Addressing Parental Concerns

“I can’t do the Famine,” one of my active, never-miss-an-activity students informed me.

“How come?” I asked.

“My mom doesn’t want me to starve myself,” she said.

It’s something I’ve heard a lot over the years. For many students, fasting – the practice on which the 30 Hour Famine is based – is a barrier to participation.

Part of this is because for some people, fasting – the practice of abstaining from food for a limited period of time in order to draw closer to Jesus – is totally foreign. It’s not always a regularly practiced spiritual discipline in churches.

Even churches where fasting is regularly practiced may have parents who are uncomfortable with the idea of teens fasting. Parents fear teens will grow hungry (which they will) and that fasting will negatively impact their health (which it won’t).

For this reason, it’s important that when you begin promoting the 30 Hour Famine, you also address safety concerns head-on.

Read the rest of this article here. 

Jen Bradbury on Youth Ministry

Jen serves as the Minister of Youth and Family at Atonement Lutheran Church in Barrington, Illinois. A veteran youth worker, Jen holds an MA in Youth Ministry Leadership from Huntington University. Jen is the author of The Jesus Gap: What Teens Actually Believe about Jesus (The Youth Cartel), The Real Jesus (The Youth Cartel), Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders (Abingdon), and A Mission That Matters (Abingdon). Her writing has also appeared in YouthWorker Journal, Immerse, and The Christian Century. Jen is also the Assistant Director of Arbor Research Group where she has led many national studies. When not doing ministry or research, she and her husband, Doug, and daughter, Hope, can be found traveling and enjoying life together.

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A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm

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Unleashing the Hidden Potential of your Student Leaders

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The Real Jesus

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The Jesus Gap

What Teens Actually Believe About Jesus

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