And Their Stomachs Grumbled...
Sometimes I think, “If I die, I won’t have to see my children suffering as they are.” Sometimes I even think of killing myself. So often I see them crying, hungry; and there I am, without a cent to buy them some bread. I think, “My God, I can’t face it! I’ll end my life. I don’t want to look anymore.”
--Iracema da Silva, resident of a slum in Brazil
--Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, page 1
This mother is faced with poverty, and issue that surrounds us, everyday! Today over 30,000 children still die of starvation and preventable diseases, and 1.2 billion people live in relentless, unrelieved poverty worldwide. I have asked myself if I can truly understand poverty when I sit in a comfortable house, with closets filled with more clothes than I can wear and enough food that I’ll never go hungry. We may not be able to truly understand the lifestyle of the 1.2 billion neighbors who live in desperate poverty but on April 25th and 26th the youth of our church will attempt to get a peek into what a life of poverty is truly like.
We will engage in a 24 hour fast beginning at 6 pm Friday, April 25th until 6 pm, Saturday, April 26th. During our time together we will evaluate our lives in a world that tells us that more is better while using resources such as Sider’s book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and other PC (USA) material to guide our fast and to help us imagine what poverty means.
While fasting will allow us to put ourselves in the shoes of the 2.5 billion low-income people who live off of less than a dollar a day, we will take a look at the spiritual benefits of fasting and see how one can incorporate fasting as a spiritual discipline into ones own life. Our time will be marked by the hours of prayer that have shaped the prayer lives of our brothers and sisters of the monasteries for centuries. My hope is that as our stomachs grumble for food, we will be reminded that only God can truly sustain us and to pray for those who suffer daily from poverty.
--Iracema da Silva, resident of a slum in Brazil
--Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ron Sider, page 1
This mother is faced with poverty, and issue that surrounds us, everyday! Today over 30,000 children still die of starvation and preventable diseases, and 1.2 billion people live in relentless, unrelieved poverty worldwide. I have asked myself if I can truly understand poverty when I sit in a comfortable house, with closets filled with more clothes than I can wear and enough food that I’ll never go hungry. We may not be able to truly understand the lifestyle of the 1.2 billion neighbors who live in desperate poverty but on April 25th and 26th the youth of our church will attempt to get a peek into what a life of poverty is truly like.
We will engage in a 24 hour fast beginning at 6 pm Friday, April 25th until 6 pm, Saturday, April 26th. During our time together we will evaluate our lives in a world that tells us that more is better while using resources such as Sider’s book, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and other PC (USA) material to guide our fast and to help us imagine what poverty means.
While fasting will allow us to put ourselves in the shoes of the 2.5 billion low-income people who live off of less than a dollar a day, we will take a look at the spiritual benefits of fasting and see how one can incorporate fasting as a spiritual discipline into ones own life. Our time will be marked by the hours of prayer that have shaped the prayer lives of our brothers and sisters of the monasteries for centuries. My hope is that as our stomachs grumble for food, we will be reminded that only God can truly sustain us and to pray for those who suffer daily from poverty.
We will begin this fast at either 1 pm or 6 pm Friday, April, 25th and go to 1 pm or 6 pm on Saturday, April, 26th. We will have juice breaks, service hours opportunities, fun, games, deep heart to hearts and other activites to bring us closer as a community yet being aware of those who live a life of poverty. I hope you all can attend. If you have any questions please feel free to call me, email me or simply leave a comment here on the blog!
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