We'd love to start the conversation about how we partner with your congregation to make a difference! Give us a call (888.543.3426) or contact us online.
Bigger and Better: The Ultimate Challenge
Several youth groups are rising to this challenge to bring safe water to those in need! Be a part of restoring hope in northern Uganda and inspiring your youth group to do the same.
The Challenge 
Groups start with a simple object, like a paper clip, and compete to turn that object into the biggest and best object by going from house to house, trading the object for something bigger or better. At the end of the alloted time, groups come back and show off their final prize. The church then sells those objects through an auction, raffle, or craigslist and then donates proceeds to Lifewater's Project Restoring Hope in Northern Uganda. To find out more about this project click here.
How to Participate
It's easy! Click the flyer to the right to download a PDF version. Print and talk to your youth leader about coordinating this event on a youth night. Distribute the flyers to the youth group and get pumped to scavage the neighborhoods! Once objects are sold or distributed via an auction or raffle, send the proceeds to Lifewater or donate online and be sure to note that the funds are from Bigger and Better.
Share
Once you have successfully accomplished The Ultimate Challenge, send us pics and details so we can post on our blog and social media! Email us with your story.
Poverty Lock-in for Clean Water: First Baptist Church Watsonville Student Ministries Step Up for Ugandans
In efforts to raise awareness and funds for the poorest of the poor in our world, FBC Watsonville's Student Ministries puts on a yearly event called the Poverty Lock-In. Traditionally, youth group lock-ins are all-nighters where youth stay at the church and have fun through a variety of activities. Two years ago, they decided to start an event that would incorporate the traditional lock-in but tie in more purpose; thus the Poverty Lock-In.
This year’s theme was “Clean Water”, and they chose to be a part of Lifewater’s Easter Match Fundraiser to raise money for clean water initiatives in Uganda, knowing that an anonymous Lifewater donor would double their contribution. During their lock-in they spent 24 hours experiencing similar conditions that people live under on a daily basis in developing nations.
Activities included providing for themselves three meals on only $2, stripping old copper wire for food money, walking to a local market to buy their food, cooking on an open fire, walking to get their own water at a nearby creek, learning different methods of purifying water, and learning what organizations like Lifewater International are doing to bring clean water to developing nations. Together, the youth raised $1,340 for Lifewater's project in Uganda!
Mission Safe Water: Kids Raise Nearly $18,000 for Clean Water in Uganda
Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois, raised nearly $18,000 for safe water in Uganda through Mission: Safe Water, a Christmas fundraising effort by their children’s program, Launch. Launch director, Sharon Sherbondy, said, “We set the goal of $5,500 . . . Little did we know just how much this would capture the hearts of our kids, families, and random strangers.”
As part of Mission: Safe Water, Launch created an eye-catching collection “well” and sent giving packets—an adaptation of Lifewater’s Significant Sacrifice kids activity—home with the children.
They also gave each family a collection bank made of cups donated by PepsiCo and covered with a Mission: Safe Water logo and map of Uganda.
If you are interested in launching your own version of Mission: Safe Water and would like ideas for your group, we encourage you to contact us at campaigns@lifewater.org.
Lifewater's church partnerships change thousands of lives each year
Church partners in North America and beyond
We'd love to start the conversation about how we can make a difference together with your congregation!
Businesses Giving Back for Safe Water
Your business can make a difference too! Contact us online or call us (888.543.3426) to begin the conversation.
LUVD clothing delivers encouraging messages about your identity and value. The designs are intentional, thought-provoking and inspire action. "This is a movement to instill value; a movement to encourage our
generation to love practically and lavishly."
Kitzman Culligan is a Lifewater supporter and water treatment company that provides portable exchange, reverse osmosis drinking water systems, water softeners, and water filters to all customers types on the Central Coast.
Little Card Company is your online resource for custom Christian photo cards. We provide a modern, faith-based alternative for all your card-giving needs… Christmas and all major holidays, birth announcements, baby dedications, baptisms, thank you notes, etc.
Erin's Arts and Crafts From paintings to sketches to mixed media, there are gifts for all occasions. Fifty percent of all sales is donated to Lifewater.
Jeff Bjorck: Pure Piano "Quiet music to calm the heart in a noisy world."
Causeworth Insurance Services has over sixty top carriers and donates up to 30 percent of it's gross revenue to a charity of your choice. Go with Causeworth and choose Lifewater! See their video.
Mission Cars assists people in donating their vehicle to give proceeds to Christ-centered nonprofits. We seek to be driven, trustworthy, and hope-giving.
