Most youth workers I know are familiar with the 30 Hour Famine. Many have even done it… at least once.
Maybe that’s you. Maybe you did the Famine years ago but then, for whatever reason, stopped.
That’s what I did.
For over a decade, the 30 Hour...
My youth ministry did the 30 Hour Famine last week. It went well. Very well, in fact. Unfortunately, I felt like my colleagues didn't notice it, let alone affirm my role in it. This was disheartening to me – a fact that I hate.
Yet, what I’m...
“I can’t do the Famine,” one of my active, never-miss-an-activity students informed me.
“How come?” I asked.
“My mom doesn’t want me to starve myself,” she said.
It’s something I’ve heard a lot over the years. For many students, fasting – the...
The first year I did the 30 Hour Famine, I was super excited about it. It was a new event to me – one I’d never participated in when I was in high school. It sounded fun, engaging, and impactful. And it was!
The second year I did the 30 Hour...
Part of the “magic” of mission trips and events like the 30 Hour Famine is that they take place outside of the normal context of students’ lives. Often, they take place in a different location, away from teens’ family and friends. In so doing,...
A junior at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Stephanie Warner is majoring in biology and global health. While in high school, Stephanie was active in her church’s youth ministry and a part of it’s student leadership team. She’s a 30 Hour...
Whenever we come into contact with other people, there’s a temptation to play the comparison game. This is true of theology as much as anything else.
Theological differences are often especially apparent during events like the 30 Hour Famine,...
If you look in Webster's dictionary, I'm pretty sure lock-in is defined as a youth worker's hell.
OK, maybe not... But let's be honest, they're certainly not our favorite events, or at least, they're not the easiest events.
Maybe they're also not...
I’ve often heard people moan about the ineffectiveness of big youth ministry events like the 30 Hour Famine or summer mission trips. Such rants usually go something like this:
You spend a lot of time, energy, and money on X. And sure, teens are...
Over the weekend, I watched an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, The West Wing. In it, two Native Americans show up at the White House and refuse to leave until they get an answer on an application their tribe submitted… fifteen years ago.
...