30 Hour Famine

We did it!! Friends and family came through and pledged to give $520 to World Vision to help feed hungry kids. So, as promised, I shaved off my beard!!
The Famine was awesome...I am SO proud of the teens at Southwest! I only heard a few complaints, but they were all in fun, and in good spirits. Never angry or bitter.
Some other things that stuck with me...

• Over 26,000 CHILDREN have been kidnapped and forced to kill for the "Lord's Resistance Army" in the country of Uganda. Sometimes they have even forced the children to kill their own parents. I have a hard time deciding which is worse, the things they do, or using the Lord's name as a cover for those activities.
• These children find hope at the World Vision Children of War Rehabilitation Center, where they are welcomed, counseled, and shown God's love. The Rehab Center has an amazing theme song that is sung every time a truckful of ex-child soldiers arrives..."God Has Saved Us." WOW! That is powerful.
• Isaiah 58 has a lot to say about the way God wants us to fast. When we fast, just because we go without food doesn't mean we can do other things to please ourselves. In fact, it says that when we are hungry, we should FEED OTHERS!! Just read it...it's awesome.
• A bunch of babies are still dying of malnutrition EVERY DAY. We saw one community of 300,000 that had only ONE hospital with ONE doctor (see my last post.) It's still a problem. I challenge you next time you see those heartbreaking commercials...will you flip the channel?

As a group, we received pledges of about $2,100. What does that mean in the big scheme of things? It means that we have fed 6 kids for one year. I think that's pretty awesome. I think our teens are awesome. But above all, I think God is awesome. And I hope He sees these kids being fed and taken care of...and smiles.