Children & Poverty: The Bishops Initiative

Prayer Guide: October 2004

Prayer

Prayer Focus: That all children will have clean, safe water.

• October 3-9: Pray for children who waste water without any awareness of how precious this gift is.
• October 10-16: Pray for children who are ill and who may die because of water-borne diseases.
• October 17-23: Pray for teenagers who walk more than a mile to get water from a stream and then carry it back to their homes.
• October 24-30: Pray for children who live in rain forests and those who live in deserts.

Call to Action

Learn more be reading Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit or Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor (both available at the Service Center; scorders@gbgm-umc.org or 1.800.305.9857). Explore the findings of the United Nations Third World Water Forum in 2003. Find out about water conditions in your community by calling the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline (1.800.426.4791). Check water conditions for a nearby low-income or rural community.

Identify issues related to water in your own neighborhood, the wider community or around the world.

Act by teaching children, youth and adults about water conservation in Sunday School classes and other group meetings. Encourage thankfulness for our safe water supply and advocate for a reduction in our purchases of bottled water. Support well-digging projects through the General Board of Global Ministries and Church World Service.

Plan to introduce Our Shared Dream: The Beloved Community (available at no cost from Cokesbury, 1.800.672.1789) to your congregation during Advent.