Reflecting on the Live Life journey

posted by World Vision Youth March 28th, 2013

Happy Easter Sunday!

Jillian is the voice behind Live Life – from writing the challenges to tweeting for World Vision Youth. During her Live Life journey, Jillian adopted an old tradition to give up eating animal products throughout Lent. See what she learned about herself and her community.

Find more ways to celebrate Easter with us, by reading our CELEBRATE blog or downloading our Easter Traditions resource.

Then, come back on April 3, as we begin HungerFree – a four-week campaign to learn about hunger and its solutions, serve our local communities, and use our voices to advocate for a hunger free world!

Stay connected with Jillian & the team on Twitter and Facebook!

Celebrate – Easter Sunday

posted by World Vision Youth March 28th, 2013

Every August, tens of thousands of people descend on the tiny town of Buñol, Spain to partake in La Tomatina – arguably the world’s largest food fight. The festivities begin at 10 AM with the “palo jabón,” meaning “the greased pole.” Participants must climb the pole to knock a ham from the top. As they attempt this, the crowd begins to sing and dance while being showered by water from hoses. Once someone is able to drop the ham off the pole, the fight begins, and trucks disperse around 150,000 tomatoes. After exactly one hour of throwing crushed tomatoes at friends and strangers, the festival ends. The whole town square is colored red and rivers of tomato juice flow freely. Fire Trucks hose down the streets and participants, washing away the tomato paste. Participating in this event is purely for fun, and people travel from all over the world to take part in this celebration. 

There is something about celebrating life and each other that contributes to living life to its fullest. Easter Sunday provides us with a reason to celebrate: the resurrection of Jesus. He died the death our sins should cost us, and then he defied death after three days. This can be an overwhelming thought to take in. A man died a very real death so that our sins will not separate us from being with God, our Creator.

John 20 recounts when Jesus’ disciples discovered his empty tomb and when they fully believed he is the son of God. (more…)

Celebrar – Semana Santa

posted by World Vision Youth March 28th, 2013

Celebrar la vida nos ayuda a vivirla en abundancia.

El Domingo de Pascua tenemos una razón para celebrar: la resurrección de Jesús. Murió para pagar por el pecado en nuestro lugar y desafió a la muerte tres días después. Si lo pensamos puede resultar abrumador. Un hombre murió una muerte muy real para que nuestros pecados no nos separaran de nuestro Creador, Dios. (more…)

Good Friday: Serve | Holy Week Reflections

posted by World Vision Youth March 28th, 2013

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it” (Matthew 16:24-25 TNIV).

When predicting his death, Jesus compares our lives to a grain of wheat.

The Message version of this teaching reads, “Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal” (John 12:24-25).

Our lives were meant to be given away in service to God and others. Jesus concludes his teaching by saying, “If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you’ll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment’s notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me” (John 12:26). We begin to experience fullness of life when we are serving God, following Jesus, and loving the world around us.

Today is Good Friday, when we commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus.

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Live Life – Week 6: Reflect

posted by World Vision Youth March 23rd, 2013

On this day in 1980,  Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot dead as he presided over the Mass in a small El Salvador church. Minutes before he was gunned down, he said in his sermon, “One must not love oneself so much as to avoid getting involved in the risks of life that history demands of us, and those that fend off danger will lose their lives.” He was killed because of his commitment to follow Christ.

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week, when Christians around the world traditionally reflect on Jesus’ journey to the cross, his death and resurrection, and his gift of new life. Palm Sunday commemorates the day Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on a donkey. A crowd used palm branches to welcome Jesus into the city, even proclaiming him to be the king of Israel. (more…)