Well Project Summary

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that now has been a time of "research" for me! Well, I am so thankful to say that the research phase is coming to an end, and oh so pleased to announce our first project. . .(drumroll, please. . oh wait, not yet! ha ha, first let me give you a little background)

Over the last year, as we have researched adoption in general and then Liberia and Africa specifically, God has given us a great love for the people. He has also laid on our hearts a desire to be involved. So, during our trip to pick Davis up, we made it our mission to ask almost every Liberian we came in contact with this question, "What is the greatest need in Liberia and here in your area/village?" Unequivocally, the top answers were, "Water, Education and Healthcare". We were shocked to see in person how many of these lovely people were drinking dirty water. Many walked for miles just to get to a well for clean water. This dirty water is not just an inconvenience (although I cannot imagine having to walk a mile just for a jug of water and then carry it all the way home. . .as a 6 year old!), it is also killing the people. Did you know that
----Right now, half the people in developing countries are suffering from water-related diseases. ----About 4 billion cases of diarrhea per year cause 2.2 million deaths.
----1.7 million children under the age of five die from diarrhea each year.
----1 in 5 children die before the age of 5
Much of this is preventable!! How? Clean Water! A hand pump well dug in their village!

As we learned this, our hearts were drawn to help with this crisis! We felt the need to be involved in helping these people and especially these precious children to have what we so easily take for granted ... clean, safe drinking water. The bigger question became, How can we introduce them to THE LIVING WATER as well?

Enter Spirit Liberia (www.spiritliberia.com)! This organization is helping to raise money for pastoral salaries, building a church, putting a fresh water well on that property and then going beyond that to use that building as a school for children during the day and vocational and literacy programs for adults at night! Imagine that ... THE LIVING WATER and fresh water offered at the same place !!!! Our Challenge: To raise enough money to build 10 churches and wells in Liberia this year, starting with RockHill. Spirit Liberia is raising the money to build the churches and we have taken on the challenge to help raise the money for the wells! Most wells cost between $2,500-$4,500 each.

Our goal is to raise enough money to put a well in each one of these 10 villages!!! The purpose of putting them on church property or under church supervision is that now Liberian Christians are the ones who give the gift. . .not some white NGO that comes in, does a job, possibly tells them about Jesus and leaves. . .but, their very own Christian pastors and congregation. We pray that each village will see this for what it is, Jesus loving them and providing for them as a way to call them to Himself!

So, how are we planning to do this?

Well, (no pun intended!), we have 2 layers to this plan. First of all, we will be raising all but the last $1,000 - $1,500 through grants of $500 a piece. We already have commitments for $1,500 PER WELL (Praise Jesus!). If you, your business or someone you know is interested in giving a gift of this size, please email me and let me know! We even have proposals to help advertise those business that may desire to be involved!

What about the remaining money, you may ask. . .that's where YOU come in! I'm talking to both YOU, my readers and YOU my fellow bloggers! We will post (hopefully each month) about a village/area/pastor that needs a well. Then, I will place a donate button on my site and a thermometer to watch how God answers. (that's how my readers can donate). I will then ask any bloggers who are interested to please sign up for a certain portion of these funds. For example: if we have $1500 left to raise for RockHill, Jocelyn may leave me a comment and say, "Count my blog in for $250". Then, I will email her the html code for the donate button as well as instructions for putting a thermometer up (if needed or desired). She then would write on her blog for her circle of readers and ask them to come up with $250. Then, whenever they donated through paypal, Jocelyn would just ask them to notate in the comments section "from Jocelyn's Blog" and I would email her those payments each evening. Get it?

Why do it this way? Well, 2 reasons actually. First of all, it spreads the word. Most of our blogs are read by 100 + people per day, so if 10 bloggers sign up, we could have 1,000 people donating and praying for the people/church of that village! Secondly, it gives the chance for us "little people" to be involved! Many of us do not have the funds to give hundreds of dollars. . but, we can sacrifice here or there or sell something to be able to give $10 (or whatever amount). So, this gives us a chance to really be involved. It also is an attainable goal. All of us who blog (or blog stalk, some of you!) love watching those thermometers rise as people raise money!! If 10 blogs are each raising $150, that doesn't seem so overwhelming! AND, $5 really will make that thermometer rise!

Bloggers: If you want to be involved, just leave a comment and tell me how much you'd like to try to raise this month! I'll email you details. Also, you can advertise this however you like on your blog. . .one suggestion is asking people to CHOOSE to drink water when they go out to eat, and then donate that amount. If you want to do a challenge like this, consider checking out our new campaign, "I Drink Because I Care" . This is just a fun slogan to make it enjoyable and get people talking (we'll be adding badges you can put on your blogs and links to buy "I Drink Because I Care" shirts soon!)

Readers: If you don't have a blog, please prayerfully consider donating to the well projects! You can donate here or you can check out these other wonderful bloggers who are going to add it to their sites!

Are you guys ready to raise some money? Are you ready to watch God work? Are you ready to watch Him provide Clean Water for those who are literally dying without it? Are you amazed, as I am, that He actually allows us to be a part of His Huge Plan for Others?

The well in RockHill will be our first project, which we'll be ready to announce soon. We still have 1 $500 grant to go before launching it online! Check back on Monday for that post, hopefully!