Living Waters’ documentary “180” is taking academia by storm.  180,000 copies of the DVD were distributed on more than 100 college and university campuses throughout the United States and Canada, in a single day.  More than 1,300 Christians volunteered their time, talent, and resources to make the project a wonderful success.

Following the college/university project we, at Living Waters, immediately recognized that we could not stop with distributing “180” on college and university campuses.  We had to reach even younger students.  We knew we had to get the life-saving, life-changing message of “180” to students on high school campuses.  And the “180 Grass Roots High School Campaign” was born.

The Living Waters team began this grass roots effort to reach high school students by going to three of the more well-known high schools in the greater Los Angeles area—Beverly Hills High, Hollywood High, and Burbank High.  In about an two hours’ time, approximately 2,000 DVDs were distributed to students as they left their respective campuses.

There are far more high school campuses in the United States and around the world than college and university campuses.  Our initial vision was to reach 500,000 high school students, on 100 high school campuses, in each of the 50 states.  But our overall vision is much larger than that.  We want to see every high school student, on every high school campus around the world receive “180.”  Needless to say, the fulfillment of this vision will require far more laborers than any evangelism project the ministry has previously undertaken.

Living Waters is contacted daily by people like you—people who want to be part of what God is doing through the distribution of “180.”  While the DVD is only $1 (when you order ten or more), we understand that the financial investment to reach even one high school in your area could be significant.  Living Waters wishes we had the financial resources to be able to simply give away the DVDs for the Grass Roots High School Campaign.  But until the Lord provides those resources, reaching high schools with “180” is going to require everyone involved to pitch in for this effort to be a success.

Here are some practical ways you can raise the funds to purchase enough DVDs to distribute outside your local high school(s).

1. Get your church involved.  Most churches have an annual budget for evangelism and outreach.  Certainly reaching local high school students with the gospel of Jesus Christ is worth considering when determining how the church uses its evangelism funds.
   
   
2. Ask your pastor/elders if a special offering can be collected during a Sunday morning worship service.  Make sure your pastor understands that this special offering would be over and above the church family’s regular weekly giving.
   
   
3. Suggest to your church leadership hosting a special event, such as a car wash or church yard sale, with the proceeds designated for the “180 High School Grass Roots Campaign.  Events like these would be a great way to involve the church’s youth ministry in the fundraising effort.
   
   
4. Ask your Facebook and Twitter friends to join you in a Starbucks/fast food fast for a week and donate the money they saved to your fund raising efforts.  Think about it.  If your friends spend $10 in a week on Starbucks and eating out, and 50 of your friends and relatives pledge to join you in the fast, in a week’s time you will raise $500 toward the purchase of the “180” DVDs you will need for your local effort.
   
   
5. Get creative!  Use the above suggestions as springboards for your own creative ideas.