Items needed

· A big bowl of water the bigger the better! a clear glass or plastic bowl works best!

· A towel (in case of spills!)

Hold the bowl of water in your lap or on a small table and seat the children around so that they, too, can reach the water.

Concept

To review uses of water, where it comes from, and talk about those who don't have access to water and the difference that our Week of Compassion gifts make.

What do I have in this bowl? (Water)

Where did this water come from? (The sink, the kitchen, the faucet, etc.)

What do we use water for? (Get as many answers here as possible . . . push them to think about water used for things like "making Kool-Aid, washing dishes, washing clothes, washing hands, taking baths, flushing toilets, swimming, etc.)

What does water feel like? (Let them put their hands in the water, wait for as many answers as possible.) Feels pretty good, doesn't it?

What would you do if you didn't have any water in your house? (Wait for answers)

Did you know that everybody has to have water every day to be healthy and growing?

There are people in other places in the world who don't have water in their houses. In fact, some of them don't have water in their towns. They can't go to a sink and turn on the faucet and get a bowl full of water. They can't wash their hands when they want or take a hot bath. Some people in the world have to walk several miles to find clean water to drink and THEN they have to carry it back to their homes for their families to use.

Could you carry this bowl of water home with you today? It would be pretty difficult, wouldn't it? It might slosh and spill and it could get kind of heavy, too! What if you carried this bowl of water home with youtoday and it was ALL the water that your family had for the whole day! This would have to be water for making your evening meal, washing your dishes, drinks for the afternoon, baths and brushing teeth for the evening . . . WOW . . . that would be hard to do, wouldn't it!

Some people don't have clean water anywhere near their homes. But some missionaries and very special friends of ours are trying to help them. They are helping to dig wells and waterways to get clean water to people who don't have it.

Our friends are able to help them because of the money, the gifts that we you and me and your parents share with the Week of Compassion offering. That word "compassion" means "caring and sharing God's love." So, through our gifts through the money we give we are caring and sharing God's love with people who don't have water, so that they, too, can get what they need to have water. Water for living.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for water and for the many ways that we use water in our lives. Thank you that our Week of Compassion offering can help others to have water in their lives, too. Bless our gifts that they can bring our caring and sharing of Your love. In Jesus' name. Amen.FACTS:

· Landmines maim or kill an average of three people every hour.

· Seventy percent of the world's poor are women and children.

· The percentage of Americans calling themselves happy peaked in 1957 even though consumption has more than doubled in the meantime.

· Less than three percent of the world's water is freshwater fit for human consumption and usage.