Spring 2012 Mission Update
John 4:13-14: Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Exciting Times Ahead for Living Water in 2012!
The past three months have been very exciting for Living Water! Between Ken Switzer’s amazing 60-mile run for his 60th birthday, Otter Creek’s “Presents With a Purpose” event, and other generous donations, more than $42,000 was donated to the ministry. This was a great ending to a wonderful 2011, during which Living Water funded 34 wells. Big plans for 2012 are taking shape, which include water projects in Guatemala, Haiti, Zambia, Togo and other countries around the world.
I want to add a special thanks to Leslie Ford for putting this new e-newsletter together, and to Stephanie Shackelford for contributing as well. We received several compliments on the inaugural edition in December, so thanks to Leslie and Stephanie on a job well done!
We are so grateful for your support of this ministry. Hoping you have a blessed 2012,
Jon Lee Director of Operations The Living Water Project www.thelivingwaterproject.us/
The Living Water Project....By the Numbers: 12 countries served. 61 wells funded. $232,200 contributed to clean water projects.
TOKENS Show Partners with Living Water
The popular TOKENS show, hosted at Lipscomb University, has offered 50 tickets to their March 27th production to help raise money for Living Water. The show begins at 7:30 pm and tickets are $25 each, the proceeds of which will go directly to Living Water. Please email sjshack@aol.com to reserve your tickets. For more information about TOKENS, visit www.tokensshow.com.
Well Spotlight:
Village of Hope Uganda
In January 2011, The Living Water Project funded construction of a well to serve Village of Hope Uganda, a ministry that cares for formerly abducted orphans in Northern Uganda, many of whom were forced to be “child soldiers”.
Village of Hope (VOH), located near the city of Gulu, built a “Village” in 2009 on 100 acres for almost 200 of these orphans with an elementary school, medical clinic, church, library, 30 acres of agriculture and homes where they are loved and nurtured instead of living in fear and uncertainty for life and their future. A second village is currently under construction, and the Living Water well will provide water for this new expanded property.
Currently the well is providing water to hundreds of people in the surrounding community, in addition to providing VOH with the water necessary to construct homes, schools, a church and staff homes to complete the second village. Once the second village is complete, it will also be used to provide irrigation for farming and water for a fish farm.
Cindy Cunningham, Founder and Director of VOH Uganda, said, “Thanks to the well provided by The Living Water Project at the new village, hundreds more formerly abducted orphans will soon have a place to call home. It will not only provide water for these orphans, but the many staff that care for and teach the children. The well is also open to our neighbors to provide them life-giving clean water. In an area that is war-torn and where water is hard to come by, this is a message of hope and a future for hundreds of people in the surrounding community.”
Cunningham added, “There IS another well in this community, but the owners are not willing to share the water. By our willingness and desire to share our water, this is an incredible testimony to the community around us that God cares about them as well.”
To read more about Village of Hope Uganda, visit http://villageofhopeuganda.com.
How Much Does a Well Cost?
We at Living Water are often asked the seemingly straightforward question, "How much does it cost to fund a new well project, from start to finish?" The answer, of course, is not so simple. It depends. It depends on a variety of economic, geographic and cultural factors, many of which are out of our control. Click here to learn more!
8th Graders Make a Long-Term Commitment to Living Water
Eric and Brooke O’Dell were looking for a unique way to challenge the 8th graders they work with at Harpeth Hills Church of Christ in Nashville to look beyond themselves. They proposed an opportunity to raise funds for The Living Water Project and allowed the students to design their own goals and fundraising activities, making sure the students took responsibility to sacrifice their own money and time (and not just their parents'!).
These twenty-five 8th graders have committed to raising $2,000 during each school year (enough to fund two wells in Togo each year), and they hope to raise enough money to build a total of 10 wells and to fund their trip to see the wells by the time they are seniors in high school.
By selling over 300 cupcakes baked by Brooke and water bottles on a Sunday morning in September, the students have already raised over $1,200 toward this year’s goal. They also plan to host a “Water Ball” for their entire youth group in April and have distributed "water banks" for each student to fill with loose change.
Thank you to the 8th graders at Harpeth Hills for your support of Living Water and for becoming advocates for Living Water to your friends! Thank you to Eric and Brooke for your leadership and creativity. For more information about their effort, to volunteer to help, or to donate money to their activities, email Brooke O’Dell at brookelit@hotmail.com.
If you would like to start a similar fundraising effort for a group with which you are connected, please let us know.