Access to Clean Water Can Prevent Child Trafficking

Amy Arnold is a long-time friend of The Living Water Project and recently shared a powerful story that is worth re-sharing here. With previous experience as a law enforcement officer, Amy is now a donation-supported missionary fighting human trafficking in Southern Africa. She trains law enforcement and non-profit organizations and works in the field, rescuing and supporting victims of human trafficking.

You can read more about her important work and lend your support at ArnoldsAbroad.com

THE POWER OF WATER by Amy Arnold

This is a story about a Dutch policeman, a boy from my childhood, and a precious friend from Lipscomb. The way in which the paths of these three people come together to serve “the least of these” is only possible in the creative mind of God. Only He could have woven this story together. As much as this is a story about my three friends, it really starts on the other side of the world with three young boys in Malawi.

Due to extreme poverty, most children in Malawi don’t have the luxury of going to school. They must search for work, but only the lucky ones actually find something to do. They work not only to provide for their families, but also to contribute to the whole village. Jobs are rare, so when one person can find work, the expectation is that they share the money with those around them.

It was a happy day in a certain Malawian village when three of their children were given the chance to work on a tobacco farm. Like most things too good to be true, there was a catch. The boys would not get paid until they had worked for 12 months. (Enter Gerco) Gerco is a colleague of mine, originally from the Netherlands who worked in Malawi fighting human trafficking. When he and his team became aware of this tobacco farm, eyebrows were raised, and they began to investigate. It didn’t take long before Gerco and his team were able to rescue one of the boys from the farm. While taking statements from him and his family members, the boy’s mother told Gerco that children had been working at the farm for 11 months. She asked if Gerco could wait just one more month before conducting a raid so that the boys would at least get paid for their year of work.

Now you, Gerco, and I can clearly see that the likelihood of those boys getting paid even after 12 months was slim to none. But you can’t blame the desperation of a mother clinging to hope. Unfortunately, waiting another month would endanger the remaining boys and give the farmer time to flee.

As hope was fading, the mother asked if Gerco could somehow compensate the village for the “lost” money since he was planning on rescuing the others before the 12 month mark. Gerco had compassion for her, but didn’t want to cover up a real problem with temporary money so he asked her, what would really help the village to ensure it’s children don’t get trafficked again. The mother answered, “water.” She said since they have to spend hours and hours everyday walking to fetch water, there was no time to do anything else. If they had water they could grow crops and raise cattle.

Gerco didn’t have an answer but told the mother he would think on it. A few days later he shared this story with me. He wasn’t looking for me to provide a solution but was just telling me about his latest case. As I was listening, I immediately thought of a childhood friend of mine. (Enter Jon) Jon is the president of an amazing organization called The Living Water Project. The Living Water Project is a non-profit organization that extends the love of Jesus by building water wells in impoverished areas all over the globe.

I contacted Jon to see if he thought there was the possibility of assisting this village. He said he would pass on the information to the rest of his team, but the timing was good because The Living Water Project had just approved a series of water wells in Malawi around a local hospital called Blessings Hospital. (Enter Sara) Sara was a dear friend of mine from our college days at Lipscomb. She had a heart for medical missions and after her death the Sara Walker Foundation was established to continue her legacy. Jon said if the village was near enough to the hospital, they could possibly tie an additional well into the same project.

My mind was blown, my old friend Jon at The Living Water Project was going to contact a hospital that is supported by my precious friend Sara’s foundation to see if they could provide water for a village in which my colleague Gerco had just rescued trafficking victims!

And, it worked! In the end, three boys rescued, one trafficker arrested, and a village now has clean water. Water to drink, to clean wounds, to wash, to farm, and to build lives that don’t force children into exploitation.

Oh how I continue to be in awe at the creativity of God and how He will weave paths together in the most inexplicable ways. Our only job is to be on the path He wants us on.

Amy Arnold

Living Water Project president Jon Lee and Amy Arnold

Spread the Word: Help Us Multiply These Year-End Gifts to the Living Water Project

Here in these last few weeks of the 2022, we are thrilled to announce some amazing year-end gifts to the Living Water Project (LWP):

• Inflo Design Group, a Franklin, Tenn.-based engineering firm specializing in water resources, has pledged $125,000 to our general fund.

