two grueling weeks

This past Sunday, Amie from Active:Water came to our youth group and talked about the world water crisis.  She shared some pretty staggering statistics, one of which is that right now, around 750 million people in our world do not have access to clean water.  That number is down significantly over the last several years, even as the population of our world grows, and a big part of that is Christians stepping up and answering the call.  Organizations like Active:Water, Blood Water Mission, and Living Water International (who we're partnered with for this year's mud run) have rallied people around this cause.

At the end of her presentation, Amie challenged our youth group to be a part of the 2-week challenge.  During the challenge, you only drink tap water.  You can't have any pop, juice, milk (even with cereal), or even coffee.  You can read that as you can't drink any caffeine. This is nuts!  I had prayed over this for a couple months, as I knew they were coming.  I wanted our kids to step up, and they did.  Every single teenager that was there on Sunday night took on the challenge.  We're all going through this together, and at the end, all the money we would have spent on other drinks will be collected and given to Active:Water for their Cambodia project.

Why would you go through 2 grueling weeks without any other drinks?  Well, you can do it for a blessing from God.  The Bible says in Matthew 10:42, "And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded."  Or you could do it, because this crisis is real.  750 million people without drinking water and you know it?  How could you not do something, even a small something, about that?  James 4:17 says, "For him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

Would you pray about joining us?  What if everyone at Kalamazoo Community Church inconvenienced themselves for two weeks, saved their money, and gave it towards clean water in Cambodia?  That would make a significant, dynamic impact on the world.

I'll admit that it's not easy, but it's really not as hard as I expected.  Amazingly, as I've leaned on God, He's helped me through the last four days.  As with any other fast, you rely on God to sustain you and replace the thing you're fasting from.  Without caffeine or much sugar - because I consume most of my sugar through drinks - I thought I would be exhausted.  But you know what?  I'm not.  I am falling asleep earlier, which causes me to wake up earlier, and by mid afternoon, I'm fine.