In Asia and Africa, millions suffer as dirty water brings sickness—diarrhea and typhoid stealing lives—while weary mothers and children trek miles for it. GFA World, moved by God's love, brings Jesus Wells to their doorsteps. Clean water flows near homes, chasing away disease and giving time for school and rest. Local workers share Jesus' love, a gift beyond the physical. What joy to see one well, dug in faith, become a stream of hope, lifting families from despair!
Jesus Wells provide fresh water year-round, protecting communities from waterborne illnesses and sparing women and children from spending hours fetching water. Obtaining clean water is also vital for practicing safe hygiene and for supporting healthy immune systems, both of which prevent the spread of diseases. Pastors serving near Jesus Wells are able to share about the Living Water mentioned on the well’s plaque. Providing safe water—either by drilling a new well or maintaining existing wells—is a practical way to show communities how much God and His children care for all people! $30 can help a family of 6 people, $300 can help 10 families, and $1,400 can help an entire village.
The gift of clean water is both practical and helps to transform communities. Through a monthly gift, you can help provide a complete well throughout a year. Give a monthly gift of whatever amount, and help transform communities through clean water.
Today, national missionaries are bringing words of life and hope to people in places where Christs’ love has never been shared. National missionaries understand the communities they serve and relate with them culturally. They live sacrificially so others can find the grace and new life Jesus offers and fill an integral role in distributing Christmas gifts. They also provide immediate aid to communities experiencing a crisis, such as during the coronavirus pandemic. Finally, they freely offer prayer and counsel to gift recipients and everyone in their communities. By giving toward GFA World’s National Missionary Program, you’ll equip men and women to serve full time by covering their living and ministry expenses—resulting in lives transformed for eternity.
Give a gift of $540 for a year-long sponsorship to help our brothers and sisters show God’s love in tangible ways.
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It is my prayer that God may touch our hearts with the immense suffering of millions of people who desperately need clean water for their life on earth and the Water of Life for their spirits that only Jesus can give them.
In our world, we can turn on the tap and take a nice, warm shower in clean water. We enjoy our coffee or tea made with the best tasting drinking water available. We cook, mop the floor and run our dishwasher and washing machine—all with clean, hot and cold water readily available. Throughout the day, we drink plenty of pure water to keep healthy. It’s all part of normal life for us, and we hardly think how blessed we are.
All the while, 2.2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, and 829,000 of them will die this year from waterborne diseases—most of which could be prevented through clean water initiatives like Jesus Wells.
In Vimal’s world, the struggle for water never ends. As a farmer, his entire crop will fail if he can’t find enough water for irrigation, and his livestock won’t survive, especially during the drought season.
In the early mornings, Vimal’s wife gets up to fetch water from an unreliable water source for her household of six. She must walk one mile to get there, then stand in line until it’s her turn to fill her 2.5-gallon water jug and carry it back home on her head. And because she and her family use the water for drinking, cooking, bathing and washing clothes, she must make the trip at least four to five times a day. That amounts to 10 miles of walking— five of those carrying a heavy load—and a couple hours of waiting. And that’s before she can even start her household chores. Even when she’s not feeling well, she still needs to get water for her family.
In April and May, things become even more challenging for Vimal and the entire village of 70 families as drought season begins. Water levels drop and everyone—including children—dig for water or fetch whatever water they can find from the now-muddied village pond to take to their homes. Children miss school because they’re having to help find water. Families are unable to cook healthy meals or wash their clothes. Fights break out as people wait their turn to fill their jugs with the limited supply of dirty pond water.
And because their only option is drinking polluted water, people end up with a lot of stomach problems, such as diarrhea and waterborne diseases. Sadly, several people in Vimal’s village have died, including his uncle and a child.
What I just described was normal life in Vimal’s village, until one day national missionary Vashon returned to his native place to share the love of Christ with all he knew. At first, they opposed him and tried to chase him out of the community. They even threatened to kill him and didn’t allow his wife to draw water from their shallow well. Pastor Vashon responded by spending time in God’s presence and praying for their needs. And the Lord answered his prayers by miraculously healing people from their sicknesses— even a woman suffering from leprosy fully recovered. As a result, some of the villagers put their trust in the Lord, among them were Vimal and his wife. The small church began to grow, and God’s blessing was upon them.
Seeing people’s constant struggles because of the lack of water, Vashon encouraged the believers to pray for a solution. They faithfully did, and because of the generosity of our faithful partners like you, the funds for a Jesus Well were made available for their needy village.
Everyone was happy and excited that the church was going to install a borewell for them that would bless them with sufficient clean water year-round. Life has been so different in Vimal’s village since everyone now has sufficient clean water for all their domestic needs. The women don’t have to spend half their days hauling water pots; the children no longer miss school searching for water; people don’t get sick from drinking polluted water; and the attitude of the villagers toward Christians has changed.
We thank God that He has enabled us through the compassionate giving of our partners to drill 40,000 freshwater wells since 2007, which has provided 39 million people with safe drinking water. And beside each Jesus Well, people read an inscription of God’s Word that says, “Jesus said: ‘Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst’ John 4:13–14.” It reminds them daily of God’s love and care for them and causes them to ask questions about the Savior.
In the meantime, a new problem has developed in Vimal’s village as news about their Jesus Well spread to other places. People from many surrounding communities flock to Vimal’s village to get clean water for their households. Each Jesus Well can fully supply a community of 300 people with fresh, clean water throughout the year, but not the population of several villages. But how can the church turn desperate people away from getting water when the entire area is affected by terrible drought?
The only way to solve this problem is to drill additional Jesus Wells in some of those neighboring villages.
That’s why I am writing to you today. In two months, the drought season in Vimal’s region—and many others across Asia and Africa—will start again. It is our hope and prayer to install several thousand 600-feet-deep borewells in drought-prone places. Each well costs $1,400 and will ensure a clean water supply for a community of 70 families (about 300 people) for the next 20 years, even in harsh drought conditions.
Will you please pray with us and, as God enables you, participate in providing urgently needed freshwater wells?
Your gift of $1,400 for a Jesus well can save 70 families from deadly waterborne diseases for 20 years. Your gift of $70 will provide safe drinking water for 70 families for an entire year and $20 will make it possible for one family to get safe water for 20 years.
It is my prayer that God may touch our hearts with the immense suffering of millions of people who desperately need clean water for their life on earth and the Water of Life for their spirits that only Jesus can give them. Let us love them enough to freely give them both.
Thank you for your compassion and love.
Yours for those who need water and Christ’s love,
Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan
P.S. Your gift toward a clean water source for a desperate community saves precious lives and points them to the Savior.
GFA World is dedicated to the most effective and efficient stewardship of resources, according to 1 Corinthians 3:12-14. Contributions to GFA are income tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. All gift options represent GFA's actual ministry efforts to meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities. GFA World seeks to use contributions raised for a particular ministry in furtherance of that charitable objective, but retains control and discretion over all donated funds to further its overall charitable objectives.