• The Rieder family is funding a new well to a village in Ghana in honor of their son, Andrew. This well is slated for construction in early 2023. Read more about the Rieders’ sustained generosity to LWP in this blog post.

• A partner at a local Nashville law firm has gifted four new wells—two in Cameroon and two in the Republic of Chad—in honor of his employees. These wells, representing a total investment of $12,800, are also set to be built in early 2023. Clearly this is not just a gift for the honorees, but also for hundreds, potentially thousands, of people who are currently in desperate need of clean water.

Because of these inspiring gifts, we are more than halfway to our year-end giving goal of $250,000. We are so thankful—and even more confident we can reach our ambitious goal by Dec. 31!

Each year we receive more and more generous donations from businesses, churches and other organizations seeking to make a difference. We are thankful for these partnerships, and we challenge all of our friends to spread the word about LWP to your workplace, church and other groups in which you are involved. Whether you’re able to donate $5, $50 or $5,000, we are grateful you’re a part of our giving community.

You can be an important part of our clean water plans in 2023 by donating today—just click here.

Dinner Highlights Guatemala Water Project

THANK YOU to all who joined us at the LWP fundraising dinner on Oct. 25. We loved the chance to give you details on our 2022 work and our vision for 2023.

We were particularly proud to share the results of an enormous water project completed this year in Los Limones, Guatemala. This work was beautifully captured by a Garney Construction video, “Imagine a Day Without Water.” Go to our Instagram account to watch the reel, and read this blog post from Garney to learn more.

This amazing collaboration between Peugeot Center at Lipscomb University, our in-country partner ADICAY, Garney Construction and members of the community has meant hundreds of children and their families now have clean drinking water in their homes!

None of this work would be possible without your generosity! If you haven’t had a chance to donate to our fundraiser yet, it’s easy to give at THIS LINK.

We would be remiss if we didn’t express our appreciation to the many volunteers who helped behind the scenes of this year’s dinner. In no order:

J. Terry Bates & Associates for sponsoring the dinner
Jessica & Scott Schwieger
Michael O'Dell
Anne Rawlins
David & Dia Duer
Kevin Colvett
Stephen Jerkins
Mary Hearn
Erin Rickelton
Kathy & Terry Bates
Carolyn & Kerry Patterson
Chris & Don Portell
Greg Perry
Jim & Danna Arnett
Rebekah & Brad Glisson
Lynn & John Mott
Jim Glisson
Melissa & Michael Kirby
Jamie Roberts & Matt Schutz
David Knox
Linda Zelnik

A Taste of Guatemala: Recipes From the 2022 Living Water Project Dinner

If you attended our 2022 Celebration and Fundraiser Dinner on Oct. 25, part of the fun experience was sharing a meal inspired by the cuisine of Guatemala. Here is the menu and a couple of recipes that you can make at home. Enjoy!

Menu:

Pepián de pollo with rice (recipe below)

Tortillas

Salad

Tres Leches Cake

Cocoa Tea (recipe below)

Pepian with Pollo (Recipe by Luis Yanes, adapted from Familiakitchen.com)

Servings: 10

Prep Time: 25 min. Cooking Time: 1 hour, 15 min.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken

water, to cover the chicken (around 5 cups)

1 Tbsp salt

Recado Sauce:

2 guajillo chiles - seeds and stem removed

2 ancho chiles - seeds and stem removed

6 Roma tomatoes

1/2 onion, large or 1 medium

5 to 6 cloves garlic

1 inch cinnamon stick

2/3 cup raw pumpkin seeds, shelled

2/3 cup sesame seeds

1/2 cup cilantro, packed, roughly chopped

1 lb string beans, fresh, trimmed

1 potato, large, peeled, cubed

2 guisquiles squash or chayotes, peeled, cubed

Directions:

Boil and Shred the Chicken:

● Place the whole chicken in a large pot and fill it with water to cover. Add the salt.

● Turn the burner to high, bring the water to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and let the chicken cook for 30 - 45 minutes.

● Skim off and discard any grey scum that may form while cooking.

