Teen campaigns for fresh water in Sudan

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP)—Joshua Guthrie has a message for teenagers: they can do something to make the world a better place. And he is leading by example.

Guthrie, a 16-year-old high school sophomore dually enrolled at Union University in Jackson, Tenn., has launched an initiative to raise money for a freshwater well in Sudan.

Called “Dollar for a Drink,” the campaign also is intended to help provide clean drinking water for the Sudanese people as a demonstration of God’s love for them.

Joshua Guthrie

“The concept is extremely simple,” said Guthrie, whose father is a Bible professor at Union University. “Give up one drink, and instead give that $1 to help build a well in Sudan. Our objective is for one well, which is $8,000, by Christmas 2008.”

More than 12 million people in Sudan lack adequate access to clean water, he noted. Digging wells is also expensive, because the dry climate requires deep digging to get to the water.

In addition, Guthrie stressed, the lack of water leads to tribal conflicts.

“So, in a way, putting in more wells not only eliminates the thirst, but also wars as well,” he said.

Guthrie is working on the project with Baptist Global Response, an international relief and development organization, which has set aside a specific well for which Guthrie is raising money. Once the money is collected, Baptist Global Response will send in a team to dig the well, and the workers will use their time in Sudan as an opportunity to talk with people about the love of God.

The project launched in September. Although larger donations are welcomed, Guthrie is asking people to donate $1—about what it would cost to purchase a soft drink—to the effort. Some may think their small donation doesn’t matter, but Guthrie disagrees.

“I like to think of every dollar as a droplet of water,” he said. “By itself, that droplet can’t do a whole lot of good. But if you combine them all, you really have this large power source that really can make a large dent in the situation in Sudan.”

He has collected about $3,855 so far.

“This is a way all of us can be doers of the word,” Guthrie said. “Right now, in the next few minutes, we can act on Jesus words’ where he said, ‘When I was thirsty, you gave me a drink.’ Our Sudanese brothers and sisters are the least of these, so we hope that people will not delay giving, but act now if the Spirit is prompting them.”

He especially hopes teenagers will get involved in the effort, perhaps adopting it as a project for their church youth groups. Guthrie is a member of Northbrook Church, a Baptist congregation in Humboldt, Tenn.

“I really hope to be a motivation to other teenagers that it really doesn’t matter what your age is, you can make a difference in the world and overcome the low expectations of the culture,” he said.