Scripture: Mark 13:33-37

Meditation: What are you waiting for this season? Are you anxious about Santa’s arrival, and the presents that will appear under the Christmas tree? While we wait for the many blessings of the season, some people in our world are waiting for the blessing of clean water. The Bible tells us to keep watch for ways in which the Kingdom of God is coming. The good news is that we can help do the work that will bring God’s love to other people! We can share with our neighbors in need! We can help create the Kingdom!

Prayer: God of Peace, Help us to bring your Son the Living Christ into our homes, our communities and our world. May we be watchful of the unexpected places where you enter the world, that together we may prepare our hearts and minds for the many gifts of your presence in our lives. Amen.

Activity

Today’s activity helps us visualize the disparities between the kinds of water available to people around the world. You’ll need 3 drinking glasses that are either identical, or similar in size and shape. Make sure you can see the water level from outside of the glass. You’ll also need a measuring cup, 2 different food dye colors of your choice, and, of course, water.

Step 1: Fill your measuring cup with 7 cups of clean water. (It can be a bit more as we will be rounding the percentages represented.) These 7 cups of water represent the approximate number of people in the world: 7 billion. Each cup of water represents about 1 billion people.

Step 2: Pour 4 cups of the clean water into the first glass. This represents 57% of the world’s population (about 3,990,000,000 people) who have water piped to their household, either inside their house or on their land. The water you are using for this activity was piped right into your house, clean and ready for you to drink. Piped water has a lesser risk of contamination than other sources of water do because it comes into contact with less germs and dirt on its way from the source to the destination.

Step 3: Pour 2 1/10 cups of water into another glass. Dye the water the color of your choice. This glass of water represents 30% of the world’s population (about 2,100,000,000 people) who use other improved water sources. Other improved water sources include [p]ublic taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs or rainwater collection." These other sources of water are also fairly clean, but often people still have to haul the water back home.

Step 4: Fill the third glass with 9/10s cup of water. Dye this water the other color of your choice. This glass of water represents 13% of the world’s population that uses unimproved sources of water. That’s about 910,000,000 people! Unimproved sources include “[u]nprotected dug well, unprotected spring, cart with small tank/drum, surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels), and bottled water.” This water can have farming chemicals, parasites, animal and human excrement and all sorts of unhealthy things in it.  People who drink this water are at a much greater risk of getting very sick.

Step 5: Put the glasses side-by-side. Notice the different water levels in the glasses that represent different amounts of people. Aren’t you glad that the glass with the most water represents the number of people with piped water, and the one with the least represent the number of people who use unimproved water? It’s great that so many people have water that won’t make them very sick, and that they don’t have to haul back to their homes, but what about the 910,000,000 people?

Group Discussion Questions:

  1. How many times do you use water a day? Think about more than drinking water, i.e. flushing the toilet, taking a shower, washing clothes and dishes, the food that you eat that required water to grow, etc.
  2. How would your life change if you had to carry all of the water you use in one day from a site that could be miles from your house? Would you be able to carry that much water?  (Probably not.)
  3. How would your daily activities change if you had less water? How would you decide how to use the limited amount of water you have?
  4. What if the water you used could make you and your family very sick?

These conditions are not just a what-if scenario. For about 13% of the world, they are very real concerns that must be faced every day. Mostly girls and women carry water for up to hours a day for their families, keeping females out of school and at a greater risk of attack. Often, the water they have to use is dirty and makes them sick. When water is closer and cleaner, people are freer to pursue educational, leadership and business goals. They don’t have to stay home, sick with water-borne illness, and can work to earn more money for their family or grow more food. Clean water changes everything.

(We took our water statistics and definitions from the WHO and UNICEF ‘s publication "Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water: 2010 Update." www.unwater.org/downloads/JMP_report_2010.pdf )

*When you’re done with the activity, don’t just pour the water down the sink! You can drink it, use it to water the plants, or do whatever you want, as long as it’s not wasted. 🙂 *

 

 

 Scripture: Mark 13:33-37

Meditation: What are you waiting for this season? Are you anxious about Santa’s arrival, and the presents that will appear under the Christmas tree? While we wait for the many blessings of the season, some people in our world are waiting for the blessing of clean water. The Bible tells us to keep watch for ways in which the Kingdom of God is coming. The good news is that we can help do the work that will bring God’s love to other people! We can share with our neighbors in need! We can help create the Kingdom!

