Halfway There (.org)

Every Thursday morning we begin the day with something called "Worship and Warfare." During this hour and a half period, we focus on a specific world issue by learning and sharing and praying about it. We've prayed for unreached peoples in the Northern parts of Scandinavia, the AIDS crisis in Africa, Muslims, the persecuted church, and most recently, for the water crisis in Africa. We learned that half of the people who live in Africa do not have access to water. Many of these people must walk approximately eight hours a day to collect water for their family's needs - cooking, cleaning, drinking. Ibrahim, a YWAM staff member from Nigeria, told us about his experiences getting water. He said that he would have to begin the journey to the river very early, around 4:00am, in order to avoid the huge crowds that would gather later on in the day. The water from the river isn't clean. It's dirty. It causes disease and diarrhea. People can die from diarrhea - something I learned that day.

Something that Karl, one of our DTS staff said really impacted me. He asked us, "Do you want to be the generation known for the development of i-everything? Or do you want your generation to be remembered for eradicating poverty and fighting hard for the things that really matter?" Guys, it is estimated that $50 billion would end world hunger. Consider this: if every American Christian tithed ten per cent, that would produce $139 billion per year.

I'm sure many of you have heard about this problem, and you've heard the statistics before. So had I... but something inside me just snapped and I physically cried for the people in this situation.

We also learned about an organization called "Halfway There" - they sell t-shirts for $20 in order to raise money to dig wells. 100% of the proceeds from the t-shirts goes towards the wells. You can find more information about this organization at their website: www.halfwaythere.org.

*God, it just makes me sick to think that there is so much we can do to help but yet we just sit back and feel sad. Lord, You have told us to be Your HANDS and Your FEET. Help us to love Your people like You love them. I come against and I apologize for complacency and apathy within North America. Please put passion in our hearts to reach out and DO SOMETHING.*

I guet all fired up just thinking about this, guys. please pray about the things on God's heart and let's DO something to make a difference.

LC