A pilot program to link church youth to the realities of poverty is being launched this month in six annual conferences—including the Oklahoma Area.

"B1" incorporates voluntary food fasts, education, and fund-raising for anti-poverty projects. The name stands for "one being, being one" and suggests the responsibility each person has to live with a sense of connection to others.

"B1 takes place during Lent, a time when we think of self-denial as a spiritual act in preparation for Easter," said Rachel Harvey, the Advance staff member who helped develop B1.

The program began when the bishop of Greater New Jersey challenged that conference’s youth organization and The Advance, the Church’s designated mission-giving channel. He asked them to devise a way of educating church youth about the ravages of poverty and inspiring them to do something about it.

A total of 15 New Jersey UM Youth Fellowships raised $11,000 for hunger-related projects in 2008. The goal is $250,000 during the next four years.

The overall purpose of B1 is to educate young United Methodists to work for the empowerment of the poor and to change systems that keep people impoverished. A basic question for young participants is how they, as Christians, should relate to brothers and sisters who are poor. The UM General Board of Global Ministries sponsors B1.

In addition to the Oklahoma Conference and Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, the pilot sites are: Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon/Idaho, and Greater New Jersey.

Diana Northcutt of Oklahoma Conference said B1 is similar to "30-Hour Famine," an international youth movement to fight hunger. Some Oklahoma youth groups have taken part in that, she said. The B1 program may be used in youth Sunday school classes, Bible study groups, or other youth ministry groups.

"We hope and expect that B1 will build on the experiences of these conferences and become a part of the youth ministries of the entire United Methodist Church," said Shawn Bakker, director of The Advance.

The education component of the campaign is Bible- and social-justice centered. The food fast is rooted in Isaiah 58:6-8, which begins: "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter?" (Today’s NIV).

Each B1 group will select an anti-poverty ministry to support through The Advance. Free online resources include posters, a handbook, logo, and donor envelopes. T-shirts and more resources are available through Cokesbury.

Find out how you can be part of B1 in Oklahoma and find free resources at www.okumcministries.org/Youth  or contact Rev. Northcutt, dnorthcutt@okumc.org, 405-530-2144. Northcutt also asked for reports of churches’ participation.

For general information, go to: www.fasttodaychangetomorrow.org.