Today is Blog Action Day 2010 . Thousands of bloggers all over the world are blogging about how nearly one billion people on our planet have no access to clean drinking water and 2.5 billion have no access to sanitary toilets which in turn causes raw sewage seepage into steams and lakes contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
On the African continent 109 million hours will have been spent by women and children searching for, collecting and carrying water (many times polluted) back to their homes today. This is 109 million hours not spent in school or in a some pursuit that could better their lives.
More people die from the diseases caught from drinking unsafe water every year than from all the deaths from violence and war. 42,000 people lose their lives from not having access to safe drinking water and sanitation every week.
We are so blessed and so blind. Many of us have no idea that so many suffer from something we so take for granted every day. The average American uses 159 gallons of water a day without ever being concerned about the quality or quantity of their water. Remember the verses in Matthew 25 that talk about the righteous being those who provide a cup of water to "the least of these". By taking action and giving to organizations that provide clean water and do it in Jesus name we are obeying Christ's desire that we become those who see others in need of something so basic to life and rush in to help meet the need.
Please consider engaging your church in a conversation about water. One organization that is giving 100% of all money raised to the drilling of wells by groups already active in third world countries is charity:water. Charity:water was founded by Scott Harrison who in his own words says " I desperately wanted to revive a lost Christian faith with action and asked the question: What would the opposite of my life look like?" God answered his prayer by giving him a mission to bring clean water to everyone who needs it.
At our church any profit from our coffee shop goes to charity:water and we also actively raise money all year long through events and awareness activities. We have found that providing clean water and sanitation is an issue that everyone can agree with and get behind. It's also an issue that has opened dialog both within and without our church about issues of faith and justice.
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