God's dream for the world can be expressed in the old Hebrew word "shalom," often translated "peace" in English, but it is more than that. Shalom is a full-bodied word that points to a peaceful and just world saturated with a holistic sense of well-being that is extended to and shared by all people and all creation -- in other words, a world made right.

A huge obstacle to shalom in our world is the fact that a billion people on our planet -- 1 in 6 of us -- live without access to safe, clean drinking water. Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Many people in the developing world, usually women and children, walk more than three hours every day to fetch water that is likely to make them sick. Children are especially vulnerable to the consequences of unsafe water. Of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and a lack of basic sanitation, 90% are children under 5 years old. Clean water is basic to life, to health, to well-being... to shalom. And to have so many people in this world, especially children, who don't have it is simply unacceptable, a travesty of justice.

Building clean water wells is one way we can be a part of bringing God's dream of shalom to the world. I hope you will join me in being part of it.