We all know water is essential to life, but in many places around the world the lack of clean water is the starting place of a thousand miseries. World Vision helps people around the world with many projects, but none is more essential than the work they do to help people have clean, safe water because water changes lives and transforms communities. Water equals life . . . and water changes everything. Stop and think about it for just a moment. How far did you walk this morning to find the water you needed for brushing your teeth, showering and making coffee? A few steps? In many parts of the world people have to walk as many as 12 miles each way to fetch water for themselves and their families. We "use more water in a single toilet flush than the average person in Africa uses in an entire day."
Did your children/grandchildren go to school today? In many places around the world, "Children cannot go to school because their parents need them to fetch water. Walking for water is the most common chore that keeps children busy during the day, preventing them from attending school. Even if they have time, the high number of illnesses stops many from going to school." I did not realize these things. Yes, I knew finding and having access to clean, safe water was a huge problem around the world, but I had no idea of the scope of the problem, so I spent some time researching about the water crisis and learned the following from World Vision:
- Every 7 seconds a child dies from water-related diseases like typhoid, cholera, and dysentery.
- 443 million school days are lost every year due to such water-related illnesses.
- To give water is to give life. Clean water can cut a community’s child mortality rate in half. It means food for families whose crops are failing due to drought. It saves livestock.
- Children often spend more than two hours every day fetching unsafe water located a mile or more from their homes.
- Clean water gives parents a powerful way to fight for their children’s lives, to improve their health, hygiene, and well-being, and help them reach their God-given potential.
- Thanks to World Vision's partnership with the Procter & Gamble Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program, as well as generous government grants, your gift will multiply 3 times to provide PUR packets, along with a host of other ways to supply essential drinking water. You’ll help build wells, pipe water across deserts, provide large rainwater storage containers, and more.
- a gift as small as $25 can make a difference!
So, given these water facts, how can you involve your children and Put Feet to Their Faith with World Vision? Get a group of people together and think about what you can do to help your children understand the need for water and how they can help. Consider these ideas as a place to begin . . .
- Ask families to purchase and donate bottles of water and then have a label design contest where each Sunday school class works together to design their own labels. Provide crayons, markers and name badge labels so children can decorate labels to put on each bottle of water. Sell the water bottles and send the money to World Vision.
- Make "drops of water" by filling blue balloons with rice or sand - use the top portion of a water bottle as a funnel. Sell your "water drops" and send the money to World Vision.
- Teach the Bible lesson of the Woman at the Well - John 4 - message me with your email and I'll send you a drama of this lesson the children in your church could prepare, and present to the people in your church. Sell tickets and even make a table where people could purchase your water bottles and water drops as well! Have someone share about the water project you are working on and spend time praying for the people who will receive clean, safe water through World Vision and for the World Vision people so they will be able to tell about Jesus and how people can have Living Water!
We can make a difference in this world by helping to meet the most basic and essential need we all have -access to clean, safe water. When we provide opportunities for our children to serve others they are "Putting Feet to Their Faith" - when they do this they move their faith from something they "know" to something they "live"!
Please take a moment to "like" us on facebook using the button on my blog and tell others so they can join in the conversation!
No comments:
Post a Comment