● When done, set the pot with the chicken and its broth aside to cool.

● When cool to the touch, shred or cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and return to the pot with the chicken broth. “Traditionally, we only shred the chicken breast, and keep the thighs and legs of the chicken whole (bone-in),” says Luis.

Prep the Vegetables:

● Wash and trim the ends of the fresh string beans, leaving them whole.

● Peel and cut the guisquiles or chayote squash and the potato into small cubes.

● Boil vegetables until just cooked.

Make the Recado Base Sauce:

● Make on a hot cast-iron pan, griddle or comal set to medium high

● Dry roast the ancho and guajillo chiles for 1 or 2 minutes. Set them aside in a bowl.

● Dry roast (Char) the tomatoes, onions (skin on) and garlic until very well browned. The garlic will deepen in color, give off an aroma and be ready before the rest of the ingredients. Take them out and add them to the chiles in the bowl.

● When the tomatoes and onion start to blister, blacken and get fragrant, add them to the bowl.

● Place the dry-roasted chiles, tomatoes, onion, garlic and optional anise in a saucepan. Set the heat to medium high. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. When it boils, turn off the heat and set the saucepan aside to cool.

● Adjust the heat of the cast-iron pan, griddle or comal to low. Dry roast the pumpkin seeds until browned (not burned) about 5 minutes. When they start to give off a smoky aroma, they are ready (they will also pop). Set them aside in your bowl.

● Toast cinnamon stick until browned, not burned.

● Dry roast the sesame seeds for 3 to 5 minutes, until they turn pale gold. Keep an eye on them: they can go from toasted to burnt quickly. Add them to your bowl.

● Process the toasted seeds and cinnamon stick in a spice grinder or food processor until they are a very fine powder. You'll need to pulse several times to get the mixture fine enough.

● Scoop out the chiles, tomatoes, onion, and garlic plus about 1⁄2 cup of their liquid into a blender; process until smooth. Add the toasted pumpkin and sesame seeds and cinnamon powder and cilantro.

● Blend—until the mixture completely disintegrates. You will have an orange-reddish, nutty and full-flavored recado sauce.

● Add at least 4 cups of broth and process until smooth

● Strain the recado sauce in batches through a colander if there are any pieces left. Throw away any small scraps of vegetables, seeds and spices left behind in your colander

Putting It All Together:

● Combine sauce, chicken and possibly more broth in pot, Stir to mix well. Set the heat to medium high. When the stew comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low.

● Let the stew simmer and reduce for 10 to 15 minutes, uncovered. (add more water or broth if you want a thinner consistency

● Add the pre-cooked string beans, guisquiles or chayote, and potato to the pot. Stir to combine.

● Serve with white rice, hot tortillas and wedges of fresh avocado on the side.

The consistency of pepian is like a soup: liquidy, Luis says. If your recado is too thick when it comes out of the blender, thin it out by adding a little of the chicken broth. Then pass it through a strainer in batches so that only the liquid goes into the pot with the cooked chicken.

*****

Cacao Husk Tea (recipe from The Spice Jungle)

Cacao husks are the fibrous shells surrounding cacao beans, separated from the cacao nibs during production.

Prep Time: 15 mins

Equipment: French Press OR tea infuser (tea ball or tea pot with infuser basket)

Ingredients:

  • 2 tsp Nacional Cacao Husks per person

  • 1 cup Boiling water per person

Instructions:

  • If using a French press, add cacao husks and pour in boiling water, then cover.

  • If using tea ball or infuser basket, try to cover cup or pot while steeping. It's important to keep the water as hot as possible to fully extract the cacao flavor.

  • Allow tea to steep for 6 to 8 minutes. If you intend to add milk or cream, steep at least 10 minutes.

  • For French press, slowly depress plunger. Otherwise, remove infuser ball or basket. Pour into serving cups. Add milk/cream and sweetener, if desired.

On-the-Ground Partner Scouts Locations for 2022 Zambia Campaign Funds

In September, our on-the-ground partner Shadreck Sibwaalu traveled to villages in Zambia to assess the clean water needs of remote communities. The information he gathered will help LWP determine where to invest donor funds for the construction of future water projects. Speaking of our wonderful donors, our Summer 2022 Zambia Campaign raised $41,556!