Good Search is a search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. It adds up!
GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to Lifewater! Stores include Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's, and Barnes & Noble, etc.
Yellow Brick Mall is an online shopping mall. Merchants donate a percent of your purchase to Lifewater. If you can’t find your favorite store on GoodShop, check out YellowBrickMall.com.
YTB Travel Book your travel, vacations and cruises through this website. A portion of the profits will go to Lifewater International.
Kauzbots are plush toys and apparel that help raise children's awareness of needs around the world. Kruz is the Safe Water Kauzbot! Ten percent of the proceeds from the Kruz Kauzbot come to Lifewater.
Hasley Cellars is a winery on California's Central coast that donates $5 from every case of wine sold to support clean water and sanitation projects through Lifewater.
Brasken Kennels is owned and operated by Brandon and Kristen Silva, Lifewater supporters who donate a portion of their profits to Lifewater. Check out their amazing Labradoodles!
Splinter Rock utilizes business technology purchases as a fundraising source for non-profits. We provide free consultations and find the best vendors for your business’s tech needs, then gives 30% of the commission from vendors back to Lifewater.
For decades civic groups have been valuable supporters of Lifewater's work to provide clean water to communities in need. Contact us online or by calling 888.543.3426 to talk with us about what we might accomplish together.
Rotary Club Donates Portable Drill for Work in Africa
A collaboration between Cal Poly University and three San Luis Obispo Rotary clubs will bring inexpensive well-drilling technology to communities that need safe water. The Rotary clubs donated $40,000 to the effort, and Cal Poly seniors in the mechanical engineering and civil engineering departments built the rig. The design challenge was to create for $20,000 or less a durable rig that could drill hundreds of feet into both hard and soft surfaces using materials that are easily accessible in developing nations. The rig uses brakes from an old car and a 13-horsepower engine (for comparison, the 2010 Ford Mustang has 540 horsepower). It fits into a 20-foot shipping container and weighs about a quarter of a common rig.
The rig will be thoroughly tested by volunteer Lifewater well drillers and any necessary modifications will be made, then the rig will be shipped to one of Lifewater's in-country partners in Africa, along with engineering plans so that the rig can be easily reproduced there.
Local Civic Leaders Pull Weight for Water
This past World Water Day, San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx and Congresswoman Lois Capps carried yellow jerry cans to show the importance of conserving and giving safe water.
Lifewater Families: Changing our World
Kids can change the world!
It is a message Lifewater shares with impoverished communities in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America - and it is a message kids everywhere
are teaching us. Lifewater kids in North America are raising awareness
and funds for safe water through water walks, at Lemonade-for-Water roadside stands, by wearing Lifewater tshirts, sharing with classmates through school presentations, and by giving of their own time and resources in many other creative ways.
A Kid Can Make a Difference! by Cori Southward
My name is Cori Southward, and I am nine
years old in the third grade in Paso Robles, California. About three
years ago I heard that Lifewater International goes to countries where
people don't have clean water to drink and then they dig water wells for
them. At Highlands, my church, the pastor said they were giving 10
percent of their money to Lifewater International. So I decided I should
also give 10 percent of my money away. I get money for different things
like allowance, Christmas, birthdays, the Tooth Fairy, and hitting my
accelerated reading goals.
Now, every time I get money, I divide it
up into Short Term Savings (the money I get to spend on toys and
stuff), Long Term Savings, Education, Investments, and 10 percent for
Tithing. I have done different things with my tithing money. I have
given it to the homeless people standing on the corner. I have given it
to friends who needed it, and I have used it to buy ingredients for
chocolate chip cookies for new neighbors.
At Christmastime last year, I took my
tithing to church to give it away, and I heard that for every $35 given
to Lifewater International, a person in a Third World country can have
clean drinking water for the rest of their lives. I decided to give my
tithing to the Lifewater people who had a table set up at our church
that day.
Recently, I was trying to figure out
what to give up for Lent so we could give the money we would have spent
to Lifewater's Significant Sacrifice instead. Me and my dad go to the
movies almost every weekend, and I know we spend about $25 every time we
go. So I gave up going to the movies. There are six weekends during
Lent, so we gave $150 for Significant Sacrifice and another $25 from
tithing, so five people will have clean drinking water for the rest of
their lives. I hope these people share with a lot of other people.
I feel great about giving up movies so other people can have what I have had my whole life.
