Water is on the Way!

Our Dig Deeper journey began nine months ago when we launched the Well Project with the goal of raising $5000 in 2012.  Fifty five days later we had $5000 raised and quickly sent our check off to Living Water International to get the ball rolling on the digging of a well in Honduras.

The process of drilling a well isn’t a simple process.  Living Water does a fantastic job evaluating communities, assessing their ability to sustain a well, training the local residents to maintain the well, teaching hygiene and bringing sustainable hope to each community.  Because of this process, donors do not find out the exact location of the well their funds are supporting until after it is complete.  With this process, they can ensure that they are good stewards of donations and that they are drilling wells in strategic areas where they can help the most people for the longest amount of time.

So here we are, nine months later, and the time has come.  This month, October 2012, the “CalvaryKids” Well will be drilled ...and by the end of the year we will know the exact location.  Until then, here’s what we do know:

•           The well is being drilled in Honduras
•           A missions team from LWI will be working alongside the community leaders to build the well
•           LWI missionaries will be teaching the community about hygiene
•           LWI missionaries will be sharing the good news of Jesus Christ while they SHOW them that God loves them and that they are important to God and to His church
•          By the end of the month, children, moms, dads, grandpas, grandmas, teenagers, will be able to drink clear, clean water instead of walking miles to get dirty water that will make them sick.
•           And in all of this, GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED!

Thank you to every person who has gone on this journey with us.  Thank you to those who have prayed. Thank you to those who drank water only for ten days. Thank you to those who gave sacrificially.

And our journey continues.

There are three months left in 2012.  We are 50% of the way towards funding a 2^nd well.  Let’s finish the journey strong.  With God’s help, we can (and are) doing more than we had imagined when we first began to dig deeper.

http://vimeo.com/11138924

Take a few minutes to watch this video and quietly reflect on it’s message. It’s a great reminder of what this $5000 is going to do.

Thank you Jesus for being our Living Water!

Well #2....Let's keep digging deeper!

After raising $5000 in just 55 days to build a well in Honduras, the kids of Calvary have kicked off raising an additional $5000 for a second well!  Last week, Calvary hosted our Summer Camp Vacation Bible School and all week long the kids brought in offerings for the Well Project.  We made the challenge even more interesting by offering up one teacher to be "pie"d in the face for every $100 the kids gave.  And they rose to the challenge.  By the end of the week, piggy banks had been emptied and pounds of change had been counted and the grand total was just over $1000!  On Friday the kids celebrated by creaming ten of their teachers with pie. (FYI - - getting a pie in the face is more disgusting than you would think!).  But the real celebration was knowing that the money that we gave would go directly to providing clean drinking water for children and families.

The theme for our Summer Camp this year was Big Apple Adventure : Where Faith and Life Connect.  Being a part of the Well Project is way that kids can connect their faith with a real life problem.  Not only did the kids bring in their offerings, but they learned about the water crisis that kids face around the world and how they can help organizations like Living Water International bring more than just clean water to children... they also bring hope and the message of Jesus so that kids just like them can experience the love of God.

For more information about how you can give to the Well Project, visit www.calvarybc.net/go/digdeeper.

The Check is in the Mail

The past few weeks have been so busy that I haven’t had time to blog about our progress with the Well project… it seems like just yesterday that 100 of us started the 10 Day Challenge of drinking water only and saving money for the well.  That began an amazing journey of sacrifice and growth.  Money from the challenge began to pour in and that excitement bubbled over resulting in more families giving sacrificial matching donations. In just two weeks we jumped from having $2500 to meeting our $5000 goal for the well!!!  Our original timeline was to raise $5000 in one year.  Instead, it took 50 days! 

This Sunday we will celebrate reaching our goal with cheers and balloons and praise and prayer.  Our families at Calvary stepped up and together, our gifts will make a life-changing difference in a community in Honduras.   

Yet I have to admit, my heart still feels heavy. 

In the midst of my excitement about reaching our goal, I can’t help thinking about the millions who still don’t have access to clean drinking water.  It can be overwhelming to think about the enormity of the crisis.  One of my favorite lines in the Bible is taken from the Lord’s Prayer: Matthew 6:10 " Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  How desperately does my heart long to be in heaven where there will be no more poverty. No more starvation. No more thirsty children.  But I do have hope.  I love that we are not powerless against sin and oppression and evil.  Through the power of God and His Holy Spirit, we can bring Hope and Love and the Good News to the lost and hurting. 

It is in that power that we will continue to pray and continue to work meet the physical and spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters worldwide.  Even though we have met our goal, there is a lot of 2011 left.  We will Dig Deeper, pray harder, sacrifice more, and keep trusting God to use our children’s department and Calvary families to accomplish His will. 

So celebrate with us.  And stay tuned for the next project in our 2011 Dig Deeper journey.

Amy A.

H20 Challenge: Day One

Today we start a 10 Day Challenge:  no coffee, no pop, no juice, no tea.....just water for 10 days.  At first I was thinking this was just a way to save some money and put it towards the $5000 for the well.  But over the past few days my thinking has changed.  Many people have said to me, 'I couldn't give up coffee...but i'll just donate some money to the well' or 'I don't spend that much so I won't save much...i'll just make a donation'.

