February 11, 2009
by Bethany Furkin

LOUISVILLE – Most Presbyterians in the United States don't know what it means to be hungry. But for one weekend a month, they can get an idea of how more than 850 million people around the world feel every day.

Since October, the Presbyterian Hunger Program [www.pcusa.org/hunger] has coordinated a 40-hour fast once a month, beginning on a Friday evening and ending with Communion or a communal meal on Sunday.

Each month features a different theme and country along with corresponding study materials and suggested prayers. The themes reflect factors contributing to the global food crisis.

The next fasting period is Feb. 27-March 1 and will focus on war, hunger and recovery in Sudan. March 1 is the first Sunday of Lent.

Previous fasts have focused on food aid issues in Haiti, the impact of biofuel production on food supplies in Guatemala and the United States, the role rapid population growth makes on hunger is India and how violence affects hunger issues in Congo.

The year of monthly fasting will end in October 2009, culminating with World Food Day [www.worldfooddayusa.org].

"The hope is that through fasting, people are going to come up with creative ideas of what to do and they'll understand the global food crisis a little better," said Ruth Farrell, coordinator of the hunger program.

About 230 people in the United States and around the world have formally registered as participants in the fasts, but there are countless others who are fasting but haven't signed up, said Andrew Kang-Bartlett, associate for National Hunger Concerns. The hunger program encourages people to fast with another person for support; groups in some congregations are even fasting as a whole.

"It makes a big difference when you know others are fasting with you," Kang-Bartlett said.

Although Nancy Lister-Settle has been participating in the fasts since October, she has been unable to find a group to fast with. Lister-Settle, the hunger action enabler for the Presbytery of Des Moines [www.presbyteryofdesmoines.org], said she hopes the upcoming fast's focus on Sudan will inspire more participants. The presbytery includes a large population of Sudanese, so the topic will hit home for many congregants.

Part of the idea behind the fasts is to allow participants a chance to step back from the overwhelming enormity of the food crisis and look at it piece by piece, Farrell said, adding that finding solutions will take time.

The food crisis is a result of the interaction of several factors, including higher fuel costs, corruption, environmental disasters and use of agricultural land for biofuel crops.

Fasting and learning more about the food crisis through the provided materials has helped Lister-Settle with her work. Many of the congregations in the presbytery are made up of rural farmers, and she has been using her experiences to educate them about the global effects of their work.

"This has given me a new way to engage people in a way that they can understand the consequences of the decisions they make," she said.

The causes of the crisis lie in problems that need to be fixed in the short term, experts say, as well as larger structural problems that will take longer to solve.

"Nobody has the answers," Farrell said. "This has been brewing for so long, it's created a real storm."

Fasting also helps increase understanding and builds appreciation and community. Fasting is a reminder of how we are all connected to God and depend on him for nourishment, Kang-Bartlett said, adding that serving Communion after a fast is a powerful display of God's abundance.

The year of fasting has no predetermined outcome – coordinators have left it up to God, Farrell said. It's possible that solutions will be generated through the network of participants or will come up during the practice of fasting.

Presbyterian News Service