40 Hour Famine experience

Hi all,

My fast ended yesterday(16th September 2012) at 12pm.

I didn't eat anything at all, and only drank water(and a honey drink on 16th)

I didn't sit on any chairs, except once when I was tricked by a friend(felt betrayed, it was only 30mins before my fasting was over)

Anyway, I just want to share some similarities differences I've noticed between my "famine" and the famine of the people in Ethiopia

I slept "on the floor" in my sleeping bag, with a pillow and a blanket, in a well-insulated house.

They may not even have good blankets or a good house!

It gets as cold in Ethiopia at night as where I am.

I had a honey drink, which they may not even have

I had nice carpeted floors to sit on, and simply stood when I felt the ground where I was was dirty.

They sleep on dusty floors, even sweep the dusty floors that don't become clean.

I knew when my famine would end, and that helped me persevere.

When will it end for them?




You decide.

40 Hour Famine

Hi all!

I am fasting food, computer games and furniture for 40 hours to raise funds for the people of Ethiopia, who are fighting hunger.

My fast started last night at 8pm, and will end on Sunday 16th September at 12pm.

Since 8pm last night, I have sat on the floor, slept on the floor, read books on the floor, sketched on the floor(homework), used my computer on the floor, and not had anything to eat, and no drinks other than water. I decided to share this journey here as well :)

Sleeping on the floor wasn't too bad because I had a sleeping bag, my pillow and a blanket.

But it got me thinking.

The kids in Ethiopia may not have any of that. While I'm still relatively comfortable in my sleeping bag, they may be sleeping on the floor, in the cold.

Here's a brief introduction to Ethiopia:
The population: 82,101,998 (2011 est.) [Christianity 62.8%, Islam 33.9%, traditional faiths 2.6%, others 0.6%]

90% living in poverty, 39% living on at least $1.25 a day, 61.5% deprived of adequate schooling ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/03/the-10-poorest-countries_n_668537.html#s122175&title=10_Sierra_Leone)
Children are around 20 times more likely to die before turning five compared to Australians.
Children have a 50% chance of having stunted growth because of hunger.
Most of them do not have clean water or a toilet.
Life expectancy is about 59.

So please support the event, whether or not you donate through me doesn't matter!

My own target is to raise $100 for the people of Ethiopia!

Here's the 40 Hour Famine homepage

Here's my Faminer profile(if you want to donate through me)

And here's my church's Famine Village profile(if you want to donate there :D)

$40 can feed a family of 5 for a month! So I hope $100 can support them for two and a half months!!

God bless Ethiopia, and God bless all of you :)

The great porn experiment

I'd just like to share this video with you guys called "The great porn experiment". My friend shared it with me. Don't be a test subject!

The guys mentioned in the video are stopping for health reasons, and that's great, but I think the main reason should be that it's wrong in God's eyes(of course, what's wrong in God's eyes can't be any good to us). I'll let the Gary tell you all about it :)

God bless!

Day 6

So, today is Day 6 of Operation Starve the Sumo, and I was beginning to feel withdrawal symptoms, and the fire in my heart died down a little, but just now I went to prayer meeting(it's every Wednesday), and I feel all fired up again!!! Continue starving the sumo!!!

God bless you guys!!

So far so good!

My relationship with God is recovering quickly, and I think I'll start to grow in spirit soon! or maybe I'm already growing! The point is that since the start of this operation, I have not fallen back to pornography yet! This is all by God's grace, and He will continue to protect me! I'm sure the time will come when I fall again, because I'm a sinner and I can't tell myself or anyone else that I won't fall ever again, but when that time comes, I will get up again and continue the operation!!! Or God will pick me up if I can't get up :)

Here's a list of things that I must post about:

1. My reason for starting this operation, in a clear statement.

2. The support and help I have gotten from my friends! This will include the material and testimonies they have pointed me towards :)

God bless!

I did it!

I admitted! Felt awkward, but it shouldn't be that way among God's children! I think God has started a movement of sharing among us :)

Next course of action: I need a clear way of staying accountable about this, time to look into it!

Tomorrow I admit

I am nervous

As if a great weight has been put on my shoulders

but I know it is what I must do.

The topic of my discipleship class tomorrow is Deliverance

How God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt.

My accountability group will lead a song called "God will make a way"

How fitting is all this!

God is delivering me out of my Egypt that is pornography!

First step

My name is Ivan.

I am a Christian.

For a very long time, i have been battling with an addiction to pornography.

I've admitted it to my youthgroup before, but i have never taken real drastic measures to overcome it.

Yesterday the guilt in me was so heavy, so painful, and i shared with Aaron aka doctorbutterfly.

We had discussed the matter before, and so his recent blog posts have been aimed at helping me and others with this.

He reminded me once again to read his blog.

Last night i spent quite a while reading, and also watched a video interview with Ted Bundy, the serial killer/rapist who was executed 

in 1989. (Text version of the interview here)

 

In the interview, Ted revealed how his addiction to pornography slowly made him do the things he did.

 

He was brought up in a Christian household with two parents who were very diligent in protecting their children, but that didn't stop his rapid decline.

 

(Please note, Christians are not perfect. We recognise that we are imperfect and in need of a perfect plan to save us, one that only God can carry out!)

 

I understood the things he described too well, so well that i realised that if i don't do something about it now, i'll become a Ted Bundy.

 

That scared me.

 

Last night, i shared again with my youth group, and started Operation Starve the Sumo.

 

Lust and addiction to pornography, like any other addiction, is like a sumo inside us. (Credits for this analogy go to the Uncle at Aaron's church who is mentioned on Aaron's blog, sorry I don't know what his name is ><)

 

Because he is bigger than us, when we try to fight we will lose.

 

The only way is to starve him.

 

Stop every action or thought that feeds the sumo, and feed myself with the Spiritual food that is every word that comes from the mouth of God.

 

This Sunday i'm going to admit before the discipleship class that I am attending, and ask everyone to help keep me accountable and pray for me.

 

This blog will record my journey to be free from the monstrosity that is addiction to pornography.

 

Feel free to join me!

 

Operation Starve the Sumo for me has started last night, and will continue to the day i meet God in Heaven :)

 

This is every man's battle, may God guard our hearts and minds from the evil whispers of the devil.

 

In Jesus' name, Amen!