Humanitarian aid opens doors for the gospel in areas Cru missionaries can't access without it.
Hundreds of college students are joining a nationwide movement to forgo Spring Break partying and instead use the week off to address the global water crisis. Students with Cru’s U.S. Campus Ministry, representing 50 universities from around the country, will spend time abroad this spring helping to bring clean water to some of the world’s most impoverished communities in places such as Cuba, Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Nicaragua.
As students tackle this vital physical need, they will also address the emotional and spiritual needs of the community, using water as an analogy to share the life-transforming hope that comes through Jesus, known in the Bible as the Living Water.
The Cru-led trips are in partnership with Filter of Hope, a nonprofit that has developed a revolutionary household water filter specifically designed to bring clean water to families living in abject poverty, or on only two dollars per day. During the trips, students will be inspired and challenged as they work alongside Filter of Hope’s local partner churches and missionaries to provide families with life-saving clean water solutions.
“Year after year, students come back from these trips completely changed,” said Mark Gauthier, executive director of Cru’s U.S. Campus Ministry. “Participating in Filter of Hope not only gives students a chance to experience a new culture and meet amazing people, but also the opportunity to transform a community and truly be the hands and feet of Jesus.”
Today more than 778 million people around the world are living without clean drinking water. For the past five years, Cru and Filter of Hope have worked hand-in-hand to combat this global water crisis, sending thousands of students to high-need countries, changing the spiritual and physical lives of families one water filter at a time. Currently there are 61,500 Filter of Hope filters being used around the world in 49 countries, making more than 9.2 million gallons of clean water available each day.
To learn more about Filter of Hope trips and other Cru campus initiatives, visit Cru.org/Campus.
About Cru
Cru is a caring community that has been helping students thrive in college since 1951. Nationally, Cru has 2,300 campus ministries engaging more than 101,000 students and faculty in ministry on U.S. college campuses.
Cru's campus ministry is committed to offering students and faculty a chance to know Jesus and take the gospel to the campus, community and world. Cru serves as a resource on high school and college campuses through educational, social and spiritual programs that range from large, campus-wide events and conferences to small, intimate Bible studies and accountability groups.
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