January's Disaster Preparedness Challenge - Water

             Last week's floods in Eastern Australia, the one-year anniversary of Haiti's eartquake (there are still a million people without homes!), as well as the mudslides in Brazil this week, have got me thinking about preparing for natural disasters.
           While I do not plan on building an underground bunker to store artillery and MRE's in case of mass anarchy,  I think that it is important to make reasonable attempts to prepare for emergencies.  As a Christian, I believe that God holds the future in His hands and therefore we do not have to live in dread of what "might happen". But at the same time, it is wise to be prepared for things that are likely to happen, such as earthquakes in southern Californina where Pete and I  live. Not only can being prepared help you and your family survive an emergency, it can help your neighbors, and it can help rescue crews be able to save more lives if they don't have to save yours! So once a month I will post a "Disaster Preparedness Challenge".
        Since clean water is essential for survival, the most logical place to start is having a three day water supply for each person in your family. There are only two of us, so we need six gallons of water. I had three already, two in the garage and one in the trunk of the car - so I bought three more on Monday while grocery shopping.

Challenge: Buy at least one gallon of water for each member of your family.

Who's In?

Speak Up for Cambodia

Cambodian Children Sweeping



Did you know that in Cambodia, 74% of deaths come from water borne diseases? 74 percent! http://www.rdic.org/waterstart.htm

Tomorrow night, our reverend father's (ok, Steve, teaching elder)  son Jer and his beautiful wife Shannon will be hosting an event called "Speak Up for Cambodia". Several local San Diegan Christian singers and poets (Ivan & Marissa Uhler, Rin Yame, Sno-man, Sorrow Underfoot, & Tacky Little Hat Shop) will be performing to raise money for "Water of Life". "Water of Life" is a Christian organization founded in the 1970's by Brother Andrew and Chuck Smith, originally to secretly bring 1 million Bibles into Communist China. Now they work in Southeast Asia with over 300 orphans and impoverished children, as well as bringing water purification to rural villages in Cambodia.

Time: Friday the 14th, 6:30-9 pm

Place:North Coast Backyard

         550 Industrial Way, Suite C

         Fallbrook, CA

Cost: 5$ at the door - all ticket proceeds will go directly to "Water for Life".

If you are unable to attend but would like to be involved in bringing clean water and the gospel to Cambodian children, you can donate through "Speak Up"
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=189937387688903  
or directly to "Water of Life" 
http://www.wateroflifeasia.com/Water_of_life/About_Us.html.