Will Starve For Food

So I spent the weekend with a group of youth and youth leaders starving for food as part of World Vision's annual 30-Hour Famine. My husband has a long history of youth ministry and has been to many of these, but this was my first year in the mix. I took 5 young people with me, ages 12-14; the total group consisted of about 35 kids and 8-10 adults. We left here about 4:30 p.m. Friday and got home about 10 p.m. on Saturday. Of course, I forgot my camera at home.

For the record... I am officially too old to comfortably sleep on the floor. The 6 hours I had to sleep were spent mostly flipping over every half hour or so because my hip bones were not enjoying the experience. At 5:30, I finally just relented and stayed awake. (Hard to believe I used to enjoy that... hmmm) It made for a long day.

Note to self... It is amazing what you unconsciously filter from media. The movie Pay It Forward was on the schedule for Friday night. I was excited because I love that movie. Granted, I've only seen it once, but it left me with a feeling of do-gooder-ish-ness (yes, I know that's not a word). Aparently, the person who recommended it felt the same, and neither we, nor any of the other adults, remembered all the unsavory aspects of the movie... like the fact that the mom works in a strip club, or that certain characters spew profanity like a soaker hose waters the garden. We had to turn it off part way through.

The rest of the weekend was interspersed with game time, service projects, and worship services. The local pastor put a heavy focus on having the heart of a servant; he emphasized the incredible service that Christ did for all of us. That is what I hope the kids took away from it. They did awesome! Fasting for 30 hours is not easy, and I was very proud of all of them. (Way to go, Bigfoot!!)

And a little note about Footwashing... Growing up, I knew the story of Christ washing the feet of His disciples at the Last Supper. However, my husband was raised in the Church of God, which is where the rest of us are now too. In the COG, Footwashing is an ordinance.

Usually, Footwashing is part of a Maundy Thursday service (I still don't know what "Maundy" means other than the Thursday before Easter, but that's another issue). You wash the feet of another and they, or someone else, wash your feet. It is very humbling to have someone kneel in front of you and wash your feet... especially someone you really respect or admire.

The closing service of the Famine, right before we broke our fast, the pastor incorporated footwashing for the kids, explaining and demonstrating with another pastor while a thrid man read the text from the Bible. For many of them, this was their first experience with it, and it was great to see them serve each other. The service ran a little long, but I didn't hear a single complaint. Then on to pancakes and eggs... YUM!