CLEAN WATER AS A TOOL: When most of us learn that almost 1 billion people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water our immediate reaction is one of shock, surprise and a knee jerk ‘what can we do?’.  This is good.  It’s good when we hear something so ridiculous it causes us to even question the validity of the claim.  When we hear that 4,500 mothers will bury 4,500 children today just because they were drinking dirty water, it breaks our hearts.  We want to do something.  We want to help.  We want to give them the clean water that will prevent these senseless deaths. As a result, 100’s of incredible water specific NGO’s are formed and work to alleviate and eliminate the suffering caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.  We learn from and applaud their efforts but more importantly, the people they serve benefit from their passion to see the poor provided with sustainable clean water solutions.  This is good.  But what if it could be better?  What if there’s more at stake in these remote villages of Africa and Asia than just dirty water? What if we could help prevent the sickness, the malnutrition, the death AND help advance God’s Kingdom? ‘How can we achieve both of these?’ you might ask.  The answer lies with the local church using clean water as a tool to share Christ and love their neighbors.   For Neverthirst, experienced and dedicated water partners on the ground are invaluable.  But as important to our work is the local church or church planter.  Clean water is great but clean water as a tool to advance the gospel is greater.  When we partner with local churches to provide clean water and sanitation in remote villages several things happen.   1. The local church gains a reputation for caring for the community 2. The local church gains trust and favor with local families which can lead to       individual gospel presentations 3. The local church openly and practically demonstrates the love of Christ 4. Inevitably, the community will listen to a gospel presentation from a group that cares for them so much to bring them clean water Jesus said in Mark 8:36, ‘What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’  In the same way we ask the question, ‘What good is it for a man to gain clean water, yet forfeit his soul?’   Why not do both?  You can help the local church provide clean water and the opportunity to respond to the Living Water.  This is good. View high resolution

CLEAN WATER AS A TOOL:

When most of us learn that almost 1 billion people on the planet lack access to safe drinking water our immediate reaction is one of shock, surprise and a knee jerk ‘what can we do?’.  This is good.  It’s good when we hear something so ridiculous it causes us to even question the validity of the claim.  When we hear that 4,500 mothers will bury 4,500 children today just because they were drinking dirty water, it breaks our hearts.  We want to do something.  We want to help.  We want to give them the clean water that will prevent these senseless deaths.

As a result, 100’s of incredible water specific NGO’s are formed and work to alleviate and eliminate the suffering caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.  We learn from and applaud their efforts but more importantly, the people they serve benefit from their passion to see the poor provided with sustainable clean water solutions.  This is good. 

But what if it could be better?  What if there’s more at stake in these remote villages of Africa and Asia than just dirty water?

What if we could help prevent the sickness, the malnutrition, the death AND help advance God’s Kingdom?

‘How can we achieve both of these?’ you might ask.  The answer lies with the local church using clean water as a tool to share Christ and love their neighbors.  

For Neverthirst, experienced and dedicated water partners on the ground are invaluable.  But as important to our work is the local church or church planter.  Clean water is great but clean water as a tool to advance the gospel is greater.  When we partner with local churches to provide clean water and sanitation in remote villages several things happen.  

1. The local church gains a reputation for caring for the community

2. The local church gains trust and favor with local families which can lead to       individual gospel presentations

3. The local church openly and practically demonstrates the love of Christ

4. Inevitably, the community will listen to a gospel presentation from a group that cares for them so much to bring them clean water

Jesus said in Mark 8:36, ‘What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?’  In the same way we ask the question, ‘What good is it for a man to gain clean water, yet forfeit his soul?’  

Why not do both?  You can help the local church provide clean water and the opportunity to respond to the Living Water.  This is good.

Sudan - Joy Abundant

We just returned from Sudan this past Saturday night after over 40 hours of travel - Sudan to Entebbe to London to Atlanta to Birmingham.  And this came on the heels of a 10 day India effort.  So now the process of pouring over hours of video footage and thousands of images begins. All in the hopes of best communicating what we have seen, experienced and heard from our friends living in Sudan.

