In February, Water of Life and a small mission team traveled to Sierra Leone to do serious work: provide clean water and share the Gospel. While WOL has done some work in Sierra Leone in the past, a grant from a local foundation and a generous gift from an individual have made it possible to establish the beginnings of a full-fledged operation in the country. Additionally, the kind gifts of donors and large groups, such as churches, made it possible for Water of Life to drill 5 new wells during its trip to Sierra Leone! We wanted to update you and let you hear from one of the Sierra Leone short-term missionaries, Kevin Johnson. 

Water of Life and Ten Thousand Villages of Greenville are teaming up in February to promote fair trade and raise funds for a clean water well in India! Please join us on February 9, 2012 at the Ten Thousand Villages retail store for a chance to purchase authentic fair trade pieces of art while raising money to put a clean water well in India.

 

Date: February 9, 2012

Time: 10:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. (Special Guest Appearances: 12:00 p.m.-WOL Chairman of the Board, Sid Tate and 6:00 p.m.-WOL Board Member, Steve Hall)

Where: Ten Thousand Villages

2 West Lewis Plaza  Off Augusta Road between Faris and Church, Greenville

In November, Water of Life asked its supporters to help us win $25K through the Fall 2011 Chase Community Giveaway contest on Facebook. The contest gave nonprofit organizations the chance to win up to $250K by obtaining the most "votes” on Facebook. Organizations with the most votes and ending in the Top 100 would be awarded at least $25K.

Water of Life is thankful for its supporters, and in the areas of loyalty and taking action, our supporters are among the very best and most dedicated! We were confident that our passionate fans would create a strong social media movement that could help carry us to the Top 100 Charities and help us win funding for new water well projects in Africa and India.

"Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God."

 

Water of Life learned that over 3, 000 children are being used as slaves to mine slate from 30 different rock quarries. The children, ranging in age from 8 -18, work these quarries in horrific conditions.  One meal per day.  Few have shoes. Children that become sick are left to die, because it’s cheaper to replace them than heal them.  The problem seems insurmountable. "It’s a God-sized problem, ” admits Roland.  "But I have a responsibility to share the things that I’ve seen.”  

Typhoid, once infecting eighty percent of the village,  is now rare in the villages where wells have been drilled.  There is also significant church growth in the villages after a water well is drilled.  In some cases, the church has doubled and even tripled in size.  I visited one village where the entire village (nearly 1, 000 people) are believers. Many of them believing after the well was drilled.   We can't say it enough:  Clean water makes a strong physical and spiritual impact in a village.