Living the True Fast

Since I arrived in the village, my team has been picking challenges people wrote down prior to when I came. These challenges are to help us not only grow closer to Him but each other, all while pushing us out of our comfort zones. Some of the challenges included spending time with a team member you don’t normally hang out with, pray with 5 of the Empower kids, share the gospel with 3 people you don’t know, and fast breakfast and lunch.

FAST BREAKFAST AND LUNCH.

Let me explain something to the people who don’t know what it’s like in the village. I wake up at 7 AM to start my day, I eat either a piece of bread with jam on it or a granola bar. Next, I go to team devotions at 8 AM, then programs begin at 9 AM until about 12 PM when I eat lunch, which consists of rice and beans, every day. Then I go back out for some sort of house visit either with the elderly, sick, or a child who is irregular in school. From 2 PM to about 7 PM I am on my feet walking and talking in the hot sunshine, sweating wondering if I packed a snack. Lastly, I return for dinner which typically is served around 7:30 PM. I then go to team devotions at 8 PM and am asleep by 9:30 PM because of exhaustion.

Now that you can picture what my life looks like in the village, try to imagine the thoughts I was thinking when a team member pulled the challenge “fast breakfast and lunch.” Nervous. Excited. Curious. Worried. As much as I wish I could say, “it was a piece of cake.” I can’t. It was hard and it was challenging. As it should be. I didn’t eat for 22 hours, and as dramatic as this sounds, it felt like a century. I’ll admit, I complained probably more than I should have BUT I am thankful that I got to experience what it feels like for the Ugandans within the village. While most of them eat only one meal a day, they have a need for Jesus that is inspirational. And I got that overwhelming, yet joyful, feeling of need for Jesus during lunch that day. Instead of our team just sitting around twiddling our thumbs because we were fasting lunch, we decided to dedicate the hour to the Lord. We scattered around the church praying, praising and reading. I personally journaled my prayers for the day in the beginning, specifically about strength because my body felt so weak from not eating that morning. I asked the Lord to feed my soul for what it really needs and as amazing as He is, He did. He filled my soul with so much energy, and I felt the Holy Spirit more than I ever did before. He was present and He was moving, as usual.

Now almost a week later, I was reading through a book called Hope Rising and the chapter was titled “True Fast.” In the middle of the chapter, it encouraged the reader to read through Isaiah 58 which is all about ‘true and false fasting.’ Within the past 3 days, I have read Isaiah 58 over 5 times. I have felt conviction every time, I have cried every time, and my heart has broken every time. So now, I want to share what the Lord has taught me through the midst of my personal experience fasting and what the Bible says about fasting.

Is this not the fast that I choose: to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go up before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke of your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and your bones strong; and you shall like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

– Isaiah 58:6-12

Friends. Family. Church body. Did you just read that? We are called to feed the hungry. We are called to help the poor. We are called to clothe the naked. If we do what we are asked by Our Father, then He will GUIDE us, SATISFY our desires in troubles, STRENGTHEN our bones, and our light will shine in the darkness. But the question is, why don’t we? Why do we spend extra money on food that ends up going bad and is wasted? Why do we spend extra money on ourselves rather than the homeless we see on the corners of our own city? Why do we spend extra money on clothes when we already have a closet full? Why don’t we follow what the Living Word says word for word? I can somewhat understand, most people don’t get to see the circumstances in which most of our brothers and sisters are living, specifically here in Uganda. It’s not tangible for you. But for me, it is. I can’t help but break down into tears, once again, because like I said in my previous blog… Americans are selfish.

These circumstances, in my opinion, are unimaginable. Nearly twenty-thousand children die every day of preventable causes. The majority of people give less than 1 percent of their personal incomes to anti-poverty work. Our nation, the beautiful land of the free, allocates only 0.17 percent of its budget to help the poor, although the average American, like myself, thinks we give 20 percent. I apologize if I step on toes by saying this, but America is pathetic. Less than a quarter of one percent goes to the poor. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I keep reading the statistics over and over again, thinking I’m misreading but I’m not.

It’s time to physically and spiritually respond. This is our moment. Feed the hungry. Help the poor. Clothe the naked. There are so many different opportunities to do so, locally and internationally. You can serve, donate, or sponsor. Each of these different categories can go such a long way.

While you wonder how to physically respond to this “true fast,” it is so important to spiritually respond. We need to pray. Pray for the hungry. Pray for the poor. Pray for the naked. Pray for our brothers and sisters. Pray for the Lord to continue to teach and show you how to fast the right way. Pray for the Lord to soften your heart for those you don’t know personally but know they are in need. Be specific. Pray for the homeless people you pass every day on your way to work. Pray for the kids you see commercials about who are starving, here in Africa. Pray for the countries where the living conditions make you cringe. These are the prayers we need to be praying. These are the people we need to be praying for.

Praises:

• I no longer have strep!!!
• Sierra, one of our team members from Texas, made it back home safely.
• We got a couple days off of working in the village to celebrate the 4th of July with all our Ugandan, Costa Rican, Australian, New Zealander, and Canadian friends!

Prayer Requests:

• Chandra, one of our team members from Canada, is headed back home tomorrow. Please pray for safe travels and lots of clear weather.
• Patrick, EAC’s projects coordinator, has been sick for a couple of weeks. Please pray for his body to be healed.
• Thomas, my sponsor kid, has been out of school for a couple of days. Please pray for him, I will be finding out soon why he hasn’t been coming.
• Next Monday, 5 new team members are flying into Entebbe. Please pray for safe travels and lots of clear weather for them as well.