Tired, Hungry, and Loving Life
This weekend our youth ministry participated in a nation-wide event called 30-Hour Famine. Starting Friday at 12:30 p.m., we fasted for 30 hours, ending Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. This is to raise money for and awareness of the millions upon millions (852 million to be exact) starving and malnourished people around the world. Our teens spent the last month raising money, and today we spent the day serving the community. It was a draining, trying, emotional, powerful weekend. The best part is that our teens now have a first-hand feeling for what it's like to be hungry, and how appreciative you are when you're finally able to eat.
This is the lifestyle Jesus has called us all to live. I don't know what your thoughts are on helping people - all people - when they're in need, but as I read through the gospels the thing I find time and time again is Jesus loving the unlovable and serving "the least of these." If, as people of God, we're not there to help anyone at all who has a need, what ARE we doing?
The reason we participated in 30-Hour Famine was to go without food so someone else could eat. Essentially that's the theology of being a servant - making a sacrifice to make someone else's life a little easier. When was the last time you sacrificed something (time, money, comfort, food, etc.) to make someone else's day a little easier? If we're to be like Jesus, this cannot be an occasional event, it must be a lifestyle, it must be the way we see the world, the needy, the lost.
If you're wanting to check out what 30-Hour Famine is all about, you can go to www.worldvision.com or www.30hourfamine.org. I also heard recently about an interesting organization called Heifer International. Through this organization you can actually purchase livestock for a family in a developing nation. A heifer, which produces 4 gallons of milk each DAY, only costs $600. Other animals like a pig, a goat, a family of geese, a family of rabbits, etc., range in price from $20-$60. What an amazing idea!!
Do whatever you can this week to be a part of making someone else's life a little easier. In doing so, you'll find life to be a little more sweet.
This is the lifestyle Jesus has called us all to live. I don't know what your thoughts are on helping people - all people - when they're in need, but as I read through the gospels the thing I find time and time again is Jesus loving the unlovable and serving "the least of these." If, as people of God, we're not there to help anyone at all who has a need, what ARE we doing?
The reason we participated in 30-Hour Famine was to go without food so someone else could eat. Essentially that's the theology of being a servant - making a sacrifice to make someone else's life a little easier. When was the last time you sacrificed something (time, money, comfort, food, etc.) to make someone else's day a little easier? If we're to be like Jesus, this cannot be an occasional event, it must be a lifestyle, it must be the way we see the world, the needy, the lost.
If you're wanting to check out what 30-Hour Famine is all about, you can go to www.worldvision.com or www.30hourfamine.org. I also heard recently about an interesting organization called Heifer International. Through this organization you can actually purchase livestock for a family in a developing nation. A heifer, which produces 4 gallons of milk each DAY, only costs $600. Other animals like a pig, a goat, a family of geese, a family of rabbits, etc., range in price from $20-$60. What an amazing idea!!
Do whatever you can this week to be a part of making someone else's life a little easier. In doing so, you'll find life to be a little more sweet.
posted by CoryJones at 11:17 PM
1 Comments:
This sounds like a great experience. I'm really thankful that you are teaching your students to live out their faith, and you're right, this is something I need to live out, too.
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