Some years ago, the guys from Jars of Clay came up with this dream of digging one thousand wells in Africa.

I remember when I first heard it.  While I believed their dream to be quite commendable, I quietly thought that it was a bit ambitious – one of those “they really bit off more than they can chew” things.  After all, what can four guys in a band do?  Mind you, I never said this, but I thought it.

Presently, because of their passion and their dream, there are more than a thousand wells that have been dug in as many communities in Africa impacting more that 600,000 men, women, and children who now have accessible and clean water. And through the good work of Blood: Water Mission, their work is expanding in incredible ways. (check out www.bloodwatermission.org)

I’ve learned some important lessons from these guys – Things will never happen unless you dream, and dreams won’t become realized unless you walk courageously into them. I’ve also learned that you can begin something before you have all the resources at hand.  Sometimes, you just need to start.

I don’t know about you, but the thing that has often stopped me from dreaming is the enormity of the task in front of me.  It can get overwhelming and I’m tempted to  scale down the dream, pull back on the reins, and slow down or even stop.

What about you?

As you look at this broken world and want to make a difference, what do you dream? And what are all the reasons you’ve listed that convince you that you can’t proceed? – It’s too big?  It costs too much?  People will laugh?  I don’t have the skills?

Let me encourage you with three words: Dig One Well. That’s what my friends did.  And they’ve never stopped.