How We Will Do This

For three days in June, we will stand with the weak and the poor, experiencing hunger and lack…in an attempt to feel again.  We will experience just an inkling of what many in our world experience daily, and we will pray.

According to the best estimations available, it appears that 1.6 billion people (repeat that statistic, slowly) are living on less than $1 (US currency equivalent) a day (again, let that sink in).  Less than $1 a day.  What can you buy with a dollar?  In our society, not much.  Can’t even get a piece of candy for less than a buck.  Imagine the task of providing for your family with that kind of handicap.  In our country, it almost takes a dollar just to start our car in the morning. 

For three days in June, the 11th-13th, we will forsake our normal American diet.  We will turn off our lights, our TV’s, our computers…maybe even our air-conditioners.  We may walk or bike to work instead of drive, and we will drive only when absolutely neccesary.  We will pray twice a day for the weak and the poor, for the oppressed children of God around the world, and for the coming of the Kingdom of God.  Hopefully, we will feel again.  Hopefully, we will weep with the weeping, and know the joy of the intentional humilty of Christ.  Hopefully, we will shake off the stupor of our opulance and awaken afresh to the cause of the Hero King.

We are focusing a change in the three main areas of our American life, diet, comfort through technology, and transportation. Here are suggestions as to how to participate in this fast:

What to eat:

In researching for this project, the bottom line for most poverty stricken people is that starch is the most common and cheap thing a person can eat.  For the three days in June, figure that you will be eating mostly starches.

I tried to establish an exact equivalence between a third world diet and ours, and it turns out to be rather nebulous.  Instead of that, let me offer suggestions of how you and your family could eat like one of the 1.6 billion human beings who struggle in extreme poverty.  This will not be an exact replication of their diet, but it will be similar, and a far cry from our normal food intake. 

*1/2 cup of rice or 1 cup of beans per person, per day.  You may want to mix this up, rice on one day, beans the next…or you may want to make a mixture of .75 cups of rice and 1.5 cups of beans at the beginning of the week, and eat them as leftovers for the next two days.  Beans can help make rice more palatable. 

2 slices of cheap white or cheap wheat bread per person, per day.  Bread averages out to about $.10 a slice (of the cheap stuff), and can go a long way to filling the stomach and easing discomfort. 

1 bag of Ramen noodles per family* per day.  The flavor packet would be a luxury mostly unknown to survivors of extreme poverty…so consider not using the flavor packet, or only half of it. 

1 chicken breast per family* per 3 days.  Those experiencing extreme poverty rarely get meat, protein deficiency being one of the biggest killers among them.  I’m suggesting that we limit any meat intake to poultry or fish, and only spare amounts, like suggested above. 

Tap Water as the only beverage.  Not coffee, not tea, not iced tea, not soda, not beer, not wine.  Water…from the tap…and even that is a luxury we take for granted.  

Avoid condiments.  Salt is a luxury, and should be limited and treated as such.  Butter, expensive oils, elaborate seasonings should be set aside.  We are going to eat to live, not live to eat as we are accustomed to doing. 

*Rice and beans are dry measurments. 

*Family size is averaged at four people.  Portions should be cut if there are less than four people.

Families are encouraged to eat at the same time, recreating the need to conserve resources by not doing multiple meals. 

These are just suggestions.  Maybe you can’t tolerate rice and would rather eat three packages of Ramen a day.  It’s all cool, the main idea is to strip down the American diet and live on meager portions of mostly starches for three days.

Technology:  

Lights – let’s turn off the lights, including flashlights.  Instead, lets use candles and oil lamps to shed light on the darkness. 

Entertainment -  let’s consider turning off our TV’s, CD players, gaming consoles and computers.  Let’s spend that time talkng and praying for the weak and oppressed instead. 

Air Conditioners – yikes.  Ok…this may be too extreme for some…and even a health hazard for others…so think hard before attempting this.  I’m going to try it.  Somehow people live all over the planet in very hot and humid climates without air-conditioning. 

Transportation:

This is something that may not be feasible for everyone…but let’s consider if we can ride our bike to work…or even walk.  We’d have to start our day earlier, and it would be very inconvenient, but it would be more in tune with the daily life of so many others in the world.  If we can’t avoid driving to work, maybe we can at least avoid any other driving for those three days.