4:4 No More! - Water For The Poor

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First of all, water is the single most important resource needed to sustain life.

A person can live without food for quite some time, usually for many weeks. The body will use its fat and protein stores(muscles) to help it survive. If a person has a lot of fat stores, they will live longer than a person who has very little fat, so how long a person can survive depends a lot of the person.

Water is a different story. A person will die within 3-4 days without water. The size of the person really doesn't make much difference.

The problem isn't NO water it's CLEAN water.

1.1 billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water. This is roughly one sixth of the worlds population.

1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation. This amounts to approximately 7,000 deaths per day.

Water-related disease is the second biggest killer of children worldwide after acute respiratory infections such as tuberculosis.

Intestinal parasites and other microorganisms cause diarrhea which saps strength and nutrition from their frail bodies.

For most of us, it's a short walk to the faucet in the kitchen, or bottled water in the refrigerator. But for more than a billion people - about one in six people on earth - getting safe water each day is no easy task.

Women and children around the world walk 200 million hours every day for water - water that often comes from a polluted source.

The effects of unclean water are devastating. Lack of access to safe water leads to a perpetual cycle of disease, death and lost productivity.

I must confess that previously I was not passionate about the poor in our world.

Is it sad? - Yes
Did I care? - Yes

But they are there and I am here (fortunately) and what difference could my dollar make?

In May 2007 our pastor gave a message on the poor. I went home and looked up passages about the needy. Through the reading of scriptures God cracked whatever shell was around my heart and this ministry was born. August 11th was our first event and two months and ten days later we had raised the money to drill our first well. It will be for the people of Port de Paix, Haiti - pictured above.

In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-28) it teaches that we are each given resources and when the master returns we will be held accountable for how we multiplied what God gave us. The money for the well was raised $1 at a time by selling bottled water at concerts, street fairs as well as basic panhandling and begging! Every dollar is important!

God touched me when I read Lamentations 4:4 "The tongue of the infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives them anything."

I did not want to be counted among those who stood by and did nothing.

Our little church of 50 families is making a difference in the lives of the people of Haiti. We have raised the money to drill wells for drinking water for two villages. We are working through Food for the Poor, raising money now for our third well, and because we will have a specific project number, 100% of monies donated through our church will go toward it. No overhead will be taken out!

This is a big task for a small group and we need your help. My challenge is for you to donate at least $1 for each faucet in your home. How many places in your home can you simply turn a knob and fresh clean water comes out? How abundantly blessed we are!

If you would like to contribute via PayPal visit www.44nomore.com here

To donate by check, send it payable to NRCC and note that it is for 4:4 No More! Let us know if you would like a donation receipt mailed to you.

North River Community Church
1725 Spectrum Drive, Suite B
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

This ministry is in it's infancy and rapidly growing.

God placed in me a burden for the poorest of the poor in our world - children, particularly those who do not have access to sanitary water. Seven thousand people a day die from drinking unsafe water and most are children under 5. They die because their bodies cannot properly process the little food they have because of parasites and disease from contaminated water.

Can a small group of people make a difference in the world? We can with your help!

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