Blood:Water Mission
or Christian rock band Jars of
Clay, giving a cup of cold water
in Jesus’ name has become a
mission. When lead singer, Dan
Haseltine, visited Africa several
years ago, he struggled to comprehend the enormity of suffering—
both physical and social. The Lord
birthed within his heart (as well as
the rest of the Jars crew) a vision for
clean blood and clean water—blood
free of the HIV virus and water free
of bacteria and parasites. The band
began to work toward the healing and
wholeness of Africa through the provision of clean blood and water—Christ’s
sacrificial symbols.
Haseltine feels they are called to tell
the stories of those suffering so that the
Church can understand that these nameless
faces are individuals—people with hopes
and dreams and God-given abilities. As
Haseltine puts it, “When you start having
a relationship with somebody, you start to
know them, then you can act and benefit
them with dignity in a way that’s actually
going to make a difference. As we start to
care, other people will start to care, but we
have to tell their story. We have to say this
is the community in Africa.”
With just one dollar, Blood:Water
Mission is able to provide one person with
clean drinking water for a year—clean
drinking water to a continent where unsanitary water is the killer of over 1.7 million, annually. Donor support to BWM also
goes to fund medications to fight HIV/AIDS
and to local education about the problems
of unclean blood. Beyond this, the mission
is actively involved in building clean wells
in Africa and supporting medical facilities
that care for the sick.
“Worship is responding to God by
using the gifts, using the desires He’s
planted within us to effect change and
enter into suffering. That for me is a
new understanding of worship that I’ve
never had to this point,” Haseltine says.
Stephen Mason, guitarist for Jars
of Clay, adds, “What we’re talking about is a profoundly difficult
thing and it needs to be talked about
frankly and honestly. As the Church
or the community we need to live
this way—to agree to resource the
things that make us more available
to the losers and the have-nots of society
rather than build programs that make us
look better or that simply draw in the ‘
together’ people. We need to identify with
these people and it will require us to give
as a sacrifice.”
The band members have embraced
this opportunity to enable people to offer
God’s hand of mercy in the broken places
of the world. They believe that through
bringing the crisis to the minds and
hearts of Americans and through presenting opportunities to make a positive
and tangible impact in Africa, lives will
be transformed, both here and there.
www.bloodwatermission.com
