If you participate in this fast, please share your thoughts with us. How, if at all, has this experience effected you? What are your prayers? What other means of pursuing INTENTIONAL HUMILITY come to mind as you stand with the weak and the poor? This is your space…scrawl on the wall.
This are my “before the fast” thoughts.
I have a picture that portrays Jesus looking down from the heavens at planet earth with tears streaming down His cheeks. Sadly, I don’t
feel the pain anymore that He feels as He looks at the conditions down here. I have become numb. I walk with blind eyes to the suffering.
We are all commissioned to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, but so many times I believe Jesus wanted to reach out through my arms or my voice and I was too busy or too caught up in my own foolishness to hear. Instead of
“send me Lord”, I pretended I didn’t hear. So now I need to repent and get busy doing what I know to do.
I want to feel what He feels; see what He sees when He looks at His creation. Jesus is still in the business of giving sight to the blind and by means of this fast I will pay attention long enough for Him to remove the shroud over my eyes. Get back on the straight and narrow which is the only place where I am really happy anyway.
I just realized the irony of my own situation when I went to my electronic planner to check my schedule to ascertain the extent to which I would be able, or more accurately, willing to participate. Anyway, thanks Rob and whoever else is spearheading this. Otherwise its just out of sight, out of mind for me most of the time, so thanks for taking away some of my usual excuses.
I pray God would change my heart through this, make it harder to ignore those who suffer, and easier to deny myself for their sake as well as my own.
I know not the need for food, the want of water, the desire for a human touch, the blade of hatred…but my heart is touched by each of these which such a heaviness that words cannot convey. I am far removed from countries that truly experience such poverty and despair, but my soul cries for those far and near. As of late, trials experienced by friends and loved ones bring me back to my knees thanking God for all the blessings He bestows upon me moment after moment. In the strange way my mind works, I relate the agony and suffering of my lost loved ones (and stranger alike) to those we are standing in solidarity for these coming days. I believe it is a much greater suffering to have no hope of God’s eternal blessing than to be denied even the basics of what physically sustains us. So as I fast and pray this week in solidarity for the poor, the persecuted and the sick, I will also lift up the souls of the lost far and near, rich and poor.
I am thankful for this opportunity to give a part of myself (if but a speck) for the sake of those suffering what I have not known. I’m ashamed that I allow myself to be so busied by the details of the day that I do not commit myself to give more of my TIME to those in need. This was my mother’s legacy, and I pray it be mine…however God sees good to use me.
Matthew 25:34-40
34″Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
35′For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;
36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’
37″Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?
38′And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?
39′When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
40″ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’
It’s already begun. Even though this fast doesn’t ‘officialy’ start tomorrow the Lord has started to stir and move in our hearts. My family of four which consists of myself, my wife and two college age sons are all going to (try)particpate in this solidarity fast.
My wife and I went shopping tonight to buy food for the next three days. We agreed that we would spend $1 dollar per person per day – which comes to a total of $12 for our entire family. Not including tax we spent exactly (to the penny) $12 on food. When it comes to food, $12 doesn’t buy jack squat. Think about it for a minute – $12 – we spend that much on a medium pizza while watching the game or a DVD on TV and merely consider it a ‘snack’!
On our drive home from the store with our meager supplies I came to the realization that my heart needs a complete and total over haul. I’m already in disbelief. Disbelief that what we will try to experience over the next few days is not an excersise for millions but a way of life. Disbelief that I have become disconnected and out of touch with the weak, poor and hurting.
Like I said, this fast hasn’t even started and the Lord is beginning to work in our hearts. It will be interesting to see the work He does in our hearts and lives over the next few days. I pray that we all experience humility and the ability to feel once again. But most of all I pray that we experience and feel the love of Jesus so that we can share it with others.
Today, we heard in the lyrics of the music about the ruin of families and the betrayal of friends. Christ’s suffering was not only physical. Perhaps the mental anguish associated with the contempt, indifference, mockery, and rejection of others, particularly those we love brings greater suffering.
How many beggars and homeless have I walked past without compassion in my life. Forgive me Lord, I am so so sorry.
I work in a school in a poverty-stricken area of our county. Nearly all the students are on public assistance. When the free school breakfasts and lunches are not available (weekends, holidays, summer), these children often go hungry. Irritability and inattention are a result of their impoverishment, adversely affecting their ability to learn. When raw survival is your goal, it’s hard to focus on anything else.
These next few days, when we eat in the dark, our thankful hearts will sweeten our meager portions, because we know that God is always with us and will take care of us. When deprived, despairing children eat in the dark, their seasoning is bitter, for they have no assurance that their circumstances are temporary.
I came fulltime to Eastgate in November, when I moved to the north side of Panama City and could arrange transportation–a whole ‘nuther story!! I carted my preteens to Corner Coffee house when we were Java’luya in the Promenade and we were fresh new in town, in early ’97. That last until my daughter got into high school and found a whole new venue…other boys from other places!!
It’s been an odyssey of course, but coming full circle. I came into the Jesus walk, as I told Robbie a few months ago, in a Christian coffee house on main street in Roswell NM in 1974 with The Church of Roswell, and now I’m trying to simplify my structured way of believing back down to just what is really important at Eastgate.
In January God started a walk with me through some really important but simple stuff. My son in law has come from paganism back to Him–I think alot to do with the insistance of a 4 yr boy who knows ‘God love me, the Bible said it so’–and both my sons have foudn their ways back to Him, (the path not always Mom’s choice, but glory be to God!!) And He is laying out stepping stones for me to follow.
When we talked yesterday about going without power–utilities–I thought, hey, I’ve already done that. Yes, 5 months when my children were small their minister father decided God had not called him to take a paying work and hence, the Salt River Project in Phoenix didn’t quite go along.
