The World is Thirsty and Hungry

Missio Lux has had an emphasis on hunger and thirst the past two weeks.
We take seriously Jesus' words in Matthew 25:20, "If you give a needy person food or water, you have given it to me."

Last weekend we highlighted 3 missio ways to make a difference with hunger and thirst. Sunday, we will do another big missio for hunger at our Celebration!

Last weekend we participated in the Water First "Carry 5 Walk" (http://www.water1st.org/) as well as holding a garage sale for Seeds of Hope www.missiolux.org/seedsofhope, and our bi-monthly breakfast for the poor and disenfranchised in Seattle http://www.missiolux.org/ 1st Seattle breakfast.

Our family participated in the Carry 5 Walk, as well as several of our missio community members. The reason that it's called Carry 5 is that most women and girls in Africa and other places around the world, carry 5 gallon jugs of water on their backs, often for up to 15 miles, if their village does not have a well.

It's hard to imagine how hard it is and how HEAVY it is to carry 5 gallons without actually attempting it.

Most of the men who carried it seemed very relieved to pass it off to another team member. The children carried one gallon of water on their backs, often complaining about how heavy they were!

I am passionate about getting wells in villages because I know that water is a basic need of life, not a privilege.

We don't even think about turning on our facets or watering our grass, or taking a shower because it is so accessible. But, if you live in India or Bangladesh, Honduras and Ethiopia (this is where Water 1st goes), there's a very real possibility that water isn't a right, it's almost unaccessible.

Some say that an event like Carry 5 won't make much of a difference.

But, to the 7 villages that will get wells from this one walk, their lives will be dramatically changed. The women will be able to put more effort into their homes and their children, rather than the drudgery of carrrying water day after endless day. The girls will fare even better: they will get to go to school! Education is the pathway to a different life; so a well brings great hope for the future.

Read tomorrow for our big Celebration Plan for Sunday, but in the meantime, go several hours or even a day without using water and let God enlarge your heart through the experience. Then, let everyone hear of your experience by leaving a comment on the blog.