An estimated 200,000 farmers in India have taken their own lives since 1997, according to government statistics.

Photojournalist Michael McElroy met Tekam’s father while he was covering the issue in 2010. He says it became clear that there was a link between the high suicide rate and the country’s water crisis.

View the Photos and Read more at Deadly water crisis grips India – CNN Photos – CNN.com Blogs.

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*According to a recent report by the Asian Development Bank. 

Education opens doors to a brighter future, especially for children living in slums.
Read how SOS’s Destiny India Project works at reaching children in Mumbai’s slums.

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Guest blog by Ian Hamp

Recently I have been thinking a lot about God’s love for us. I have been going to Heaven’s school. Here God instructs us to listen, and train and help people to overcome hard times in their own life. And God instructs us in the way of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-6, “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love isn’t jealous. It doesn’t sing its own praises. It isn’t arrogant. It isn’t rude. It doesn’t think about itself. It isn’t irritable. It doesn’t keep track of wrongs. It isn’t happy when injustice is done, but it is happy with the truth.” - God’s Word Translation

The truth is that God loves people and He loves justice.

“He brings about justice for those who are oppressed. He gives food to those who are hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to blind people. The Lord straightens the backs of those who are bent over. The Lord loves righteous people. The Lord protects foreigners. The Lord gives relief to orphans and widows. But he keeps wicked people from reaching their goal.” – Psalm 146:7-9, God’s Word Translation.

Everyone on the planet has a place in Heaven’s school. If you believe in God, He will show you how to change your own life and restore your life back to Him by transforming you through His Word, the Scripture, The Bible through constructive criticism.

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We live in a water bottle nation. In our homes we have access to multiple taps, ice cubes, and cabinets full of plastic tumblers, yet we opt to buy our drinking water in crates at the bulk market and lug it home instead.

An article on MSN estimated that Americans spent more than $15 million on water bottles in 2007, an interesting irony since we can get water virtually free, you know, anywhere. In typical American solipsism, we have chosen to horde and exploit a natural resource Biblically used as a metaphor for Christ Himself.

And the question is why?

The answer is very unphilosophical. It is simply this: we aren’t thirsty.

We aren’t the ones comforting an infant dying of cholera. We aren’t the ones crammed into urban slums vying for access to polluted mains. We have never suffered through months of diarrhea, dehydration, or malaria due to a contaminated water source. Water has lost its inherent value in our lives. It has become a convenience, a fashion statement, an indulgence.

Americans aren’t monsters. (Are we?) We are just too busy tossing–nearly full–plastic bottles from the gym bleachers or identifying whose bottle is whose after dinner. What would we do if an Indian slum resident were to witness this? How could we defend ourselves? We have more than we need, and we have forgotten everybody else.

Fact: “World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water.” (source: water.org)

Fact: “In India, diarrhea alone causes more than 1,600 deaths daily—the same as if eight 200-person jumbo-jets crashed to the ground each day.” (source: water.org)

Fact: Four children die every MINUTE of waterborne diseases.

Fact: For $7.77 (less than you spend on water bottles!) you can give safe, clean drinking water to ONE PERSON for THIRTY YEARS.

The worldwide water crisis is vast, but we CAN make a change. Without major sacrifice, we could give fresh water to thousands of people. There is no reason why children should die for lack of water while we have it so extravagantly.

If Christ is the water of life, then let’s quit bottling Him up and leaving Him abandoned on our kitchen counters. Let’s give Him freely to all in need!

Learn how easy it is to make a difference at http://www.777water.org.

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S.O.S. has mobilized an emergency response team.

Please pray for them as they assess immediate needs and as they support Japanese churches in the initial relief efforts. Our team will help coordinating food, water and medical supply distribution just outside the evacuation zone.

Right now we are raising money for food, water, fuel, clothing and blankets to be distributed just outside the tsunami area. We will share more information as it becomes available.

Give to the relief effort

Follow updates from the disaster areas via Reuters:

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Live Updates

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Between 1.5 Million and 2 Million children still die every year due to water-borne disease.

Sower of Seeds helps to fight this staggering statistic by providing water wells and developing water projects in India that provides safe, clean water to communities with insufficient water supply.

For little more than $7, you can help give water to one person.

You can either give online or simply give using your mobile phone by texting the word GIFT to 85944 and replying “YES” to give $10.00.

You can help by spreading awareness and taking action. Do a fundraiser, benefit concert, art night etc.  Talk to people in your church, school, youth group, and put collection jars at your local coffee shop, car wash etc! Tell friends to help you raise support to give people water!  World Water day gives you the perfect opportunity!

Be creative! Be active! Make a difference!

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Download this flyer and spread the word at your favorite coffee shop, workplace, school!

Contact us for ideas! And remember we would love to hear from you!

Watch the “Take a Minute” video

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The book goes on to tell the story of three girls abducted into sex slavery in the cages of Kamathipura. The primary means of storytelling is through a series of dramatic photographs that chart their journeys from abduction to sex slavery and beyond.  These are not only tales of tragedy and horror, but tales of hope.

