CLEAN WATER

In the southern part of the Sahel region, there lives a man named Israel. Israel used to be a Muslim but was rejected by his family when he converted to Christianity.  Israel moved to the city to find a job, but would return to visit his family and try to tell them about Christ.  When he was visiting, he noticed that the children were frequently very sick.  With no doctor in the village, these sicknesses were often debilitating and sometimes fatal.  A few years ago, we brought a water filter to Israel’s village and taught the villagers how to use the filter and to share the clean water with all the families.  The next time Israel returned, his father told him that the children were no longer getting sick.  The filter had cleaned the disease-causing amoebas from the water and stopped the children from getting infected. The relationship that had previously been strained by religious differences began the healing process and Israel soon introduced his older brother to Christ.

Millions of people worldwide have no access to clean water.  Unclean water is a leading cause of death in Africa.  Young children are particularly at risk for diseases carried by dirty drinking and bathing water. Women and children often walk for miles to fill their water buckets from a clean water source, and even these sources are commonly contaminated by amoebas and water-borne pathogens.  We work with incoming teams to purchase Sawyer Water Filters and transport them to families and villages that have no source of clean water.  We then revisit within the next few weeks to check on the effect that the clean water has made.  Each time, the result is astounding.  Within a very short timespan, something as simple as providing clean water has made a visible difference in the people who drink from it.

Like with the food distribution, each water filter is prayed over before it is given.  Each time a family or village receives a water filter, they are introduced to the One who promises that through him we will never thirst again.

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones; truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.” – Matthew 10:42