What would you do if your neighbors had run out of water? If you learned they were walking for miles to find something, anything, to wash dishes and clothes—and to drink? What if you knew it was polluted by sewage and giving them diseases such as malaria and cholera? If it was proven that all this was killing them?
Your neighbors are dying from lack of clean water.
Around the world, 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean water. Each day, about 6,000 people, mostly children, die from diseases related to bad or no water; that’s nearly 2.2 million deaths a year.
Five teen guys from Acworth, Ga., are doing something to change those numbers and to save lives through Dry Tears, the nonprofit organization they created. In early 2006, Conner Cress, 17, recruited four longtime friends from youth group to raise money to dig clean wells in Africa. Conner; Jared Ciervo, 17; Kyle Blakely, 18; Dan Mirolli, 17; and Logan Weber, 17, pooled their resources and began selling blue rubber bracelets. Now, four wells and $18,000 later, Dry Tears continues to gain momentum, bringing water—and life—to Africa “one tear at a time,” as they put it.
Why? Because these guys believe that part of loving Jesus means serving others. They understand that along with the abundance they have received from God comes the responsibility to give generously to those in need. They . . . well, why not let these world-changers tell you all about it in their own words?
Breakaway: How did you bunch of guys from Georgia start this movement? Why Africa? Why wells?
Conner: Almost two years ago, I was reading a magazine article talking about the issues of clean water and dehydration [in Africa]. It kind of blew me away. It was the first time I’d been truly exposed to what’s going on in the world. What really hit me was that when kids get so dehydrated, they can’t cry real tears, because their tear ducts are dried up.
For a long time I didn’t know what to do about it. I felt like God was telling me to do something. I felt a compassion for the kids. So during the summer, I kept praying, You gave me this heart; what am I supposed to do about it? I can’t make a big enough impact. I talked with friends and realized I could come up with more money by selling bracelets. So together we pulled all our money together and bought 1,000 bracelets and started selling them to family, friends, our church. It just took off from there.
Jared: Before this got kicked off, I wanted to help but had no idea how to get involved. I felt honestly that maybe I’m too young to do anything. I can’t really drop everything and go over and save Africa. I don’t have a full-time job. Then Conner came up with the idea to sell bracelets. Honestly, it’s gotten a lot bigger than we expected. It felt good to try something, to take that one step to do something to help people and to do something God’s called us to do.
How does the process work? Where does the money you raise go?
Dan: We raise money selling T-shirts and bracelets when we go to present our campaign. Each well is roughly $3,000, and we’ve purchased [most of] them through Blood:Water Mission, which was started by Jars of Clay. In the next 10 years, they’re trying to dig 1,000 wells across Africa.
Conner: What’s also cool is that when they build wells, they actually get people in the community to help. So at the same time they provide jobs, giving back to the community.
How have you seen God spread your influence?
Jared: It’s really been amazing for us to watch God continually open doors that we never thought would open. As of last September, we had raised close to $18,000 for wells. It’s been incredible to watch God work through this. It’s just been getting bigger. It’s also been fun to see people get excited, such as our friends at school taking this idea and telling people about Dry Tears and about this issue of water.
Tell Breakaway readers, what is the big deal about water?
Logan: We take water for granted. Clean water is something we can get anytime we want it. There are 1.1 billion people [worldwide] who don’t have access to clean water. That’s not right. You should have access to clean water whenever you want it, just like we have it here.
Jared: A lot of Africans are dying from dehydration. They’re not getting any water at all. And the water they are getting is so dirty and polluted. It has countless waterborne diseases that they’re drinking until they’re dying.
Conner: The average walking distance to get clean water is about six miles. And the big jugs they carry on their heads aren’t enough for the whole day. Sometimes they have to make multiple trips, and it takes the whole day to get water for that day to bathe, wash clothes and drink.
Dan: I heard this story about a missionary to Africa. A little boy asked him, “Where are you from?” He said “America,” and the little boy asked, “Is it true you flush your toilets with drinking water?” Whether or not you know it, the water that goes into your toilet is the same water that comes out of your sink’s faucets. It’s pure water to begin. This boy couldn’t grasp how we use drinking-quality water to flush waste.
Do you think of yourselves as world-changers?
Conner: Sometimes in my mind [our work] may seem smaller than it is, sometimes maybe bigger. I only know I’m doing God’s work, and I believe God considers us world-changers.
Jared: The way I like to think of what we’re doing is that we’re just telling God that we love him. Through everything that He has given us, we are just giving back and verbalizing, “God, I love you”—just living it out.
Dan: God’s really the one who’s changing the world. We’re just privileged enough to be used by Him.
Have you encountered struggles along the way?
Logan: We all donated kind of a big sum of our own money to get [Dry Tears] started. I struggled trusting that it really was going to work. But I saw these guys putting it all into God’s hands. God has provided, so it’s been incredible.
Conner: I want readers to know we’re not anything special. I’ve experienced pretty much all the hits that the devil can throw at you. The struggles that these readers are going through—I’ve felt a lot of them to some degree. You can tell that the devil doesn’t like what we’re doing. These guys do a good job at encouraging and picking me back up.
Jared: I recommend this for everybody: Find a core group of friends like I have here to speak about personal stuff and have accountability every week. Have a group of core friends who you know you can trust to get on your case when you’re not living rightly. It has helped me incredibly to grow stronger in my walk with Christ.
Do you guys feel like you are serving people or God more through Dry Tears?
Logan: In Matthew 25:40, Jesus talks about how whatever you do to the least of these men, you do to Him. So we’re helping these people who are in need, and it’s like we’re helping Jesus at the same time. We’re doing both.
Kyle: One of the first things Jesus says [as He starts His public ministry] is a quote from Isaiah 61:1. He says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). And in Jeremiah 22:16, God’s talking about King Josiah. It says, “ ‘He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ declares the LORD.”
How can other teen guys serve God and serve people?
Dan: Dream bigger and go farther. In the Bible there are many instances where God chooses the young, such as King David and King Josiah, who led Israel at age 9. You don’t have to wait until you’re 18 or 21 to make a difference in the world. It’s also absolutely necessary to stay plugged in to your church. We would not be here today if not for our youth group pushing for making a difference.
Kyle: Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12,”Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” And Hebrews 13:16 is a verse I try to grasp a lot. It says, “Do not forget to do good and to share with others.” God gave us a lot of stuff, and we’re supposed to share with people who don’t have that stuff.
Jared: Keep your ideas completely centered on God and what He has called you to do. Obviously we’re trying to get kids to understand this need for water, and hopefully they’ll be able to hop on with what we’re doing. This is our passion that we have found. We feel this situation is not right, and we want to try to fix it anyway we can. But as Zach Hunter [of Loose Change to Loosen Chains] talks about, we try to tell others to find what they are passionate about. Find whatever God has laid on your heart to do. It doesn’t necessarily have to be starting a new organization; just get involved somewhere and fix something that you don’t think is right with the world and be passionate about it. If God’s laid it on your heart, go and chase after it. 
