Do Something that Matters!

My church (in cooperation with churches throughout our church district) is raising money for wells in Haiti through the Haiti Water Project. The Haitian wells were the focus for our VBS offering this summer and we are extending the opportunity to contribute to the offering over the next couple weeks in order to help the project even more.

Watch a short piece highlighting how the Haiti Water Project is making a difference in communities in Haiti -- and how we can all get involved.

For churches in Haiti—where more than half of the eight million people there don’t have access to safe drinking water— it means they can become the source of both the literal and spiritual water of life. Young children in Haiti have to walk up to six hours each day to retrieve water.

For approximately $1,000, a church can build one well that will affect the lives of two thousand-plus people for years to come. If each of the 500 Nazarene churches in Haiti had a well on its property, it would mean one million changed lives. Various groups are partnering with local churches in Haiti to empower them to provide sustainable water resources for the people in their communities. It’s a dream right now. What would it take to make it a reality? Consider making a donation.

THE HAITI WATER PROJECT: GET INVOLVED

The Haiti Water Project is a simple concept: Create sustainable water resources that empower local churches in Haiti to meet the needs around them. Here are 4 simple ways you can get involved:

Learn.

Find out more about the needs in Haiti and how you can get involved. Start with the Haiti Water Project site at www.caribnaz.org, and then do some research on your own.

Talk.

Raise awareness about the need for clean water in Haiti and the ways we can all get involved. Talk about it with people you know.

Join the Haiti Water Project cause on Facebook, and invite your friends. Spread the word about the need and the simple ways we can help meet that need.

Teach others through your words and actions about how they can get involved in God’s call for action in our world — and specifically in Haiti.

Act.

The cost of a well is as little as $1,000. Individuals can donate part (or all) of the cost a well, or groups can go in together to donate the cost of an entire well.

Come up with creative ways people can give.

• Example: Give Up Your Bottles. In the U.S. we spent $15 billion (yes, billion) on bottled water last year. That’s enough money to supply clean water for all of the 1.1 billion people in the world who don’t have access to safe water. Give the money you would normally spend on bottled water in a month to the Haiti Water Project so people in Haiti can have clean water.

• Example: Host a benefit [fill in the blank]. Showcase your talents (and/or those of your friends) and use the proceeds to partner with HWP. Make it a concert or writer’s night or photography exhibit or …

• Example: Organize a fundraiser to help raise money for wells in Haiti. If you’re into running, you could do something like a community-wide 5K race. If you’re a creative designer type, you could sell T-shirts you design. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination.

Pray.

Pray for the people in Haiti. Pray for church leaders there. Pray for the children. Pray for the families. Pray that God would provide resources for the churches in Haiti to meet the needs around them.

God loves HIS children in Haiti and we as their brothers and sisters can make a difference in their lives through sacrificial giving and prayer. Prayerfully consider how you might ACT to help make the lives of those in Haiti more tolerable.

* Materials and photos used by permission of http://www.caribnaz.org/