Students from the Ignite Youth Group at the Indian Lake Community Church and the Lighthouse had the opportunity last weekend to complete community service and stretch their faith, while also building immense empathy for individuals experiencing hunger and poverty around the world, during a 30-hour famine event.
Youth Pastor Tara Cascioli explained that the World Vision initiative has been going on annually at the church now for about five years, with Cascioli leading the activities for the past three years since she stepped into her current role in 2020.
A total of 17 youths in grades 5-12 watched videos and participated in a variety of games and other exercises throughout their time at the church beginning Friday night, Feb. 24, and throughout the day Saturday, Feb. 25.
“It’s very powerful experience,” Pastor Cascioli said this week. “We learned from the first-hand perspective from a 9-year-old girl named Mahanna, who lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about what her life is like.
“She is the only one in her family who is in school, so there’s a lot of pressure on her. We learned about the struggle just to access clean water that keeps her and her family busy each and every day.
“The kids were amazed at all of the responsibilities that she has, and she is younger than them.”
The youth pastor related that the 30-hour famine officially began Friday afternoon, with the teens and pre-teens electing to not eat anything after lunch.
Then they came to the Lookout Youth Center Friday evening to begin their overnight time together. They were tasked with building a cardboard structure that evening in the dark, to imitate creating their new home and shelter without electricity. The participants also enjoyed playing games like hide and seek in the sanctuary.
Saturday morning, Pastor Cascioli related that students’ stomachs were really beginning to rumble from being hungry. But they forged on and completed an entire day of activities, including morning devotionals and a trip to the Indian Joint Fire District to wash the fire trucks and emergency vehicles.
“They’d had a fire run the night before, so the trucks were definitely dirty and in need of a wash,” Cascioli said. “They like to keep the trucks in tip-top shape, so we were happy to help.”
“We greatly appreciate their enthusiasm and willingness to help out in the community,” representatives from the fire department said.
Also throughout the day Saturday, youth group members were charged with walking with buckets back and forth from the Sandy Beach Bridge a dozen times to simulate the number of times that families often have to transport water to their homes in countries such as where Mahanna lives.
“It really got us thinking about how we’d feel doing this 12 times a day, just to have clean water,” said Cascioli, who was assisted throughout the event by her husband, Larry. “We take for granted just turning on our faucets and having clean water to drink.”
To conclude the 30-hour famine, the students participated in a final ceremony, which included a visual representing the statistic of a child dying every 14 seconds around the world due to hunger.
“We lit candles and I’d blow one out every 14 seconds,” Cascioli said. “A lot of the kids were crying and it really hit home with them.
“It was really powerful to see the kids having that ‘aha’ moment throughout the weekend. I was so proud of them, seeing all of their growth.”
The weekend wrapped up with the students enjoying a Saturday night meal prepared by the congregation.
In conjunction with the 30-hour famine, the church also donated $250 to World Vision specifically for the Democratic Republic of the Congo to meet needs relating to crops, medical supplies and etc. The funds were raised through a recent chili cook-off.
The Ignite Youth Group meets on Wednesday nights each week, and also offers after school programming, Cascioli said. She noted that students are already looking forward to next year’s 30-hour famine event. For more information, visit the “Ignite Youth Group” page on Facebook.