Walk for Water
Psalm 23
…he leads me beside still waters… v.2b
One out of four people in the world drink from contaminated water sources.
In 2015 young people attending the National Youth Gathering were challenged to raise $500,000 for water projects including wells. A generous donor matched the $500,000 they did raise. One million dollars went to fund those water projects.
At the Gathering and at events before and after it, people were challenged to walk three miles carrying five-gallon cans of water. Three miles is the distance the average person in the developing world needs to walk to get clean water.
Synods and congregations followed up the Gathering with events back home. Some youth walked the inside of the local mall to simulate that walk. They raised both money for wells and raised their own awareness of the need for clean potable water.
A congregation discovered the trip to and from their church building to the Mississippi River was about three miles. They took turns carrying the water to and from the river. They not only understood the need, but also felt the need in their own aching arms and legs.
For a fictional look at what water means, read “A Long Walk to Water a short novel written by Linda Sue Park and published in 2010. It includes the true 1985 story of Salva Dut, a part of the Dinka tribe and a Sudanese Lost Boy, and the fictional 2008 story of Nya, a young village girl that was a part of the Nuer tribe. Park used this book as a platform to support Dut’s program “Water for South Sudan.” (Wikipedia). It’s a remarkable book that traces the terror of refugees even while offering the hope that comes with when a well overcomes tribal divisions.
PRAY: God of all creation, we pray for sanitation workers, for water treatment plant workers, for water inspectors and all who keep us supplied with water on a daily basis. Make us grateful for this gift of water that is necessary to life. Amen.
FAST: By drinking tap water instead of bottled water.
ACT: Set aside large bottle of water
OR set aside $1 to give to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal.
...the least of these... 