Youth- sometimes our Youth Group (BLAST- Big Loud Awesome Spiritual Time) occupies themselves by spreading gop and goo. Sometimes they go on roller coasters or climb rocks. But sometimes they have a blast with a fast. A BLAST… by not eating??? Teenagers???
Yep! BLAST also has a blast by helping others. Last year we served breakfast at a homeless shelter, raised over a ton (literally) of food for the Pitman Food Pantry, and participated in many other ministries to help us learn more about God and to serve Him more.
But on the weekend of May 6-7, we’re going to go without food and raise money to fight world hunger.
30 Hour Famine
The “30 Hour Famine” is an event organized by World Vision. World Vision is a Christian organization dedicated to relieving poverty and injustice for children around the world. The moto of the Famine is “Go hungry to help hungry kids.”
And that’s what we’re going to do. Starting on Friday and ending on Saturday evening we’ll go on a juice diet to learn what it means to be hungry. We’ll spend an overnight “lock-in” at the church to keep us going and to learn about kids who are hungry for much longer than 30 hours. Here’s our schedule:
Friday
- 5:00 PM – Check In: Turn in donations
- 5:30 PM – Opening Ceremony:
Worship, Discuss issue of hunger and poverty - 6:15 PM – Juice Break
- 6:30 PM– Scarcity:
Game demonstrating the importance of nutrition, especially when resources are limited. - 8:15 PM – Juice Break
- 8:30PM – Poverty Stimulation:
Interactive group video showing us the difficult choices faced by families living in poverty. - 10:00 PM – Juice Break, Discussion, Lights Out
Saturday
- 9:00 AM – Twister, Juice Break
- 9:30 AM – Worship, Devotions, and Reflection
- 10:00 AM – Trek Challenges: Africa.
Series of videos, games, Scripture, and discussion to learn and interact with others. We’ll gain a greater perspective about needs in other parts of the world. - 11:45 AM– Juice Break
- 12:00 PM – Service Project
We’ll go door to door to ask for donations of non-perishable food items. Then we’ll have a competition to see which team raised the most food donations. - 2:00 PM – Juice Break
- 2:15 PM– Count Donations, Discussion
- 3:00 PM – Free Time We’ll play different games in the gym.
- 4:00 PM – Closing Ceremony: Worship, Discussion, Scripture, and Reflection
- 5:00 PM– BREAK THE FAST Breakfast will never be the same again…
So… Just How is this Going to Help?
Not eating for 30 hours? Hanging out in the church for 24 hours (with a brief escape to canvass the neighborhood)? How’s this going to help the poor?
Every day, nearly 8,000 kids are dying from hunger-related causes. The clock is ticking. While we’re doing our “Lock-in” in our church, 8,000 kids will die of hunger and poverty.
Well, there is some preparation before the weekend…
With the awareness being raised by our upcoming participation 30 Hour Famine, PUMCers are donating funds to World Vision. Every $35 we raise can help feed and care for a child for one month. We’ve set a goal to help feed and care for 28 kids for a month (that works out to about $840… we’re shooting for $1000… another 4-5 kids).
If you want to donate, make checks out to World Vision and give them to a BLAST member.
Or, you can donate online by visiting our fundraising page. This page also gives more details about our involvement in the 30 hour famine. Check it out!
PUMC 30 Hour Famine
Followup…..
We nearly doubled our goal! The 30 hour famine raised over $1900… We helped feed and care for 54 children in a developing country.
+ + + + + + + + +
This button will tell you more about our BLAST Youth groups: BLAST
