Jumping Outside the Box into Africa

By Jessie Miller, Volunteer BWM

  “At 42 years old, having been raised in the church, I realized over the past six years I knew a lot about religion but not a lot about God,” said Bill Nelson of Countryside Christian Church in Michigan City, IN who recently led his church in a campaign to aide the 1000 Wells Project. Over the past 30 years Nelson and others at the church had come to realize that religion divorced from action had begun to define Countryside.  He realized that his life and who he cared about looked nothing like that of Jesus. After digging deeper he said, “These are the people Jesus cared about,” (referring to those in Africa).
    Desiring to help with the evident need in Africa, Nelson began by researching organization on top of organization to find the perfect fit for his church. He came across Blood:Water Mission and the “2 Weeks of Sacrifice” campaign challenging his church to make water their only beverage for 2 weeks and decided that was it.
    Now the preparation for the challenge began. Nelson started by teaching his church about the lives of their neighbors in Africa five months previous to the challenge. He gave statistics to make the church aware of the apparent need for clean water. He preached a sermon from Matthew 25 where Jesus says, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”  Nelson remarks, “I thought church was about making sure the choir sang well, the budget balanced, the sermons challenged but didn’t offend and always making the annual church hog roast better than last year. I discovered that Jesus was more interested in defending the weak and marginalized.” This was the message he was trying to relay to the church and it got across.
    Countryside was now slowly starting to build momentum. Even long before the challenge was to begin, donations that were not asked for began to flow in. Countryside came up with the name H20 Africa for their journey. They ordered water bottles and rubber bracelets to sell. They got together a team of volunteers to help organize packets and work an information table. Now a church of 1200 members was ready to do their part in loving their neighbors as themselves.
    During the two weeks, church members would meet in small groups and discuss how the challenge was affecting them.  Even kids in the church were getting involved. They would do the challenge together at school, telling their friends and teachers about their sacrifice. Nelson said he began to see amazing things happen with his church.  The 2-Week-Challenge helped to unify his church and to make them more mission minded.
    An article had been run in a local newspaper half-way though the challenge and people from all over the community began to help out. A state senator came by the church and gave a donation. A school principle from another faith community wanted to get involved. Several local business people wanted to donate to the challenge.  Countryside’s commitment to the challenge was beginning to help their town embrace an attitude of a true community.
    “When I first started dreaming of this I thought we can do one at least two wells,” said Nelson. Now after raising almost $50,000 he says, “How I limited God. Blood: Water Mission helped create a movement that is now going to reach more people for the Kingdom.”