June, 2013—When we first met Omar*, the water in his rural Kenyan community had dried up. Months without rain had caused a devastating drought, and the village reservoir was practically empty.
Unable to rely on scarce water trucking from the government, many people in Omar’s village were forced to travel 30 kilometers on foot every day for dirty water. They were desperate for help, and support from generous Canadians like you made a difference.
Your donations, along with a grant from the federal government’s Canadian International Development Agency, enabled us to expand the village’s reservoir so that it could store more rain water. We also constructed a fence and hand pump, so the villagers could care for their livestock without contaminating the community’s water source.
Today, the village has accessible, clean water because of the support of people like you. Omar chlorinates and protects the reservoir to ensure that this source lasts for years to come—filling up every rainy season and sustaining the community during dry spells.
“The day the bulldozer finished working, it rained and the water filled up the reservoir,” he said. “God blessed us! We cherish this project. It is so important to us as a community.”
It’s vital to Adla*, a mother of eight children. “It makes a very big difference,” she said. “I had no water. But now I am able to come to the pond and get some.”
Someone from her household visits the new reservoir twice every day, which is one kilometer away from her home. That is a great improvement from before, when she used to depend on either water trucking or an unreliable well that went dry frequently. Omar has reported that not only does the village now have water, but the overall health of his ten children and the community at large has greatly improved.
Your generous gifts are in the process of expanding eight water reservoirs in total in this drought-stricken region. Seeds of the Gospel are also being planted and watered because of your compassion.
Several people in Omar’s village—including Omar himself—have begun faith conversations with our staff. Our prayer is that they will come to know Christ through our relief efforts, so that His presence “will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13, NIV).
But there is so much more to be done.
Countless people in this region continue to face dehydration and death without the hope of Christ because of circumstances beyond their control. Omar, who knows the need in Kenya better than anyone, asked us to pass on a message to you:
“As you go back to Canada,” he said, “take greetings from our community and ask the people in Canada if there’s any more support they can give.”
Please help. Your gifts provide water to the thirsty in Jesus’ name and declare the Gospel to those who desperately need to hear it.
* Names have been changed to protect privacy.
Save the life of a child or adult in a developing country by providing safe water along with health and hygiene education that will help protect them from deadly, but preventable, diseases. Simple and effective water filters, community wells and water storage solutions, and sanitation facilities can all drastically improve lives and open doors to share the eternal hope of Jesus Christ.