enakblog: Water for Thailand

This past Sunday at Mt Albert Baptist Church, I manned the EFTPOS terminal, New Zealand's electronic transfer machine. Handling other people's money is stress ful to me. On Sunday, it was extremely stressful. I had a lot of business. My church was selling shares to help build a well in Thailand. We were selling token water. I was amazed that people paid above value to the share values.

http://www.cbcthailand.blogspot.co.nz/

Here is an email from my pastor, Jonathan Dove.

Dear Church

Just a reminder that this Wednesday is our ‘Water Wednesday.’

This past Sunday we explored how healthy churches engage with the needs of people on the margins through both the spoken message and strategic action. As part of our application, we launched Project Thailand, a 5-year initiative to come around a range of needs and people groups within Thailand (check it out at www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand). This year’s focus is bringing clean water, sanitation and health education to a village that (right now) has none of these.

So, what do you do on Water Wednesday (14th March)?

1. Abstain from all liquids except water for the duration of the whole day: No coffee. No tea. No milk on the weetbix. Just water. For the whole day.

2. Every time you want to have something other than water, take a moment to be grateful to God for the water you do have (and for the bountiful choices normally available to you).

3. Consider what it must be like for people in Northern Thailand (and others parts of the world) without access to safe running water. Reflect on what you can do to help.

4. If you purchased a water share bottle in Project Thailand, carry it around with you for the day. Look at the project sticker through the clean water you have and what we’re enabling others to enjoy. Speak to others about the needs and opportunity.

5. Share your reflections with your family, flat-mates, and small group. Together, reflect on the statistics at the end of this email or check out the upcoming world water day at: http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/campaign.html.

This Wednesday, let’s appreciate anew what God has given each of us and consider what we can do to help those on the edges.

Journeying Together

Jonathan Dove
Lead Pastor

P.S. Here’s some figures to reflect about:

• Globally, diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death, and 88 per cent of diarrhea deaths are due to a lack of access to sanitation facilities, together with inadequate availability of water for hygiene and unsafe drinking water. (Source: JMP).

• Today 2.5 billion people, including almost one billion children, live without even basic sanitation. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation. That's 1.5 million preventable deaths each year. (Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC))

• Nearly 1 out of every 5 deaths under the age of 5 worldwide is due to a water-related disease. (Source: WHO/UNICEF).

• Half of the world's hospital beds are filled with people suffering from a water-related disease. (Source: United Nations Development Programme).

http://www.mabc.org.nz/project-thailand/