“Wash your hands” has become an essential public health mantra during the pandemic. What a privilege to be able to simply turn on the faucet, and there it comes: clean, healthy, plentiful water. For our neighbors experiencing homelessness, access to this essential resource is a lot more complicated. And for many people around the globe, reliable and affordable sources of water are often out of reach.
During the month of August, in worship and during our personal devotional/study time, we will pay attention to our need for water: for drinking, washing, cooking, laundering, growing things, swimming and splashing, the list goes on and on. We will share videos, articles and other resources to help us grow in our understanding of this most basic human need and the challenges so many of our neighbors face daily in seeking to meet it.
As we pray and learn, we will raise much needed funds to make a difference in two parts of the world: here in Nashville and in Kenya.
Our friends and ministry partners at Open Table Nashville wrote earlier this month, “It's hot outside and we need gallon jugs of water that we can deliver to our friends staying in encampments. These larger containers are much easier to use and deliver than plastic water bottles.” Staying cool and hydrated is a big challenge every summer, but particularly during the pandemic. Half of the funds we raise will be used to purchase water for OTN.
The other half will allow us to pay for a local water kiosk for hundreds of people in a community in Kenya. Church World Service coordinates this effort with local partners to “cut down on the time it takes families (mostly women and girls) to get clean water so they’ll have more time to go to school, plant gardens or start businesses.” Each kiosk costs $500, so our goal is to raise a total of $1,000 by the end of August. To learn more about the work of Church World Service, go to their website or read their 2019 Annual Report. The video below is a great introduction to the work CWS is supporting in Eastern Kenya.