What a weekend; what a month!
Part of our training for our trip to El Salvador has been participating in the "30 Day Challenge." For each day this past month, we have been fasting from an item or idea. The following are some of the things we went without over the course of this last month. The first night we fasted from comfort; in doing so, we slept on the floor instead of in our beds, and let me tell you, our dorm room floor is not so comfortable! Another example was fasting from shoes- yes, we walked around barefoot all day! We fasted from independence, and for this challenge I chose to rely on my friends for my clothes for the day. I went to a few different rooms and asked for different items. I wasn't allowed to have a say in what they gave me, it was up to them! One of the more challenging ones was fasting from electricity. At night we used flashlights in our room to complete our homework; we soon discovered our bathroom was quite dark even in the day without lights! And yes, that included showering by the light of a flashlight. We fasted from running water one day, and rationed our water use to one water bottle we had filled up the night before. We fasted from warmth and went without jackets; beings it was February, it got a little bit chilly in the evening, but gratefully it wasn't too unbearable. One difficult challenge for me was fasting from vanity; we hung up a sheet over the mirrors in our room and went without looking at ourselves for the day, which included getting ready! All of these things led up to this past week, in which we began fasting from different things in relation to eating. Up to this point, each days' fasting only lasted that specific day. Now they began to build off each another and we had to keep up the previous days' as well. We began fasting from over-consumption and waste. In doing this, we only put on our plate what we could actually eat, and tried to not throw any food away. We then fasted one by one from: luxury drinks, sweets, snacks, meat, and lastly carbs, to lead up to the final complete fast from food- the 30 hour famine. During this famine/fast, we spent 24 hours together as team in mission trip simulation experiences.
The purpose of all of these challenges was to give us a new perspective on the luxuries and comforts that we have every day and take for granted that many people in the world do not have. It also was to help us grow closer to Christ as we went without. The description in the little booklet of directions about the fast quotes Isaiah 58:6-10:
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."
I feel like this passage adequately describes our desire behind participating in this 30 day challenge!
Now more about the 30 hour famine. It began with a simulation airport, customs, immigration, taxi ride, etc. experience, in which the 'government officials' and 'locals' spoke other languages, and treated us how we might get treated in other countries-hassled. They even planted 'drugs' along the way in one of my teammates bags, in which she was 'arrested' for during the customs search. While many of these situations were exaggerated, it helped remind us what kind of things we need to be prepared for!
Besides these simulations, there were a few things that stuck out to me from the whole experience. Last night in a practical way, we saw how much we in America have compared to most of the world. When we entered the classroom, there was a pile of stuff in the middle including multiple laptops, toilet paper, blankets and jackets, soap, water bottles, school supplies, shoes, blow-driers, etc. Our group of about 25 was then divided - four on one side, the rest on the other. The items were then distributed among the two groups. The group of four represented 20% of the population of the world, and they received 80% of the items. Our group of 80% of the population received 20% of the items. I've always known Americans/1st world countries were guilty of materialism and having more than we needed, but wow; seeing it laid out like that made me sick. The group that represented Americans had WAY more than they could ever use. They had multiple pairs of sunglasses, computers, school supplies, and they were buried in blankets. Our group, which represented the majority of the world's population, had nothing in comparison. A few cans of food, two diapers, two bottles of water, etc. If what we were given was what we actually had to live off of, it seemed impossible to live for long at all.
Even though I am familiar with the needs of other countries, seeing how little there actually was and that it needed to be shared among so many, while looking at the 1st world side and seeing how much they had that they didn't need, hit me in the gut hard. Even being a college student, I have more in my dorm that most of the world ever has.
Later in the evening, we were instructed to enter a dark room lit by candlelight. We were told that we had been meeting there as an underground church, but the police had been tipped off to our location, and we needed to move. As a team, we were then given instructions to go to our designated "secret" area on campus and hold a church service. We were told that we were Christians in a country where it was illegal, such as N. Korea, and that we had to leave the building in pairs and go to our secret location without getting caught by the 'police' that were roaming campus looking for suspicious activity. For those of you who are familiar with Simpson's campus, out meeting location was behind the outdoor basketball courts and workout area near the back 40. We huddled in a group in some rotting tree stumps and had 'church' for an hour and a half. This was one of my favorite parts of the weekend; as a group, we decided what we felt was most important to use this time for if we were actually an underground church. We decided that fellowships was most important, so we shared our current worries and struggles we were going through. This was my favorite because we were being raw and vulnerable with each other; as we shared our struggles, we also shared words of encouragement for one another. On a few occasions, we saw someone walking back and forth near our meeting place; worried they were the 'police', we would crouch down and lower our voices. Even though it was just simulation, the seriousness of the moment was understood. We still do not know if it was actually a 'police' or just a student walking around campus, but we found out that two groups were actually "arrested!"
We slept in the gym last night with all of the world serve teams, and were awoken at 7 AM to the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer; we then learned that many Christians in Islamic countries would be arrested or killed for refusing to bow, so they bow and pray but pray to God instead. In learning this, we then faced east as they would, and read a passage from Psalms as we bowed and knelt like some Christians do. It was a good reminder that we are so blessed to have freedom of religion (and also that we don't have to be woken up every morning to that noise!).
One of the last aspects that touched me the most this weekend was when we learned about the water that is available (or even unavailable) to most people. To understand situations around the world, we trekked across campus to the pond with 5-gallon buckets. We then filled the buckets with pond water, which is unfortunately as clean as the water that many people have to drink, and carried them back across campus. While this helped us gain an understanding of the work it takes to have water each day in many countries, this is not what impacted me the most. When talking about the water situation, Travis gave us some examples which hit my heart hard. Here we have running water in plenty; we take long, hot showers, we cook with water, we let the water run while we brush our teeth, and we wash our cars with water and
hose off our driveways because we are too lazy to sweep them. While many people only have a few gallons of water to live off of every day (dirty water, at that), we use
clean water on the pavement to make it look nice. Wow.
The thing is, it is SO easy to experience these things, think about them for awhile- maybe even a few weeks- but then slowly sink back into our day to day lives and forget about what we have learned. In order for any of these things to be worthwhile, we must find a way to
change our actions. If anything that I've shared has stuck a chord with you, I encourage you to find a worthy organization such as
World Vision,
Compassion International, or another organization that helps with what you are passionate about, and consider supporting their cause.
Overall, this weekend was a great reality check for me personally. It was a great reminder of how blessed I am, and how much I actually can give to others and it will be ok. It was a great time of fellowship and bonding with our El Salvador team, and it pumped me up for our actual trip in just over two months!! (If any of my team is reading this, I just want to say that I am SO impressed with you all! You. Are. Awesome.) I want to give a big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported me thus far, with words of encouragement, prayer, and finances.
And if you would like to support me or my team, you can follow this link:
Donate. Right now I am at about 50% of my total goal of $2800; by next week I need to have raised 60% of my goal, and I am currently approx. $250 short of that. Any amount of money truly helps! Thank you!
