Ash Wednesday: Welcome to Lent
Seven Ideas to Personalize Your Lenten Journey
Women at the community water tap in Nepal.
It is the tradition of the church to offer alms during Lent. ARDF wants to partner with you in this discipline by sharing the stories of those who need our prayers, our encouragement, and our help. The stories in the 2020 Lent Prayer Guide highlight the vital role the church has in providing the most basic of needs: reliable electricity and clean water, while simultaneously bringing the love and hope of Jesus!
Week by week during Lent, these stories will be explained in more detail.
ARDF is committed to providing light and clean water to those in need. Your church’s Sunday School or Youth Group can partner with us this Lent! Work through our Lent Prayer Guide each week with your group. Then take it one step further by focusing on some of the ideas below.
1. Teach group lessons by the light of a flashlight! This is a tangible way to experience the “light deprivation” that many families face.
2. Go about your evening routines without electricity. Use a flashlight for homework, to brush teeth, and to say your night-time prayers.
3. Drink only water during Lent to remember those who do not have clean water.
4. Take a collection each week for ARDF to purchase an XTorch or some Streams Water Tablets for families who need them. (Use our mite boxes!)
5. Encourage using candles for light during dinner for one week. Pray for those who cannot always afford fuel such as charcoal for lamps at night.
6. Take a 10-liter bucket and fill it with water. Use this water to give everyone in your class or family a drink. Talk about the many ways a family would use clean water (drinking, cooking, brushing teeth). Is there enough water for a family? Was there enough water for everyone to drink?
7. The Streams Water Tablet is only 1.5 inches long! Who would think that something so small could make such a huge impact! What else was small that made a huge impact? (Jesus!) His life wasn’t flashy or important by human standards, but God took what was small and made it BIG! Because of Christ’s humble actions, the whole world is redeemed by God’s love!
ARDF is taking donations for XTorches and Streams Water Tablets. They will go to churches overseas who will sell them to members of the community at a price they can afford. The church uses any surplus they receive to reinvest into their community. Families now have clean water or a source of light! At the same time, they have helped to fund projects within their own communities implemented by the local church.
What is an XTorch?
The XTorch is a solar powered, incredibly durable solution to replace battery operated flashlights and cellphone back-up chargers. It provides light for 20-48 hours and can easily charge a smart phone with its built in USB port. The XTorch has three settings: flashlight, lantern, and table reading light. Purchasing an XTorch means that families no longer have to spend money on consumable fuel or operate dangerous kerosene lamps.
What is a Streams Water Tablet?
Bacteria and other pathogens in drinking water are a major cause of sickness and diarrhea. Streams Water Solutions has developed a small ceramic tablet infused with silver that treats the water. Each 1.5 inch tablet provides clean drinking water for a family for an entire year. Families will fill a 10-liter bucket with water and place the Streams tablet inside. After 24 hours, the water is ready to drink and can be poured into a designated “safe drinking” bucket. The first bucket can then be refilled with more water to repeat the process for the next day.
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