One of the villages Sibwaalu visited was Siamutete where he filmed a video of people collecting water for their village. (See photo below and check out LWP’s Instagram account to watch the full video.) The need for clean drinking water is dire in some places, and there is no shortage of people who would be blessed by potable water.

Thanks to your generosity during our summer Zambia campaign as well as your ongoing contributions, we will be able to help some of the communities pinpointed by Shadreck.

We are grateful for your partnership! And we are especially grateful to God for connecting Shadreck to The Living Water Project family.

Need for clean water

God's Hand Connects the Living Water Project With the Beyans of Liberia

Woven into the Living Water Project’s story are the many connections made with people across the globe because of our shared mission of clean water. One of these relationships is with Eve Beyan of Liberia, pictured below with Otter Creek church members and LWP supporters Dawn and Jeff Adcock.

Eve’s father Alfred first learned of LWP from a chance (aka God’s hand) encounter with the Adcocks’ daughter in Chicago. Not long after Alfred was connected to the LWP board, it became apparent that God had led us to a great partnership opportunity. In late 2017 our clean water work began in Liberia; five years into this partnership, Alfred Began and his team have worked to take your donations and turn them into clean water for 57 Liberian villages, with more on the way.

Many of us enjoyed seeing Eve, currently a college student in the United States, when she visited Nashville in August 2022. She and her father are vital parts of our important mission and ministry, and we are grateful to know the Beyans!

Celebration & Fundraising Dinner Set for Oct. 25

Please join us for The Living Water Project’s 2022 Celebration & Fundraising Dinner on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 6:30 p.m. at Otter Creek Church of Christ.

We will be honoring our partnerships in Guatemala and raising funds for well projects around the world.

The photo above is by our Guatemalan partners, "Asociacion Para El Desarrollo Integral Comun Ak' Yuam" aka Adicay, shows the amazing results of the recently completed Marichaaj Water Project.

This work is proudly supported by the Living Water Project and students in Lipscomb University's Peugeot Center program. Follow ADICAY on Facebook to stay connected to the progress.

To help us prepare, let us know you're coming by emailing RSVP@livingwaterwells.org.

Report From the Field: Malawi Wells Become a Reality

In May 2022, LWP Board President Jon Lee visited villages in Malawi where wells were recently constructed. His photos of villagers taking advantage of clean water are beautiful—and fill us with gratitude for the donors who made these wells possible.

“I’ve had an outstanding visit, led by Joseph and Tati from Water4’s team and Blessings Hospital’s local ministry of health coordinator,” Jon reported from the field. “Our partnership with Water4’s Water Access team began in 2018 and has resulted in 48 new and rehabilitated water wells. The need for clean water here is dire, but the situation is gradually improving.”

To see more of these stunning and inspiring images of our generous donors’ dollars at work, follow the Living Water Project on Instagram and on Facebook.

Little girl in Malawi enjoys the stream of clean water enabled by her village's new well

Living Water Project's Celebration Dinner Set for October 25

After a three-year pandemic hiatus, the Living Water Project Board of Directors is thrilled to invite you to the 2022 Celebration and Fundraising Dinner. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, Oct. 25 at Otter Creek Church of Christ.

This year, we’re excited about honoring our special partnership with Adicay and Lipscomb University in Guatemala, where a massive water project was dedicated on Friday, July 29. At the dinner, you’ll hear more about that project and its enormous impact on 126 families in three communities.

Hand Pump Installed in Liberia a Significant Upgrade for Village's Water Source

We’re proud to showcase another LWP well completed in July—a hand pump in Cooper Farm, Liberia. This project was made possible through our partnership with Alfred Beyan, a minister from Monrovia, Liberia. Alfred travels all over the country with a team from his church, preaching the gospel and bringing clean water to remote villages like this one. A photo of the community's original water source explains the dire need this well filled .

Would you be willing to become a monthly donor to the Living Water Project? Your monthly dollars—however great or small—will help us plan more projects like this one. Read more about the importance of monthly giving in this blog post..