2 Weeks of Sacrifice: Saving Africans Dollar by Dollar

Fill up your water bottle and get ready for an awesome way to help provide kids in Africa with water. For the next two weeks, Teens with a Vision challenges you to drink only water. No juice, no soda, no sports drinks, no (gasp!) coffee, no Jamba Juice—for two weeks. Calculate how much you would have spent on other beverages if you had been drinking them, and donate that money to the Blood:Water Mission, a movement for clean water and HIV/AIDS-free blood, started by the band Jars of Clay.

Let’s say you sacrifice for two weeks and raise ten dollars. You just saved ten Africans. One dollar provides enough water for an African to survive an entire year, the Blood:Water Mission web site points out. Use this PDF scorecard to calculate how much your sacrifice raised.

Join our discussion on the Teens with a Vision Facebook group page, or comment here, and tell us why you’ll be sacrificing for the next two weeks. On February 23 (or whenever you finish your two weeks), total up your numbers and post how much you saved for the Blood:Water Mission during your two weeks of sacrifice. To send in your funds, follow this link.

The Blood:Water Mission started when Jars of Clay band member Dan Haseltine traveled to Africa and felt moved to provide much-needed aid. Watch the Blood:Water Mission video here (http://www.bloodwatermission.com/bloodwater.mov) and get inspired to make a difference these next couple of weeks.

Now, e-mail your friends a link to this blog, and ask them to join you in your two weeks of sacrifice.

You can visit the Blood:Water Mission web site at www.bloodwatermission.com.

Please note: The Blood:Water Mission also suggests sacrificing milk, but we suggest making an exception for milk, or eating calcium chews instead of drinking milk during your two weeks of sacrifice.