“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. . . . I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:35, 40). Everyday, 840 million people around the world will go to bed hungry. Fourteen thousand children under the age of five will die today from lack of food.

Two years ago, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries entered into a unique partnership with World Vision, Inc to partner in their biannual 30 Hour Famine campaign in Nazarene local congregations. The Nazarene 30 Hour Famine, powered by World Vision, is an opportunity for young people to grow closer to each other and Christ while following Christ’s command to feed the hungry and care for those in need.

The 30 Hour Famine campaign seeks to mobilize young people through a weekend of denying themselves food while studying about world hunger issues and offering services and participation with those that lack food in their own communities.

World Vision describes the program in this way: “30 Hour Famine is an international youth movement to fight hunger. It will bring your group closer together and to God, feed hungry children, and change our world forever. Students fast for thirty hours and raise funds to help feed and care for children around the world.”

The goal of the 30 Hour Famine is to help young people “think outside themselves and see the world as Christ sees it.”

Each year, over one million young people participate--including an increasing number of Nazarenes. For the Church of the Nazarene, the money raised within the denomination is designated to food and water projects in areas where the Church of the Nazarene and World Vision are directly working.

The most recent project took place in Malawi, a small country in southeastern Africa. With long-term sustainability in mind, project goals include training local farmers in fish farming, fruit and vegetable production, goat and sheep raising, and also providing children orphaned by HIV/AIDS with essential food assistance, education, medical care, and general support.

Preliminary research conducted by Nazarene Theological Seminary and the Bresee Institute for Metro Ministries suggests that through the 30 Hour Famine the participants’ views on poverty and resultant hunger are turned around. This study sought to assess participants’ attitudes, knowledge of world hunger, and biblical understanding of hunger before and after their involvement in the 30 Hour Famine event in their local church. The results were both encouraging and informative.

Through interactive games and built-in learning activities that are part of the 30 Hour Famine program, students learned that poverty is a global concern involving a number of systemic causes that increase both poverty and hunger worldwide. Through participation in the famine event, students grew in awareness of global hunger and in enthusiasm for doing something about it.

From the young people surveyed, the partnership has been successful not only for assisting Nazarenes throughout the world, but it is also transforming attitudes and insights among those on the giving side.

Results of the survey:

• Two-thirds of the participants were of junior high age.
• For all but two percent, the Famine was an entirely new experience.
• Additionally, 85 percent of those involved had never fasted before.
• Also two-thirds of these had never met anyone who was chronically hungry.
• On the other hand, over half had been involved in some fashion with earlier projects to help the hungry, through child sponsorship, by donating food, serving in a community meal or giving to mission projects.

Prior to the fast, most of the young people tended to believe that hunger was the result of bad personal choices or irresponsibility. In other words, these young people for the most part believed that poverty was the failure of personal responsibility.

After their participation in the 30 Hour Famine, however, these young people grew to understand hunger as a largely systemic issue. Their post-participation responses showed they understood hunger as a result of “living in unproductive or impoverished parts of the world” (84 percent), “too weak or sick to work” (70 percent) “unfair spreading of wealth” (68 percent) and “no jobs available” or “corrupt governments” (59 percent).

There was almost unanimous enthusiasm (98 percent) both among participants and parents for personal participation in the program. Ninety-seven percent of the respondents testified that this was a life-changing experience and 91 percent shared that they were much more aware of the problem of hunger. However, in general, they wanted more community participation and engagement with the poor. Over half indicated that they were now doing a lot of thinking about their values.

The study was made available either online at www.bimm.org or downloaded in hard copy. For more detailed results of this survey, please contact www.ncm.org.

The next national Famine weekends are February 26-27, 2010 and April 23-24, 2010, but the Famine can be done at any time throughout the year. For more information and to sign up to receive free materials, go to 30hourfamine.org/naz.

This article was originally published in the Spring 2009 edition of NCM Magazine. It is used by permission. www.ncm.org