Hunger and Privilege...

Did you know that a child dies from hunger-related causes (either through starvation or from complications from malnutrition) every 8 to 12 seconds?!  Or that 925 Million people in this world go hungry every day?!  Or that 2.6 billion people in the world live on less than $2 a day?!  Those are some tough facts….especially for those of us privileged enough to grow up in the united states where food is pretty abundant.  But even in our own country 15% of people live in poverty and more than 1 in 5 children live in households that struggle to put food on the table. (That's 16.2 million children). Gives you a bit of perspective doesn’t it?!!?!  Suddenly…what you have doesn’t seem so bad does it?!?  And what little you can give seems like a whole lot more, huh?!?!

  That’s how I’ve been feeling for the last two days as I joined in with my youth group to raise awareness for world hunger by participating in the 30 hour famine (check out more info at http://www.30hourfamine.org/).  For 30 hours we fasted and as a group (minus me since I had to work) served the community through activities like collecting non-perishable food items for a local non-profit organization (which luckily I get the privilege of dropping off later this week).  I can’t speak for others, but I love this kind of stuff.  I love to help others, to be their voice, to stand beside them, to shed a little light on issues so much bigger than me.

  This year, as I fasted even through two shifts of work, I found myself so thankful for all the opportunities I have in my life to do just what we did this weekend.  Maybe it’s not fasting, but I can still help, speak for, and stand with so many people as I go through my everyday life. It seems so often I wait for the big moments or for other people to join in with me to make a move.  It’s like I forget that sometimes changing the world means changing just one persons world!  And I know life isn’t about just addressing people’s hurt, but sometimes it takes reaching out to sooth someone’s pain to see God change someone’s heart.  I’m willing to do that….are you?!?!