Giving up our regular beverages for 10 days isn't just about saving money.  It's about sacrifice.  It's about challenging ourselves to think about what it would be like to not be able to drink what we want...only in our case we STILL get to drink clean water.  

My prayer is that during these 10 days  we will grow closer to God as we sacrifice and pray. 

Matthew 22:37-38 tells us to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 

We are to love God with all of our heart, soul and mind. Sounds simple right?  Yet Today as I have realized just how much I crave what I cannot have, I am wondering if the word crave could be used to describe how I pursue God.  Do I want to know Him, love Him and serve Him so badly that it occupies my thoughts throughout the day (how coffee is right now?) What would it look like if I had to go 10 days without worship, reading my Bible, talking about Jesus, or prayer?  How much do I take simple things like a cup of hot chocolate for granted?  And how much more do I take my Savior for granted?

Every time I have wanted a coffee today I am trying to close my eyes and ask God to help me love Him more and to love things of the world less.


Amy

PS  Hot water in a coffee cup does not give me the same feeling as drinking a coffee….just tried.

The Me Project for Preschoolers

One of the things that I love about preschoolers is how they can read the same book or watch the same movie over and over and over and over.  And their unabashed love for the hero in the story is really cute.  When my Ben was a toddler, he knew everything there was to know about every single Transformer and I had the joy of hearing about how amazing and wonderful they were throughout every car drive, every night at bed, and during every mealtime.  Whether it's Batman, Dora, Cinderella (or the Prince), or Buzz Lightyear, most children have some imaginary character that they love and aspire to be like.  That's why dress up clothes, plastic swords, and light sabers are a favorite of most kids.

One of my funniest mom memories was when Ben, at the age of three, decided he wanted to ask Jesus to come live in his heart.  But the heart-warming moment only last a few seconds before he changed his mind and decided he'd "rather have Batman come live there instead".  huh.

The Me Project Preschool book focuses on helping preschoolers learn more about the best hero of all times - Jesus!  Not only does the coloring book/workbook help kids learn more about the character of Jesus but also how they can be like Jesus.  Just like Jesus is kind, they can be kind.  Just like Jesus loves God, they can love God.  Each page highlights something different about Jesus through a Bible story or a verse, and then they draw a picture about how they can do something to be like Him.

So if you have a preschooler, enjoy the fun years of Spiderman and Fancy Nancy. But be sure to remember that these are perfect years to lead your child learn and love the Superhero who really saves the day!

Why Living Water?

Why Living Water International?

One of the first questions I faced after deciding that our Calvary kids would fund the digging of a well was “Which organization will we partner with to dig the well?” 

Over the past few years, celebrities have brought the lack of clean water crisis to the forefront.  Actors and musicians like Matt Damon, Jewel, Katy Perry, and many more have raised money and awareness about unsafe drinking water in many parts of the world. Their efforts are helping to give a voice to those who can’t speak up for themselves.  They are addressing a problem and offering a solution.

At the same time, missionaries are travelling to areas of extreme poverty and oppression to bring the message of Jesus to those who have never heard.  They are also addressing a problem and offering a solution.

One group is offering clean drinking water.

The other is offering the hope of a Savior.

Living Water International offers both.

Of all the organizations I researched (and there were lots of great ones!), what impressed me most about Living Water International was their strong commitment to both sharing the gospel and meeting the physical needs of the people.  And here’s another cool thing – we had already come up with the “Dig Deeper” name and the concept of searching for “clean water” and “living water” before I came across the Living Water website…but check out their mission statement:

“Living Water International exists to demonstrate the love of God by helping communities acquire desperately needed clean water, and to experience "living water"—the gospel of Jesus Christ—which alone satisfies the deepest thirst.”

What we wanted to do, Living Water was already doing. 

So the choice was made. 

You really need to check out their website and read all about what they do, how they do it, why they do it and how it has impacted communities worldwide.  I am so excited to be working with such a great ministry.  It’s one thing to know that our money is going to provide clean water for children, but it gives me chills to think about the LWI volunteers who will be telling those same children about Jesus while they work side by side with the community, showing them the love of Jesus in word and action.

http://www.water.cc/

The Big Reveal

I am so excited for tomorrow...the BIG REVEAL is finally here.  Each year our children's ministry at Calvary adopts a theme to help us focus on one aspect of what it means to follow Jesus.  This year's theme is our biggest and most challenging yet!

This year our focus in the kidGO Kingdom will be (drum roll please) ....“Dig Deeper”!

There are two parts of this theme, the ME project and the WELL project.

The ME project will involve parents as they work with their kids through age appropriate workbooks that are filled with Bible verses, discussion questions, quizzes, and projects.

For the Well project, our Calvary kids will be raising $5000 to fund the digging of a well in Honduras through Living Water International.

So stay tuned...throughout the year I will be blogging about our progress in both projects.  It's going to be a great year!  So let's dig deeper together!

Amy Anthony

Family Ministries at Calvary