more of You

began to take on a new meaning.  It was about 6:45pm (about 6 hours into our famine) and this famine thing was really encroaching on my dinnertime.

We began discussing the wants and desires of the flesh, and why we fast.  We discussed fasting as an act of worship (Acts 13:2), to get right with God (Nehemiah 9:1) and as preparation for ministry (Matthew 4:2).

As we moved through games and activates demonstrating the difficulties of living without education, dangers of contaminated water, separation from one’s famine during destruction of an Earthquake the kids enthusiasm energy and attitudes engulfed me.  It was a weird feeling.  I am supposed to be the leader, an example, and I found my self being pushed to my limit by the kids who tackled every challenge, dived into the scriptures and discussions in small groups, and kept at it all with awesome attitudes!

I know everyone who participated in the famine would agree when I say that I have never felt more convicted than when I turned down the symbolic elements

during communion  as I asked God to forgive my shortcomings and continue working in my life.   We continued the fast skipping over Sunday Lunch, replacing it with a Scavenger Hunt Food Drive.  Most of the participants had done a food drive before but it took on a new meaning when you were asking for help knowing the food would not calm your own hunger pains.

We ended the 30 Hour Famine with a time of worship.  We listened as Pam talked about the “banquets” that life offers, the formal banquet with any food you could dream of or the banquet at which God works miracles to transform little food into an over abundance.

As a leader of St. Paul’s youth one of the most beautiful movement was when at the end of the service, (unrehearsed) 2 of our youth came forward to serve communion.  As a group we are going in our faith, growing and cultivating a better relationship with God and with each other, and making a difference in our word.

If we were fasting for the purpose of fundraising and awareness, I would deem the weekend I would deem it a smashing success.  We had raised more than $800 dollars before the famine started, we raised $480 during the 3 services on Sunday, and those amounts do not included the individual sponsorships, bracelet project, or the change drive.  We succeeded our goal of $1200 and ended up with a total of $3130.  If we were fasting for the reasons I mentioned earlier, I would consider the weekend a huge success.  I believe that the participants, both youth and adult, are more prepared for ministry, more connected with our God, and gave God so much praise glory over the course of the weekend.

With my thanks and love,

Kim