Here Comes Lent - Part Two -

They agreed and an interesting project began. Young and old alike would come running in about 5:30 in the afternoon with stories of SEVERE hunger. One would tell me her dad had carbo loaded on an enormous bowl of cereal right before the midnight hour. A teenager called to say she had a potato chip in her mouth before she even realized what she had done. My phone rang all day long with questions galore. Did diet pop count? Did gum? Juice? Or could they only have water. What about just a little something if they were really, really hungry? Could we hurry up the praying? Honest, I’ll die if I don’t get something to eat RIGHT NOW. Hyperbole reigned.

The first few weeks were trial and error. I explained that last minute carbo loading and gum and juice were all choices they would make on their own; only they could determine for themselves what constituted a fast in their own lives. Some weeks were more successful than others as they navigated the territory of hunger. The penny counting grew to substantial checks not based on saved food money but on the realization that hunger hurt.

The favorite corps cook contributed the fast breaking meal as her donation and we ate light but well with lots of fruit and other healthy items. Then we went about the business of our lives until Sunday morning and again on Wednesday evening but the concept of self denial became real and an understanding of the world beyond the walls of this beautiful little corps changed lives forever; both ours and our young man in Haiti. Rosemarie Hafeli kept us updated on the progress of our new friend via letters and pictures.

Easter morning arrived in all its splendid glory. As they had for years they loaded our organ onto the thrift store truck to haul it over to the sunrise service on the inter-coastal. Colonel Fred Smith spoke to the local crowd that assembled. Back we went with our truck and organ for a grand breakfast and with that Lent ended.

But, and this is a big but, self denial did not. That dedicated soldiery decided to continue to fast from Tuesday midnight until Wednesday prayer time; to continue to send money until their student. I moved onto other appointments (and had the chance to visit Haiti, the Fond des Negres school, and Rosemarie) but they stayed loyal to their decision until he became a young man and graduated. Then they went a step further with a decision to continue his support through teacher training.

God blesses every one of those soldiers daily because of what they did. He blesses them through young man in Haiti who now teaches others because they were willing to listen to a young Lieutenant with an Episcopalian heritage and a restrictive idea of self denial.

Deb Taube
Former
USA SOUTH