Of all my years of doing the 30 Hour Famine, this year’s will definitely go down as one of my favorites.
Friday night was filled with energizers, lots of team spirit, and fun at Adventure Landing. Even though the bumper cars were not working and the putt-putt course was cold and wet, Trinity youth made sure everyone there knew we were excited for the weekend. The junior class did an excellent job at beating the sophomores in laser tag, and all of the tickets we racked up playing arcade games were (sadly) not exchanged for candy.
Later that night, we played Talon’s Case, which showed us how challenging it can be to get rid of corruption at the most important levels within a society. We were tasked with presenting to a judge (in this case, one of our amazing chaperones) whom our group believed to be the victim of abuse from a brick making factory. It helped to show us that no story is ever simple and we might not always win, but the best we can do is continue to fight corruption without giving into its cynicism.
Getting to cut out time usually put in for breakfast made waking up the next morning a little bit easier. We first learned about one of the mission projects our youth group knows and loves called Kids Against Hunger. We heard personal experiences of its influence and got to see pictures of the lives that the project has touched. We then made food packets which contained a mineral/vitamin powder, dried vegetables, protein based soy, and rice (in that order). Although the dried food made it easier to not think about how hungry we really were, we got to remember that we have the privilege of never having to worry where our next meal is coming from. We wanted to be able to give that assurance to our brothers and sisters who need it most.
After a quick 30 minute break, we started our next game, which involved clues hinting to us different locations in McKinney that we could drive to that could led us to our treasure: the 30 Hour Famine planning team. After a little over an hour, our group was able to find them at the square in downtown McKinney, but not after visiting 9 different spots, chewing a lot of bubblegum, and frantically jumping out of the car to try and find our next clue.
Our Youth Sunday worship rehearsal, which followed the scavenger hunt, is always when the hunger and exhaustion kick in the worst. But our final game of the weekend that followed rehearsal kept us overly motivated to finish the famine strong. The final game consisted of a 60 question trivia, a combination of hide n’ seek and capture the flag, and Red (but in our case, purple) Moon Rising. Whichever group won the final game ultimately won the whole famine – so, naturally, we were incredibly competitive.
After cleaning up, we started to count down the minutes till the end of the weekend by throwing an amazing glow party to celebrate our winning group. Congrats to Hulk for winning the 30 Hour Famine! Just know that I fully expect to win next year, so be ready! We also made sure to dance to the fact that we had already hit our goal of $30,000 before Sunday- which is crazy.
Although we only got a glimpse of what it is like to be hungry, we got to better understand our call as disciples of Christ to help our brothers and sisters around the world who need us to repair what has been broken. The weekend taught me that it is not foolish to think we can make a difference beyond our immediate community. I am so proud to be friends with over sixty youth who let their stomachs growl for 30 hours so that others can be fed.
I already cannot wait for next year’s 30 Hour Famine.
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