I learned to worship God, pray alot more for things that werent our needs but more for greater understanding of the needs of others around us, while I sucked it up and presented obedience and submission to my husband–whatever the cost to my needs or my children. The growth and nurture from God were great although I always had to wonder how much should we take our families along on such a ride.
Now though, maybe I should wonder, in retrospect, did I really learn from the experience, because in the end the marriage was wrecked and I was angry.
So now God presents me with another chance to come close to Him–being the loving GOOD father whom He is–always another opportunity…. I look forward not only to another opportunity of fasting, dying in the flesh to rejuvenate in the Body, and spend greater time in His presence!! Hearing Him. Yes, Jesus!!
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As I walked into our bathroom last night with candle in hand, one begins to notice all of the things we take for granted here in the USA. We CHOSE not to turn on the lights, BUT we still had hot and cold running water, we have indoor plumbing with plenty of toilet tissue and soap.
Have you ever stopped to think about soap??? We have our choice of bar soap, liquid soap, or of all things, we now have foam soap. We can choose deodorant soap, or soap for sensitive skin, or one with any kind of fragrance under the sun. Wow!
In 1989, Dan and I went on a two-week mission trip to Vietnam. The soap we were given in a fairly decent middle-of-the-road hotel, for Vietnam’s standards, was grainy and full of who knows what.
Quoting from Rob’s prayer: “I live in a land that overflows with wealth and strength. Thank you for the many blessings I have overlooked. Forgive [me] for the times [I've] taken your grace for granted.”
We ate mainly bread and water, turned off the TV and PC, and minimized the use of other conveniences. The simplicity was sometimes refreshing; the diet was not.
Even with those limitations, we are still not experiencing the worst aspects of poverty, especially in third world countries. The unsanitary conditions that many have to live in would be very hard for any of us to endure. Often, they have to deal with stinking, filthy latrines and the danger of contamination in their food and water. For us, such problems are a rarity.
May God’s kingdom come, and may we be His instruments.
Thoughts while identifying with the poor who live on $1 a day:
Do I not feed the dog? brush my teeth? use toilet paper, hair products, take a shower? do laundry? run the dishwasher? water my flowers? All these things I take for granted are luxuries to my poor brothers and sisters.
My gnawing stomach and conscience kept me from sleeping well one night. How dare I complain about being in a temporarily weakened state as I go to work at my secure job in an air-conditioned building! How many go out perpetually weak, scrounging with little hope for any momentary form of relief?
I’ve got an exciting vacation to look forward to … all my deprivation is temporary … after Wednesday, I can resume my normal, self-centered life. The poor I’m identifying with don’t have such an optomistic outlook. What do they have to look forward to?
Has anyone else noticed a difference, after the fast, in the way you approach a meal? I don’t think I’ve eaten a single thing without sincerely expressing my thanks for it, and praying for those who have nothing. This is the very thing I was hoping would happen…an awakening in my heart to the needs around me…a step-down from the frenzied pace of our modern society that allows me to be human again.
This may sound silly to some, but one difference I have noticed:
I chose not to use my blow-dryer during the fast. On Sunday morning, while getting ready for our church service, my hair-dryer stops working. Normally I would get quite frantic if my hair was only partially dried before leaving the house. Although I didn’t like it a whole lot, I wasn’t going to freak-out over a little thing such as that.
I did a modified fast in order to include my children age 1-8. We talked about it the night before. Why we were doing it, that most of the world lives with less. We checked out the website.
The kids were excited. They thought being poor would be so much fun. The girls chose special poor clothes to wear. The fun started to wear off when we all sat down to plain rice for breakfast after much pleading I agreed to let them us a little soy sauce but reminded them that most poor families would not be able to afford soy sauce or salt or pepper…
We prayed together for the poor and eagerly looked forward to lunch. By now the reality of no computer, tv and ac were really settling in.
By lunch time (a slice of bread and a top ramen pack split 5 ways eaten in a hot and humid kitchen) being poor was decidedly not fun. My eight year old wanted to know why a good God would create poverty. And how could people that poor ever think He loved them which led to some pretty heavy lunch time discussion. By nap time we prayed again and ended our fast. When the kids woke up my four year old asked are we still poor? To which my eight year old replied, no we’re having chicken nuggets that’s just normal. While that can be debated the kids were visibly relieved we weren’t eating rice, bread or noodles. They are still talking about it…
There were many thoughts that found lodging in my mind during the 3 day fast. My crew chose to take a personal approach and each do it as they felt led. We all agreed to forego the audio and visual media outlets. It was a very quiet time. It was a very loud silence that rang through my ears the first day. I spent more time reading God’s word and whatever else I could focus on. I watched His creation in motion more intently than I normally do. We have been blessed with the presence of a female woodpecker and her newborn, and I watched her raid our birdfeeder and whisk up the neighboring tree to feed her baby. It so reminded me of God’s word speaking of His tending to our needs. He provides for the birds to eat daily without the need to gather food. How much more He provides for ME! Yes, I noticed all the things we can take for granted in this country, but I also noticed how much He has blessed this country. How he uses His children in this country to tend to the needs of those near and far. As we praise Him for what He provides for us, I think we should also praise Him for what He gives us to provide for others.
Since before the Solidarity Fast, I felt something has been moving within our community at Eastgate…and I KNOW it is the Holy Spirit. I see LOVE at work in our church and I’m so thankful to be witness and participant. I feel God calling me to more, though it has not been fully revealed to me, I KNOW He is calling me to more…and I see it happening with many brothers and sisters here. Praise God that we are opening our hearts and surrendering to His command to LOVE. Praise God that we have leaders who are willing to surrender and lead by example.