Greetings on behalf of the Junior High youth group, Auxano, which is so named due to its fitting definition, to grow or to increase. We hope your winters are all warm and filled with God's comfort. You may have recently seen a very bright and colorful bulletin board in past weeks promoting the 30Hour Famine. I would like to explain what the famine is and why it is so important to the Junior High students at Calvary.

 

The 30Hour Famine is a fasting and fundraising movement created by World Vision calling youth to assist people living in poverty and hunger throughout the world. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization that comes in contact with about 100 million people in nearly 100 countries all for the sake of Jesus Christ and our calling to give unconditional love to all God's children.

 

So what's in it for us? Last week at Auxano, our students watched video clips about some of the children World Vision has treated in Niger (learn more about Niger). The babies, some not even a year old, were malnourished and their energy was quickly escaping them. We tried the "plumpy nut" mixture made from peanuts, oil, sugar and evaporated milk that is given to people with the worst cases of malnutrition. The students began to see the great needs of others and the impact they could make for children like those we saw.

 

Jesus intentionally taught his disciples and other followers about the poor. In fact, in the NIV translation of the Bible, the word "poor" is used 178 times and in the New King James, 205 times. The Beatitudes, in Matthew 5: 3, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God," and in Proverbs 22:9, "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." And what states it more clearly than in Luke 12:48, "To whom much is given, much is expected."

 

Calvary has been a blessing to others because we have been blessed by God first. Let us come together over the next six and a half weeks to make a difference not just to World Vision but to the world, filled with God's children. We have set a goal for fundraising that is higher than any amount we have ever raised for the famine because our students are convinced that we have the ability to make a difference. Let this project be a church wide movement, rather than another fundraiser. Consider fasting with us on February 27 and 28 or helping us put on a church wide "Break the Fast" lunch on February 28. Each of us has been called by Jesus. Let us answer the call by showing God's unconditional love within our Calvary family and also to the poor, whom we've been called to serve.

  

In Christ,

 

 

Danielle Oester (bio)
Junior High Coordinator