Prayer: God of Peace, Help us to bring your Son the Living Christ into our homes, our communities and our world. May we be watchful of the unexpected places where you enter the world, that together we may prepare our hearts and minds for the many gifts of your presence in our lives. Amen.

Activity

Today’s activity helps us visualize the disparities between the kinds of water available to people around the world. You’ll need 3 drinking glasses that are either identical, or similar in size and shape. Make sure you can see the water level from outside of the glass. You’ll also need a measuring cup, 2 different food dye colors of your choice, and, of course, water.

Step 1: Fill your measuring cup with 7 cups of clean water. (It can be a bit more as we will be rounding the percentages represented.) These 7 cups of water represent the approximate number of people in the world: 7 billion. Each cup of water represents about 1 billion people.

Step 2: Pour 4 cups of the clean water into the first glass. This represents 57% of the world’s population (about 3,990,000,000 people) who have water piped to their household, either inside their house or on their land. The water you are using for this activity was piped right into your house, clean and ready for you to drink. Piped water has a lesser risk of contamination than other sources of water do because it comes into contact with less germs and dirt on its way from the source to the destination.

Step 3: Pour 2 1/10 cups of water into another glass. Dye the water the color of your choice. This glass of water represents 30% of the world’s population (about 2,100,000,000 people) who use other improved water sources. Other improved water sources include [p]ublic taps or standpipes, tube wells or boreholes, protected dug wells, protected springs or rainwater collection." These other sources of water are also fairly clean, but often people still have to haul the water back home.

Step 4: Fill the third glass with 9/10s cup of water. Dye this water the other color of your choice. This glass of water represents 13% of the world’s population that uses unimproved sources of water. That’s about 910,000,000 people! Unimproved sources include “[u]nprotected dug well, unprotected spring, cart with small tank/drum, surface water (river, dam, lake, pond, stream, canal, irrigation channels), and bottled water.” This water can have farming chemicals, parasites, animal and human excrement and all sorts of unhealthy things in it.  People who drink this water are at a much greater risk of getting very sick.

Step 5: Put the glasses side-by-side. Notice the different water levels in the glasses that represent different amounts of people. Aren’t you glad that the glass with the most water represents the number of people with piped water, and the one with the least represent the number of people who use unimproved water? It’s great that so many people have water that won’t make them very sick, and that they don’t have to haul back to their homes, but what about the 910,000,000 people?

Group Discussion Questions:

  1. How many times do you use water a day? Think about more than drinking water, i.e. flushing the toilet, taking a shower, washing clothes and dishes, the food that you eat that required water to grow, etc.
  2. How would your life change if you had to carry all of the water you use in one day from a site that could be miles from your house? Would you be able to carry that much water?  (Probably not.)
  3. How would your daily activities change if you had less water? How would you decide how to use the limited amount of water you have?
  4. What if the water you used could make you and your family very sick?

These conditions are not just a what-if scenario. For about 13% of the world, they are very real concerns that must be faced every day. Mostly girls and women carry water for up to hours a day for their families, keeping females out of school and at a greater risk of attack. Often, the water they have to use is dirty and makes them sick. When water is closer and cleaner, people are freer to pursue educational, leadership and business goals. They don’t have to stay home, sick with water-borne illness, and can work to earn more money for their family or grow more food. Clean water changes everything.

(We took our water statistics and definitions from the WHO and UNICEF ‘s publication "Progress on Sanitation and Drinking-Water: 2010 Update." www.unwater.org/downloads/JMP_report_2010.pdf )

*When you’re done with the activity, don’t just pour the water down the sink! You can drink it, use it to water the plants, or do whatever you want, as long as it’s not wasted. 🙂 *