Kiera’s day begins long before the sun comes up. Mother will gather a few eggs, brother will milk the goat, but the family will need water before breakfast. They will need water to wash their hands and faces, water to rinse the dishes, and water to drink during the hot, hot day. It is her duty to get the water. She dresses, slides into her homemade sandals, collects the five gallon bucket and makes her first trip to the watering hole.
They call it a watering hole, but it is really just a mud puddle from the rain late last night and early this morning. If she hurries, she can fill her bucket before the other village girls get all the water. It is a four mile walk to the get the water, it is dark but she has walked this way every day for since she was fives years old, she is 12 now. If this hole is dry, there is another spot three miles further down the path. The bucket is lite and she is thankful. Five gallons of water for the four mile return home will weigh almost 42lbs. Kiera had hoped that when little sister turned five years old, she would make start going to get the water a couple of days a week. That won’t happen now, Kiera’s baby sister died from a bacterial infection the visiting International Doctors said was from the water.
Kiera knows they need water to live, but now she is afraid that the water she needs, the water she carries home, might make someone else sick. What if there were clean water? How can she make the water clean?
I created Kiera and her story, but she is a representation of real girls all over the world. Children – girls – Kiera’s age walk an average of four miles one way to get water for their families. Every 26 seconds in this world a child like Kiera’s little sister dies from diseases connected to polluted water.
What if?
Jesus tells His followers, “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” Mar 9:41. What if? What if we could give not just a cup of clean cool water to one individual but enough for an entire community’s daily needs? What if we could raise $7,500 to dig a well in a developing country?
What if?
What if by bringing them the water they need for life, we are also able to introduce them to the Water of Life? “Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” Joh 4:13-14
Central Church of Christ and Tide4Christ are participating in Walk4Water to raise awareness of the many places in the world where women and children walk an average of 4 miles to gather the water for their families’ daily needs. Many times they make this trip multiple times a day. What if they had access to clean water from a well in their village or community? We can build that well, but we need your help. With your help we can raise $7,500 to dig a well in a real village very much like Kiera’s.
How can you help?
1. Pray for these countries and communities where access to clean water will save and change lives.
2. If you are in the Tuscaloosa area, join our walk
3. Make a donation to our walk here: https://www.hhi.org/walk4water/team/1331
Driving Thought 