A chronic shortage of safe drinking water is fueling a deadly global health emergency — but a new grassroots initiative could help save thousands of lives.
Faith-based nonprofit agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) — a leader in implementing community water projects in Asia and Africa — has launched a month-long campaign to provide 125 new “Jesus Wells” in some of the world’s thirstiest places.
It coincides with World Water Day on March 22, an annual awareness event.
The new wells, costing around $1,600 each, could help transform the lives of more than 37,000 people facing a desperate day-to-day struggle to find clean drinking water, the Texas-based organization says.
Since 2007, the organization and its supporters have helped install more than 40,000 fresh water wells — often in remote, parched areas — and provided clean water to nearly 40 million people.
Worldwide, more than 800,000 people annually — equal to the population of San Francisco — die after drinking contaminated water from murky ponds and streams, breeding grounds for waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea. Globally, diarrhea is one of the leading causes of death in children under five.
Battling Worms, Leeches, Feces
In a village in Asia, Dafne and her friends used to walk uphill to a shallow, muddy watering hole several times a day to collect drinking water in their pots — water that often made them sick. They had to strain out worms, insects, leeches, and even frog feces. The provision of a “Jesus Well” completely changed their lives — removing a crushing burden and allowing them to focus on raising healthy children.
Dafne’s desperate search for drinking water — even filthy water — is shockingly familiar.
Every day, more than two billion people — one-in-four people on the planet — face “the cruel reality that the only drinking water they have access to may cause them to get sick and die,” said GFA World president Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan. “Yet most deaths and illnesses could be prevented if only communities had access to safe water sources,” he added.
Often drilled as deep as 650-feet, “Jesus Wells” — so-called because they are inscribed with Jesus’ invitation in the Gospel of John to drink of the water he gives and “never thirst again” — are maintained by local churches and last up to 20 years. They provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water that is freely available for anyone in need, and act as a community hub where people gather.
GFA World (www.gfa.org) is a leading faith-based global missions agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God.
(SOURCE: Infinity Concepts)