MEMBERS OF CHURCH YOUTH GROUP LEARNING LESSONS THROUGH FASTING

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Some of us skip a meal and think we're starving to death.

In the meantime, 30,000 children around the world die from hunger every day, which amounts to one dying every time you take a breath.

In an effort to raise awareness of world hunger, several local young people are participating in a 30-hour fast this weekend. It's a national event sponsored by a company called World Vision which sponsors families and children in the U.S. as well as Third World countries in defeating world hunger. It also is a way of spreading to people in other countries the news of Jesus Christ.

The Miner Baptist Church youth group ate its "last" meal Friday at lunch and won't eat again until this evening.

"Our theme is 30 hours: no food, no whining," said Jason Grubbs, youth minister at Miner Baptist Church. "Thirty hours is usually the normal time in between meals for starving children not just in this country, but around the world."

They will spend today going door to door to collect canned goods and staples such as flour and sugar from local residents and going to other neighborhoods asking for donations. The food will go to Sikeston's Rescue Mission and the money will be given to World Vision to send overseas. They will also pick up trash along Highway H and visit nursing home residents.

Grubbs said the average income for a family of five in Peru is about $300 per year, which is about 11 cents a day per person.

"It's enough money to give them two loaves of bread and one piece a fruit, which is about what they survive on, in addition to whatever soups they can make from plants and vegetation around them," he said. "We don't realize how blessed we really are."

What prompted the students was the 5-year-old South American they have adopted in addition to the fact that they felt like this would prepare them for the mission trip they will take this summer outside New Orleans.

"God tells us to love our neighbors, love those around us and care for one another and this is kind of pointed in that direction," said Mike Wilson, youth pastor at First Baptist Church. "The kids have never gone that long without eating, so it's going to be a unique experience, I guarantee you."