DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704020193

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 17   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TRUDY CUTHRELL, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   77 lines

`30-HOUR FAMINE' FEEDS TEENS' KNOWLEDGE

Hunger is a plaguing problem world-wide. But it's effects are especially acute and life-threatening among children. And the problems escalate when these children are inhabitants of third world countries. That's the focus of World Vision's ``30-Hour Famine,'' a program followed by the young people of three local churches recently.

Twenty-one teens and six adults - members of the Whaleyville, Somerton and Magnolia United Methodist Churches - gathered at Magnolia Church in Suffolk at 7 a.m. on a recent Saturday morning to take part in World Vision's 30-Hour Famine. This program included a full roster of educational activities to acquaint participants with the problems and the pain of world hunger.

There were Bible studies, games, activities, special music and an interactive project, ``The Great Adventure.'' And all participants voluntarily fasted, drinking only water and fruit juices, throughout the mock famine.

``I got something in the mail about this program and presented it to our Youth Council,'' reported Magnolia Youth Director Judi Delpiero. ``They were excited about doing it, and I think all the kids really enjoyed it.''

During ``The Great Adventure,'' teens divided into four small groups and each group was assigned a third world country to study - Mexico, Bangladesh, Mali or Romania. Each group received a real-life scenario about a child from their assigned country and questions about how to deal with the problems faced by this child. Later, the teens saw a video about the four children and what happened to them.

``We were divided into small groups and assigned a country and a child,'' explained 18-year-old Kristy Cornett, a student at Lakeland High School and a member of Whaleyville UMC. ``Then we were asked to make decisions as if we were the parents or doctors for this child.''

Kristy's group studied a three-year-old girl in Romania. ``It made it very real when we saw the end of the story on video,'' she said.

At 9:30 p.m. Friday, the program moved to the Suffolk YMCA for recreation and free time. ``Some went to sleep but most sat up and talked most of the night,'' Delpiero said. ``The majority of the group probably got only three to four hours of sleep.''

About 7 a.m. Sunday, the tired but enthusiastic group returned to Magnolia UMC for a juice-and-Popsicle breakfast and worship. Following worship, leaders challenged the teens about how they felt, encouraging them to think and reason and make good use of the knowledge they had gained from their ``famine'' experience.

The closing activity of the 30-Hour Famine was lunch. Excited teens rushed to the Magnolia Fellowship Hall but found their plates filled only with cold rice, applesauce and a piece of bread - symbolic of what children in third world countries eat.

``But nobody complained and everyone ate,'' Delpiero reported. And afterwards, to celebrate the end of the famine, all participants received a gift certificate for a free meal at Golden Corral Family Steakhouse.

``I enjoyed the experience,'' said 13-year-old Nikie Nuckols, a student at John F. Kennedy Middle School and member of Whaleyville UMC. ``I really feel for the kids in third world countries - we got food afterwards, but they don't.''

``Before this, I had a sense of how bad it is in third world countries,'' Kristy said. ``But going without food for so long made me so thankful for what I have.''

Shannah Anderson, 17, a student at Nansemond River High School and member of Magnolia UMC, felt challenged by the famine to be less wasteful in terms of food. ``After watching several videos about children who would eat anything they could find to survive, I'm going to think more seriously about being wasteful,'' she said.

Nikie made a similar commitment. ``I'm going to try to plan better so we won't have as many leftovers at home so less food will be wasted,'' she said.

``We worked really hard on this project which will benefit children in the U.S. as well as other countries,'' Shannah explained. Prior to the event, participants solicited financial pledges from family members and friends. Pledges were collected on Easter Sunday and the Methodist group raised over $500 for World Vision's hunger program. ILLUSTRATION: Photo courtesy of JUDI DELPIERO

The teens were a motley-looking crew after spending 30 hours without

solid food and getting only three to four hours of sleep.

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