30 hours without food

This past week over 30 youth from our Student Ministry participated in the 30 hour famine.
Basically we all went 30 hours without eating just to experience what it's like to actually be hungry. 
We collected canned food for our food pantry (Over 700 cans), did service projects and learned about what it's like to live in a developing country.  It's really eye opening.

A 5 gallon water cooler is barely enough to fill the bottom of a bathtub.  That is all that a person in a developing country uses every day to bathe, cook, drink, and wash dishes. Keep in mind that the water they use is not clean.

11,000 children under the age of 5 die every day from hunger related causes.

The saddest thing is, there is enough food produced by the US to feed the ENTIRE world.  It has nothing to do with a food shortage, although that is the case in some countries; if food was distributed better from the US, everyone could be fed.  The bigger problem is that food prices are sky rocketing.  Most people in developing countries live on less that $1 per day. 75 cents used to go to food, but now nutritious food can cost as much as $1.50 per day. 

The biggest thing that hit home for me was a picket sign in one of the videos that read "1 week of lattes=1 starving child fed for a month".  Now, I don't go to Starbucks every day, but I do go occasionally.  If you stop and think about that, it's crazy how fast we go through money without thinking about it.  Some of that money could go to help children get food and medical supplies around the world.

We are going to protest hunger in from of our church next Sunday morning.  These are a few of the signs we will be holding.

 We slept in cardboard boxes outside.  It was 35 degrees.  I only made it a few hours, but I had 2 layers of clothes, a warm sleeping bag, pillow AND a box.  Most homeless people don't have those luxuries.

Sunday morning we went to Church Under the Bridge in Austin.  This church meets every Sunday in the same place to sing, tell people about Jesus and send them away with food. Sadly, there wasn't enough food for everyone this day, but there were at least 75 homeless people there that heard the Word of Jesus.  There are "regulars" that come every week and enjoy it because it is in their element and they don't have to go anywhere where they feel judged.