I hope over the next several weeks we’ll be able to tell many stories.  Stories of hope, of dignity, of love, of perseverance and of suffering.  I am always encouraged by our brothers and sisters in Christ there - no matter the circumstances, I have always found smiles.

One of the villages we had the privilege to visit was Miri Dokota of East Mundri county. They are on our list of villages we hope to supply with clean water this year.  In particular I want to introduce you to Louis Martin.  Louis is a member of the local church here in Miri Dokota and volunteered to be interviewed as we arrived.

We asked her to describe ‘a day in the life’ and she began describing the typical day for all the women living in Miri Dokota.  It begins early as they set out on their quest for water - dirty water.  She pointed out that many of the women had not even returned from gathering water at that point….it was 1pm….and over 90 degrees.  You see, we happen to be there at the beginning of the dry season and found out it takes them hours to find a source that has not dried up.  These are typically hand dug holes or a few of the steams that have not dried up.

The most heartbreaking news came as she described how they had been told three years ago that their village would receive clean water.  In anticipation, and as their community contribution, they had cleared a path for the trucks and drilling rigs to reach them….a path they had kept clear for three years in the hope the group would return - but they never did.

Louis’ response - ‘as Christians we are still praying to God and know that He will provide it.’

Our response - Yes, He will.

I wanted to tell you that it didn’t take us long to get Louis to smile.  You see, there is a joy unspeakable in most all of the Sudanese we’ve met.  And no matter the miles they walk for dirty water and the disappointment the years of war have brought, they have found this joy in Christ - and they’re happy to tell you so.

It is a great opportunity God gives us to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our hope is that you will join us in our mission to strengthen the church in Sudan through clean water.

Neverthirst Vids

Be sure and check out all of our Neverthirst videos on Vimeo - the coolest video sharing site.

Merry Christmas Sudan

We want to give over 8,000 people living in South Sudan the gift of clean water this Christmas.  When you purchase these cards, you help us make that possible.

On October 15th we hosted our first Water is Life benefit in Birmingham, Alabama.  We were honored to have Steven Sivley and Mandi Mapes open us up and Sara Evans headine a great night.

Displays of our work in India, Sudan and Central African Republic lined the hallway as guests walked through and viewed the incredible work of photographers Jason Wallis, Esther Havens, Chase Khun and Daniel Phillips.

So many thanks go to FarmLinks for being our Title Sponsor and all the other table captains and corporate sponsors who made the evening possible.

Our friend, Jason Wallis, was kind enough to show up before the show and take photographs of our displays and then he captured Sara performing for our sold out show.

For more about our work, visit www.neverthirstwater.org.

Neverthirst is kicking off our Adopt a Village campaign in 2010 - we’re looking for 250 churches, small groups, organizations and families to adopt a village in either India, Sudan or Central African Republic.

When you do this, a village will receive clean water through their local church.  Can you imagine anything better?  Clean water and the Gospel…this will change a community forever.

Join us - sign up, tell your friends, invite us to speak and change the life of people living in some of the most remote and poor villages in the world.

This is a ‘thank you’ to all who made these wells possible in India!

neverthirst

Greetings everyone - we just returned from India a few weeks back where we were able to evaluate one of our first projects up north with local house churches.  The response to clean water has been great - 2,640 people served with clean water, 165 new baptisms since we began in January, 12 new house churches and training of 13 new pastors for area.

Water and the Gospel have made a great impact on the lives of the people living in these remote villages.

I do want to clarify something however - we provide clean water in villages regardless of religious beliefs or ethnic backgrounds - but we will always do this in partnership with the local church - always.

The photo below is one of the wells from this project - Clean water is such a perfect picture of the love of God to these people….we love it, and so do they!

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