Sojourn to Starvation (Intro)

  God has blessed me with amazing friends; friends that are in the middle of fighting for the global community in ways I wish I could.  It is the example of these friends that challenged me to go to my knees and ask God what I could do.  I can't travel the world, I can't start a non-profit (because I am currently jumpstarting two new ministries), I can't do art or film to raise awareness, so God what can I do?

  As I searched God's heart for me in this, I felt him impressing upon me that I could use social media, my blog and my radio show to help raise awareness.  I've done that here and there in the past, s I pressed deeper.  What can I do?

  I then remembered by friend Chris Coakley's words about 2 years ago; talking about the people in Burkina Faso, Africa and describing how much food the poor folks eat there.

   It's less than 3/4 cups of grain a day (32 oz a week to be exact)!  His heart was so broken for these hungry people that he began a non-proft organization called Grain of Hope 58:10 (www.facebook.com/grainofhope5810), where he organizes food distribution to the starving, dying people of Burkina through donations of money, food and much more.  This inspired something in me and I began to think: what would it look like if an American decided to eat like a person from Burkina for a month?  How would it effect their life?  How much perspective would it give?  How much interest would people have once they saw this person being physically, emotionally and spiritually transformed before their eyes?

  It was then I felt the nudge to try it myself.

   To eat 3/4 cups of grain a day, drinking only water for 31 days and sharing it via: blog, twitter, facebook, youtube and blog talk radio.  I may also try some Burkina dishes like To (pronounced Toe) during my sojourn to starvation and will share how I made it.

   I do not hope to "promote myself" with this endeavor.  This is not stunt for a book, nor a "best-selling" documentary it is a divine compulsion to raise awareness of the hunger going on in this world; it is a challenge to grow spiritually; it is a display to show the world that we have it better that we could imagine; it is an sojourn for me personally to see what I can give up to promote the cause of Christ through social justice on a global scale and it is a call to all who see this blog, the videos and listen to the radio show to get involved with helping the cause.

   Another friend I am blessed to have is a great man named Danny Yourd, who is the producer of a film bringing attention to another global issue: AIDS orphans in India, who also suffer from hunger among many other things.  His film is called Blood Brother (www.bloodbrotherfilm.com) and will be debuting at SUNDANCE this January.  It's not just a documentary, it's a journey of a man who desperately loves these orphans and desires to bring global attention to their plight via film.

 I'm going to talk about both of these  amazing endeavors on the blog, the radio, the youtube channel as well as Facebook and twitter, so that if you are moved by what you see going on with me on my sojourn you have a place to give: money, food, clothes, prayers etc.  I don't want anything, but if people are compelled to give, I desire it to go to these guys, my friends and my brothers in Christ.

*Thanks to David J. Hardie (www.hardiewear.com) for the amazing logo that will soon appear everywhere!*


To Connect with my Sojourn:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pastormarv
Twitter: @youthmaster.com
Blog: www.youthmaster.blogspot.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/picako7
Radio: www.blogtalkradio.com/acacthreads