The parable of the great banquet is an explicit example of how we are called to invite those who are less fortunate to our feasts, our abundance.
Hartford St. Presbyterian doesn't have a lot of youth but we don't have in numbers, we make up in personality. These kids are great! I've been working with them on and off during my YAV year- talking about food justice and donating to A Place to Turn. Then I told them that we'd be participating in the World Vision 30 Hour Famine. Soon the usual teenage blank stare turned into disbelief and perhaps a little rebellion.
30 hours. No food. Only juice and water. Oh and by the way, you're going to be doing donation drives for those who are hungry... in front of a grocery store.
I can hear it now: "But we're hungry!" "You mean I can't eat for a whole day?"
The youth arrived enveloped with duffel bags across their chest and sleeping bags hanging off their shoulders. We started out by laying out the ground rules for the weekend and playing some games. World Vision does a great job in coming up with games and providing the materials you need to play. All that needs to be done on the youth leader's end is to print some things and divide up the kids into "tribes." This year's edition of the TRIBE game was focused on Central and South America. Teams, or shall I say tribes, represented countries and to get everyone acquainted there were some facts about life in those countries, including the difficulties in finding food and getting an education.
After what would have been dinner time we all spread out our sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, and changed into our PJs to watch "We Bought a Zoo." I thought a movie would keep them distracted for a few hours and they might not think of their hunger pangs. It mostly worked. There were some comments here and there about watching a movie and not having snacks. Something about it being a crime against humanity or something... ;-) Next was the easiest part: sleep. Playing games and not eating to refuel is rough. I was tired, but then again I'm not 16.
We woke up the next morning and started off with a devotion. Our conversation was great and some of the youth had some pretty deep thoughts about sharing God's love, not just our resources, with those who are in need. Our next stop was a local grocery store to host a donation drive for the pantry where I work, right next to the church.
Wow was I impressed! Our hungry, hot (it was unusually hot that day) talked to strangers going into the store, telling them about the Famine and A Place to Turn, and letting them know that they were asking for donations. In total they raised over $300 for A Place to Turn and got 4 plastic storage bins full of food donations! Even on top of that they raised $250 for World Vision! What a group!
I am proud of our youth for making it through all 30 hours. Not one of them gave in to temptation, even in front of a grocery store. Our youngest participant was 10, our oldest was in their 40s. We even had different nationalities represented.
Our small, diverse, enthusiastic group made a difference in the world! What could be better? We shared our great banquet.
