This past weekend, fourteen brave teenagers took up a seemingly impossible challenge: fasting for 30 hours. It all started at noon on Friday the 27th of March. Students ate their lunches at school, knowing it would be there last meal for a long time. After-school snacks were passed by, and we all met at the youth room at 6 pm for a night of games. The theme of the weekend modeled “Survivor.” Four different Latin American countries were represented by the students as they participated in different challenges. The winner of each challenge won a survival card. The team with the most survival cards would be declared the winner.
Games were interrupted by coveted water and juice breaks and time to simply rest. Not eating for a long time makes one very tired. At midnight, we called it a night and slept—our stomachs empty.
On Saturday morning, we volunteered at Golden Harvest Food Bank. We helped them sort food and medical supplies for the hungry right here in Augusta. Despite not having eaten for almost 24 hours, we were able to work diligently. Larry, one of the employees of Golden Harvest, thanked us profusely for our hard work as we left to head back to the Youth Room.
We completed our game of TRIBE on Saturday afternoon as we became more and more tired. It became clear that skipping multiple meals in a row is not only difficult, but it affects you in so many ways. Your energy level decrease, your irritability increases, and you become focused on one thing: filling your stomach.
Our fast was broken at 30 hours after it started with a delicious meal provided by Sandy O’Neal. Complete silence consumed the O’Neal home as the students filled their empty stomachs with delicious food.
All in all, the 30-Hour Famine wasn’t the most pleasant experience. However, it gave us a new perspective on what people around the world are going through right now. God has blessed us richly. Too often, we take too many things for granted and aren’t thankful for what we have. This experience has opened our eyes to see the needs of people around the world and how we can help them.
If you want to look at the photos, please click here.
For more information about the 30-Hour Famine or World Vision, please click here.
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