This past summer at MOVE, all attendees was given a “Kingdom Worker” challenge. It was presented in a sealed envelope and there were approx 50-75 different challenges that the students could get. Two of the challenges read, “1000 4 H20: Raise $1000 (at a job, doing chores, selling your stuff) and donate it to Blood Water Mission.“ and “26.2: Commit to being healthier. Train and run a marathon before next summer. Get started at www.activewater.org.”

Since then we have seen and heard of some incredible stories of students who have taken the cards and “ran” with them. There was a student who rode his bike across Indiana to raise money and awareness. Below you will see an awesome story about a student named Ian from Kansas who took the task to another level…by adding a couple of zeros to the end.

At Christ in Youth, we have decided to take it a step further and all programs will address the water crisis in the world next year. Next year, with MOVE specifically, we will try to raise enough offering next summer to build 5 wells in Zambia, Africa. Tomorrow, our MOVE programming staff will be in Nashville meeting with Blood:Water and Active:Water about a partnership for next summer. We are looking at possibly creating a film similar to “BAHT” but raising awareness for the water crisis.

I would ask that you would pray for the meeting tomorrow, that the Lord will lead us in the correct direction about this partnership. Also, pray for Ian that the Lord would continue to give him strength and perseverance over the next year.

Here is Ian’s story (email from Ian to Daren of Active:Water):

Hey Daren,

It’s nice to hear from you. I actually heard your story at a CIY MOVE conference. On the last night CIY handed out envelopes to each student. Inside the envelopes were cards describing a different task for the individual to do. But we were only to open them if we were serious about doing it. Now, I’m not going to lie, when I opened mine, my first thought was, “Wow. How am I supposed to run a marathon?” But the more I thought about it, it fits. Now, I’m not much of a runner, but one of my teammates had been training already for a marathon and the other is pretty athletic (and I’m not so bad myself). The more we began to think and dream of what God can do and what God wants to do through us, we’ve decided to raise $100,000 between the three of us. Along with raising $100,000, we also look to travel to Africa to give the people not only physical water, but the everlasting water of Jesus Christ. The race we are now looking at racing in is the Lynn Electric Kansas Marathon in Lawrence, Kansas (they have added a marathon for the April 2010 race).

That’s our story (as it’s developing). Here’s a little bit about me:

I’m 17 years old (18 in a few days) and I’m a Senior in High School in Wichita, Kansas. I had known that there was a water crisis, but never really grasped the depth of it until viewing your site. I’m heavily involved in church and I love being there. The church has become my second home. In fact, I work there everyday at a daycare. After my senior year, I plan on going up to Ozark Christian College to become a pastor. I’m really passionate about people and showing Christ to the world (although I fail at it everyday), so my desire to “deliver” the water myself is pretty strong. If there’s anyway you could help us do that, please do. We would love to run with you.

Thank you for your help.

Ian

I’ll be honest. I can be somewhat of a skeptic. Admittedly, I have no real reason to be. More times that not, God has come through for me. I’ve been able to witness some pretty amazing things. I’ve even seen what some might consider a miracle or two. But God continues to exceed my expectations. This summer proved to be another example on an ever-increasing list labeled “Eric’s faith is too small.”

MOVE Friday night. I saw six of them this summer. But whether it was Oregon or Tennessee didn’t matter. They all looked the same. As each evening came to a close, we’d call the students’ attention to a little green envelope they received earlier that night. The instructions were pretty simple. Inside the envelope was a task, one of fifty tasks to be exact. If you open the envelope, you have to complete the task. Be careful because the tasks are really hard. In fact, you probably shouldn’t open the envelope. Seriously, don’t open the envelope.

We didn’t want it to feel like manipulation. There was a safety hatch if they wanted to bail. It wasn’t just rhetoric either. These tasks really were tough. One of the fifty said to collect 500 coats for needy kids in your community. Another required the recipient to learn a foreign language and go to a country where it is spoken next summer. Another said to skip prom. What? Skip prom? I’d rather go to Burma!

Each week I stood on stage after making the pitch and watched as hundreds of students threw my warning to the side and stood to say that they were going to open the card. Remember that scene in the proverbial movie where the heroic captain/school teacher/vegan was going to be killed/fired/made to drink milk unless he surrendered/stopped using rap music to teach poetry/ate a hamburger but then all of the sailors/students/PETA supporters stood up in his defense? That’s what it was kind of like. There was always crazy determination in their eyes. High school students are gutsy, they really are gutsy.

I’d select a few from the standing and bring them up on stage to open their card in front of everyone. Chris opened his card in Tennessee and learned that he wouldn’t be buying any new clothes for a year. He made the commitment, in front of 1,200 people, to give that money to the children’s ministry at his church. Chris is gutsy, really gutsy.

Yet Chris isn’t alone. There were literally thousands of other students who stepped up and accepted the challenge to be a kingdom worker this summer. Right now, these stories are playing out in soup kitchens, recycling centers, and locker rooms all over the country. You should get involved too… at your own risk of course.

Go to www.weamplify.com to see the stories of these gutsy kingdom workers.