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"Fritos corn chips with peanut butter!" I shouted as my stomach growled. "I want Fritos with peanut butter!"

It was the middle of the night of our 30-Hour Famine* lock-in. We'd played games, sung songs and had special talks about world hunger. We'd kept so busy we hadn't thought about our empty stomachs—until now.

We finally settled down and slipped into our sleeping bags. Before long, our stomachs were growling, and we couldn't help but talk about what we would eat at the end of our 30-hour break from food. That's when I told them what I'd been craving.

"Corn chips and peanut butter?" shouted my friends almost in unison. "Gross!"

I don't understand why no one thought that sounded good, but we did all agree on one thing: We were so hungry we'd eat almost anything. I'd never been that hungry before. It was horrible. I couldn't believe it when my youth director, Becky, said this kind of hunger was normal for most of the world!

What made it even more real for me was when we read about the lives of four actual kids in very poor countries. I'd always heard about countries that are less fortunate than the U.S., but I hadn't realized how bad the problem was. I even found out that some people walk six miles without shoes just to get water for one meal. I simply go to the kitchen.

The lock-in really opened my eyes to the problem of world hunger. I decided to do what I could to make a difference. For me, that meant participating in the Crop Walk, which raises money to feed people worldwide. I also started thinking and praying a lot about people in other countries. Still, all of my efforts were always toward helping people in some distant country.

Then, my mom and I went out for breakfast one morning. I noticed an old man drop a dollar. Slowly, he bent to pick it up. It looked like he was in pain and couldn't reach it. I went over, bent down and handed the dollar to him. He smiled and said to my mom: "It's so good to see young people helping out." It made me feel good to see I did something that touched someone.

God does want us to help people, I thought, but not just the needy in poor countries half a world away. In his own way, this man was in need, and I made a small difference.

Caring for people, I realized, starts in my school, town and local breakfast place. I can help people simply by holding the door open or listening to them when they need to talk. Sure, I want to keep working with my youth group to help the poor in other countries. But I can start my caring right here. To do this, I've made and delivered cards to church members who've lost spouses. I've also volunteered to help kids at the library in my town. These are all ways I see God leading me to act on what I've learned from him. And it seems like I'm just getting started.

*Through the 30-Hour Famine event, youth groups raise money to fight world hunger. To participate in this fundraiser, students commit to going without food for 30 hours. For information on how your group can get involved, go to www.30hourfamine.org.

For more information on Crop Walk, see churchworldservice.org/crop

Adam, a freshman in high school, loves to act and sing. He's appeared in 15 community theatre plays, a musical and is in the school choir.

Copyright © 2004 by the author or Christianity Today/Campus Life magazine.
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