Blood:Water Mission is a fantastic organization based out of Nashville, TN and created by the members of the band Jars of Clay, aimed at building wells in Africa to help communities overcome disease and enhance their lives through clean drinking water.
I have known about them for about 6 years now and the more I learn, the more I respect and want to support what they are doing.
Each year during Lent Blood:Water holds a fundraiser called 40 Days of Water. The basic idea is that for these 40 days (or 46 if you don't take Sundays as feast days....but I most definitely did feast on those days) you give up purchasing beverages and instead drink only water. Through their website and mobile website, you can track the amount of money you would have spent on each drink you're giving up, and at the end of the 40 days, you donate that amount of money to Blood: Water.
So many benefits from this campaign - it only takes one American dollar to supply fresh water for a year for one African. The impact of even the relatively small $78 I donated can be a great benefit to our brothers and sisters in Africa.
Personally, the benefits were so great for me - I was healthier because I was cutting calories from my diet (though, unfortunately I didn't lose any ell-bees).
As with all types of fasting, you start to realize things on which you rely and depend that don't satisfy - constantly pointing you back to Christ and his glorious riches.
I also developed a good habit of drinking a lot of water during the work day. I used to drink way too much Coke, and haven't really gone back to that now even though the 40 Days are over. Developing the water habit has also eliminated that 3pm lull where I used to crave caffeine.
It was interesting to try and justify what I would have paid for a beverage....like..should I tally the glass of wine I didn't have at my friend's house, even though I wouldn't have technically been paying for it?.....
Despite those silly instances, 40 Days of Water was a great experience, and I couldn't be happier to help Blood:Water in their work in this way.
Check it out:
http://40days.bloodwatermission.com/
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