Hungry for Help

Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and Nazarene Youth International encourages youth groups and others to participate in the 30 Hour Famine. Why is this so important?

• A child dies from hunger-related causes every 13 seconds. That's as many as 7,000 children younger than age 5 dying daily. Most children die because malnutrition keeps their immune systems from working right, and they are unable to fight deadly diseases.

• Around the world, 925 million people are hungry. That's one out of every seven people in the world. Many families depend on food they grow, so they?re never more than one natural disaster away from hunger. Others can?t find employment, or they may even work multiple jobs but can barely afford enough food for their children.

• The poor spend most of their money on food. Studies show us that 2.6 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Most of us spend that much on soft drinks or other junk food. But so many families in the world have to provide food, shelter, school, healthcare, and clothes for their whole families on that $2. Ask your parents how much it costs to pay for food, your house or apartment, clothes, and everything else for a month"see how that compares to the $62 per month 2.6 billion people live on.

Hunger Affects a Person's Whole Body
It's not just about growling stomachs. Prolonged hunger affects these areas:

Brain: A healthy brain uses 20 percent of the body's energy, which comes from food. Malnourished kids fall behind in school because they're not getting enough food to fuel their brains.

Heart: A healthy heart pumps a steady supply of blood throughout the body. An undernourished heart shrinks, so it has to work harder to pump blood. Hunger also makes the body unable to make enough blood.

Vital organs: The liver and kidneys filter out toxins (poisons) and waste, while your immune system fends off disease. Hunger affects the workings of the organs so dangerous toxins build and the liver and kidneys fail. Hunger affects the immune systems, which means they get sick easier and cannot fight off life-threatening illnesses.

Skin and bones: Healthy skin shields the body from infection and healthy bones get bigger and stronger as kids grow. Hunger can cause skin to crack, which lets germs past that protective layer. Bones stop growing, which makes kids small for their ages.

Sweet 16
What can you get with $16? A couple of Cokes and an iPod app? Two after-school-with-your-friends meals at McDonalds?

According to World Vision, if you can sacrifice $16 out of your spending habits, you can provide:

1. A day of food for a U.S. family in need.
2. Two soccer balls for Ethiopian kids who have never seen a real toy, but love to play soccer, using rolled banana leaves or wadded trash as a ball.
3. A rabbit for an impoverished family. Two rabbits can start creating babies within 31 days. That's at least 50 rabbits a year to help feed a family and provide some warm fur.
4. A solar lantern to help kids without electricity see to do their school work.

Sponsor a Child
For $25 a month, just 82 cents a day, you have the opportunity to feed, clothe, and educate a child in need through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Child Sponsorship. Get your family or youth group involved in sponsoring a child. For more info go to cs.ncm.org.

What Can I Do?
Have you ever wanted to get something and been totally frustrated because your allowance or paycheck just doesn't stretch that far? Teens on limited budgets often understand better than their parents do dilemmas people face when they don't have enough money.

But what can a teen really do about these huge problems? Plenty.

Here are some ideas for starters. You can brainstorm with your friends, youth group, or classmates, and ask God for ideas and direction on how you can make a difference:

Become aware.
It's not just people in developing countries, though the needs are great there. People in your church and in your school need help. People in your world. A lack of jobs and inflation affects all countries right now.

Commit.
Sacrifice junk food for one week and give that money to be used to help others - through your church, through a community organization, or just to help someone you know who is going through a rough time.

Participate.
Start can-collecting drives to raise funds to purchase food for local shelters or for your church's food pantry.

The teens at one church have set up recycle bins in the church parking lot. They collect cans, plastic goods, and paper not only to cut down on landfills, but also to give the proceeds to missions.

Talk.
Share with your church leaders about the problems people around you are facing and what your church is doing about it. Then give a report to your youth group. Lead them in brainstorming on ways you can help.

Clean your room. Yep, even by this simple act you can help others! Take the clothes that you can't wear anymore and donate them to a local organization (sometimes called "clothes closets") that will pass them along to kids who may need them.

Remember, even if no one knows about what you do, God will still bless it - and you!

All funds are in USD.

Jeanette Gardner Littleton is a freelance author and editor from the Kansas City area.

Holiness Today, 2012

Please note: This article was originally published in 2012. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.