26 Feb Participant Profile – Serena Haak
Serena Haak has a rice allergy. But that didn’t stop her from participating creatively! As a Portland Central Young Life leader, she spends a lot of time hanging out with high school students who have little or no familiarity with following Jesus, and no exposure to an idea like Rice & Beans Month:
“As a way to introduce kids to Young Life, I met weekly with a group of 15-25 students during their lunch period at Cleveland High School. I always arrived with food, drinks, and a heart ready to connect with them. During March, I decided to expand their perspective a bit. Two of the Cleveland girls I was mentoring helped me cook rice and beans in massive quantities. Quite an interesting experience for them!
And then when I showed up at school four weeks in a row with only rice, beans, and cups for water, I got to share with the whole group why the menu had drastically changed. The idea of eating simpler food in order to give to hungry people was
completely new to them and they thought it was really cool. I loved having a whole new dialogue open up about issues beyond what was going on in their own lives. It also made a huge difference in the cost of the lunches, which allowed me to donate to the cause without ever eating any rice!”
As you consider what your own participation in Rice & Beans Month might look like this year, let this example remind you that growing in love, compassion, and Christ-likeness is the core of this experience, and that can happen in many different ways.
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Article adapted from Hope Is Alive, a quarterly magazine publication of Lahash International. You can sign-up online to receive this free magazine.