What is blue and white and running everywhere they go? It is probably a member of the Hope Water Project team. In late March, around 900 team members gathered at Kensington Church in Troy, Michigan, to kickoff the 2014 Detroit Free Press Marathon team. Excitement radiated through the crowd as we celebrated what God had done through the 2013 team and eagerly anticipated even greater things for 2014.
Last October was a momentous and exciting time as 1,100 Hope Water teammates and I ran in the Detroit Marathon. Most of us had never run a marathon before, but we all felt called to do something beyond ourselves for the sake of someone elsethe Pokot. More than $1 million was raised from our collective efforts, which translates into nearly 50,000 people that will receive clean water as they experience and learn about the love of Christ.
Another exciting initiative is Lines of Hope, the brainchild of Nick Flora in California. Nick was a member of a team that traveled to Pokot last summer. He returned motivated to do something for the children at POM’s children’s homes. What started with some Etch-A-Sketches that he had brought for the kids to play with evolved into Lines of Hope. Nick and a group of marketing professionals donated their time and talents to this campaign and raised over $25,000 to provide beds, shoes, and school supplies for the kids.
If you have read our newsletter over the last couple of years, you have probably seen the name, Jen Todd. Jen is a passionate entrepreneur with a deep desire to empower women and girls to live out their God-given purpose. Her passion has been contagious and now more than 600 American and Pokot women are prayer partners with each other, and more than 2,000 men, women, and youth have been educated on the consequences of FGM.
You might be wondering what all of these things have to do with each other. More important than the numbers and dollar figures is that each one of these initiatives happened when someone responded to the call of being the hands and feet of Christ for the benefit of someone else. They saw the least among us – the at-risk child, the battered woman, the thirsty family – and saw something more in them. They saw what God sees when He looks at each of us, someone who matters and is important in the His eyes.
The impact of these efforts is still taking place, but children are being given a chance to thrive, women are regaining their dignity, and thirst is being quenched- all in the name of Jesus.
You too can be part of what God is doing- not just in Pokot, but with any of our partners and even in your own community. Let God use your passion to make a difference for Him.
My husband and I first visited the Pokot in 2004 on a medical mission trip and have been leading teams each fall ever since. What an amazing journey the Lord has given us – learning about the Pokot culture, their hearts, their needs, and sharing it with new teams each year. I realize now that this is what He had been preparing me for my whole life.
God is amazing, and we have been in awe watching His plan unfold as we visit the site each year. He has given provision to drill a bore-hole for water, to rebuild the barns with steel posts and wire fencing to prevent deterioration, to build a home and latrine for the manager, to provide a manager and have him receive training in animal health care, and to provide the donation of dewormers that has kept the remaining goats healthy.