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Religion Briefs
| Experiencing
how much of the rest of the world lives |
Chehalem Valley Baptist youth take part in `30 Hour Famine' to raise money
and awareness |
By Christie Scotty, Newberg Graphic
Reporter
Email Christie at cscotty@eaglenewspapers.com
|
About a dozen youth packed their pillows, blankets and toothbrushes
for a sleepover this weekend at Chehalem Valley Baptist Church. The only thing they
didn’t bring was food.
The church’s youth group is participating in the World Vision 30 Hour Famine. The
group started fasting at 4 p.m. Friday and will conclude at 10 tonight (Saturday).
“They were a little nervous about how hungry they’re going to get
after the 24th hour, but they’re excited also,” youth leader Scott Stoutenburg
said as the group prepared to begin the fast. Water, juice and Gatorade are the only
substances the students will consume.
To keep their mind off their hunger the schedule goes like this: On Friday
evening, Bible study, a worship service and bedtime around midnight. This morning the
group heads over to watch Stoutenburg coach his fourth-grade daughter in a basketball
game, then to Tigard’s Union Gospel Mission thrift store to work. They’ll then
attend a Saturday evening worship service at Greater Gresham Baptist Church, as well.
However, organizers don’t want the seventh- through 11th-grade youths to
get their minds completely off their mission.
“When we first started talking about doing this it was hard for (the
youth) to imagine not having $20 in their wallet, and after-school not going to Burger
King with their friends and playing video games,” Stoutenburg said. “But
they’re becoming more aware and I think they will be more aware after the famine.
“They need to actually feel what it’s like to not have any food or
any access to food.”
The youth will break their fast tonight with a Third World meal of rice,
beans and water.
The event is a contrast to the average church youth group event, which almost
invariably includes food, Stoutenburg pointed out.
But it is also meant to raise money for World Vision, a Christian relief
organization established in 1950 to help orphans in Asia. The group has since grown to
include projects in 92 countries with health care, agricultural production, advocacy and
emergency relief.
“They do things globally and they do more than give people food —
they build clinics, drill wells, buy farm equipment,” Stoutenburg said. “And
it’s not just outside the United States.”
The youth group watched a World Vision video showing families in America’s “coal
belt” region, which Stoutenburg said was an eye-opener for students, revealing living
conditions in the U.S. more commonly thought of as existing only in other countries.
“One family had running water only for their bathtub — their house
was basically a stove and four walls,” Stoutenburg said of the video.
The Chehalem Valley Baptist group had an original goal of $500, but had
already raised about $700 in pledges by Thursday.
Last August youth from the church joined the Baptist Church-sponsored Impact
Northwest, paying $90 to sleep on the floor and help with building projects for the
Housing Authority of Portland. |
|
From Feb. 8,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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