Old Mission School and Mission Preparatory Highschool Get on Board
Big
cheers to Maddie and Jacqueline of Mission Preparatory Highschool in San Luis
Obispo, CA. Their families have chosen to be part of the
solution by mobilizing their school to help bring safe water to the thirsty. They organized a water
walk through downtown, a school assembly, and asked 25 local businesses
to donate towards a well in Uganda. The Old Mission School was so inspired by this, that they organized a Penny War fundraiser to collect money and tithe monthly to Lifewater.
RACE. MOVE.
Help others while doing what you love.
Team Lifewater is now working through ActiveWater to join forces with athletes who want to make a difference. Together, Lifewater, ActiveWater, and athletes will bring clean water and sanitation to impoverished communities in
Cambodia.
As part of ActiveWater for Lifewater, you can compete in a weekend-long adventure race, walk the
Appalachian Trail, or run a 5k. Choose an athletic challenge you are personally
passionate about, and ActiveWater will work with you to train and equip you to raise money while you do what you love.
As part of its mission to help you help others, Activewater will pair you up with an athletic coordinator who will help find an
event in your area, equip you with a training plan, provide professional print
materials to share Cambodia's story, build a personal online fundraising page,
and even send your donors personalized thank you cards. And you can
earn team gear!
For more information on how you can get involved, visit www.activewater.org
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Mission to Mountain: 100 Miles Uphill for Water
"It was exactly the kind of day exclamation marks were made for." Pastor Kurt Christenson, Salem Lutheran Church
"Mission to Mountain," is an annual benefit bicycle ride and run hosted by Salem
Lutheran Church in Glendale, California. Last year's ride raised nearly $7,000
for a school water system in Fonsho, Ethiopia, and this year the church raised more than $12,000 to help communities around Fonsho.
On June 18, 2011, Mission to Mountain began at the San Buenaventura Mission in Ventura, California. It involved three events: (1) the main 100 mile uphill ride from sea level to the summit of Mt.
Pinos at 8,300 ft, with more than 12,000 ft. elevation gain; (2) a 50 mile uphill ride to Pine Mountain Pass; and (3) a 20
mile family ride to Ojai along the Ojai Valley Bike trail. A total of fourteen athletes participated, with nine conquering the 100 miles.
After the event, Pastor
Kurt Christenson said, "What a ride! Saturday was a tough, tough day. But
what a beautiful day; what a gloriously rigorous, painful, grueling, tedious,
hot, cold, windy, still, fun, joyous day! And all the blooming flowers,
waterfalls, scenery, and ponderosa pines at the top, Wow! It was exactly the
kind of day exclamation marks were made for."
As part of the event, longtime runner Roy
Wiegand ran the entire 100 miles, with a 12,000 ft elevation gain, from
the California San Buenaventura Mission to the summit of Mt. Pinos.
Friends joined him various legs of his run.
Roy said, "The runners high I got that day has yet to dissapate. One of the things that helped me get through the course was thinking about the daily challenges of the folks in Ethiopia . . . It kept things in perspective for me, and reminded me how blessed we are with all that we have in our country." Roy raised an additional $1,500 for clean water.
If you and/or your church, business, or organization would like to organize a similar event for safe water, check out the "Lifewater & Activewater" tab to the right, or contact us to get started.
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| Help Lifewater train its in-country partners.
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Help people get clean water by volunteering in the U.S.
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Are you an athlete? Compete for a good cause!
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Help schools in East Africa gain safe water, sanitation, and hygiene education.
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Give redeemable gift cards so your loved ones can choose where their gifts are spent.
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Make your campus a model of sustainable, compassionate living! |
A journey that inspires reflection and service.
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Teach kids about other cultures and the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene.
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| Help others get safe water by matching your monthly bill with a gift.
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Spend two weeks drinking only water, then donate what you save so others can drink the same.
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Form teams, give each team a small item, and tell them to trade up. Team ending with the most valuable item wins! |
Carry water over a certain distance to show solidarity with those who walk for water every day.
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| Educate others about the need for sanitation with eye-catching posters and sticky notes.
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Put a donation jar near vending machines remind people of the blessing of enjoying something safe to drink.
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Set a goal and then invite others to help you meet it.
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Make small changes to turn your everyday activities into safe water for others.
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Put your money to good use making money for those who need safe water.
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Lifewater's efforts are sustained by prayer. Click here to support us in this way.
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On March 22 each year, join in fun activities to raise money for a well in Uganda. |
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Do not hesitate to contact us (tel:888.543.3426) if you have questions!