Multiple initiatives are being organized to expose and stamp out sex trafficking and to rescue and rehabilitate its victims. A village of hope has been built to accommodate and rehabilitate former sex slaves and their children.  Project Red Light Rescue is part of this effort. This book offers a look into the lives of real modern-day slaves, before and after the rescue.  Your decision to enter the fight for these girls’ freedom is the next step towards ending this form of slavery.

“Through the barred window, you are looking at one of the most atrocious crimes of the century. Don’t look away. Indifference is not an option. The girl with the painted face could be your daughter. She is related to you by a common humanity. Your outrage and action could change her life. You have the power to open her cage.”

With contributions by Hazel Thompson, Andrew Brandon and Ettiene Coutinho.

SOS is offering a limited number of  books as part of our campaign to raise monthly support for the rescued girls.

Get a copy here

*Excerpts taken from CAGE: The horror and the hope.

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by Ian Hamp – Guest Blogger
Water is very important for children.  They need water to keep them alive and well. And if they dont have water they start dying of thirst. It is important for us to do what we can to help them stay well.

Children get access to safe water because of these water wells that we can provide.

In John 4:10 we read:

¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

¹¹“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”

¹³Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” – The Message

S.O.S. with the help of partners and supporters helps to give water to communities without safe drinking water. Read more at www.sowerofseeds.org/water.

Ian is a volunteer at S.O.S. Ian loves expressing God’s heart for people. Read more at Ian’s blog: http://theiansterscorner.wordpress.com/

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“About halfway through the 3.8 mile trek of nasty mud, muck and mosquitoes, John Matlock was questioning exactly why he was spending his Saturday Morning this way.

But then he remembered the reason for Jailbreak DFW, a two-day event designed to raise money to help drill water wells in India.

The mud “smelled like a pig farm,” said Matlock, 31, a teacher from McKinney. “If water in India smells anything like that, I don’t know how they can even drink it.”

About 6,000 runners participated in the first day of the event, held at DFW Adventure Park, between Roanoke and Texas Motor Speedway.

More than 3,000 runners have signed up to take on the mud run today.

Jailbreak Racing Events organized the run to benefit Sower of Seeds International Ministries, a nonprofit organization that helps communities in India with social development.

The money raised at Jailbreak will provide the most basic necessity — clean water — for communities without. For every 1,000 participants, one well can be drilled.

“We wanted to do something for people so they could have a good time,” said Tim Scrivner, president of Jailbreak Racing, which is based in Argyle.

“We teamed up with Sower of Seeds so 10,000 could come out and have a good time to benefit 10,000 people on the other side of the planet,” Scrivner said.

During Saturday’s Jailbreak many participants came in costume.

Some wore black and white striped shorts, some bright orange jail wear. Some came dressed like the sheriff.

Jen Lustig of Flower Mound said the run was more fun than a typical marathon.

“It was messy but good. The stench of the water was the worst thing,” Lustig said. “To not have clean water, we just take that for granted.”

Chase Willsey with Sower of Seeds said access to safe, clean water is one of the most serious problems in India.

According to the World Bank, an estimated 21 percent of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe drinking water. Water.org, a nonprofit that works to bring clean water to a number of Third World nations, says that of India’s 1.2 billion people, 128 million lack access to clean water.

And while most Indians have access to clean water, it can be very difficult to obtain because of overcrowding.

“You’re lucky to get water for 30 minutes a day,” Willsey said. “You have to walk for miles to the tap, with no guarantee it’s clean.”

Jailbreak DFW hopes to raise enough money to drill 10 wells.

“It’s just scratching the surface,” Willsey said. “But for the people getting the water, it’s everything.”

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/18/2478380/jailbreak-dfw-raising-money-to.html#ixzz10C2FSKSi“

For more information about the project that Jailbreak supports, go to http://www.sowerofseeds.org/777

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The quality of early childhood education available to us affects us our entire lives.  It has also been shown that our diet directly affects our ability to learn. This is of extreme importance in the developing world.

Childhood Malnutrition affects about 195 million children worldwide. It is even more shocking to note that one third of all these malnourished and undernourished children are found in a single country, India.

S.O.S.’s Destiny India Schools offer free education and an effective nutritional program for 3-6 year-olds in Mumbai India, where more than 50% of the city’s estimated 20 million inhabitants live in slums.

Children are our most valuable resource. By providing a comprehensive package that brings education and proper nutrition to poor communities, especially in slums, entire communities are transformed and we believe we can see the cycle of poverty broken.

Destiny India Schools unlock the doors to a brighter future for slum children, helping to redeem their tomorrow by providing basic needs: Education, Food, Clothing, Medical Care, and Mentoring.

$10,000 can support a school of 50 children for 1 year

$1,000 can support a school of 50 children for 1 month

$500 can support 25 children for 1 month

$100 can support 5 children for 1 month

$20 per month can support 1 child in a Destiny India School for as long as you want to!

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