We could drill 500 wells tomorrow if....

Our well coordinator in Liberia recently sent us a list of 56 villages in desperate need of wells. Our ministry partner in Zambia sent us a list of 100 more villages that need wells. And, those are only two of the 12 countries where we’re currently working. The other 10 countries have similar lists. Their need for clean water is overwhelming. We could probably drill 500 wells tomorrow if we had the resources.
 
The need is overwhelming, but...
It’s not our nature to worry about the overwhelming size of the problem. Our founder, Shanon Dickerson, encouraged us to place our focus squarely on helping in whatever way we can, no matter how much or how little that might be. He challenged us to start with just one well. And we did. Today, that first well has grown to 1,100 projects that provide clean water to hundreds of thousands of people in 28 countries worldwide.
 
We’re concentrating on the next 20 wells.
So for now, we’re concentrating on raising money to drill the next 20 wells to help the next 7,000 people. We need to raise $80,000 by the end of the year. Please, take Shanon’s advice. Do whatever you can to help. Click the DONATE button below to make a one-time contribution or become a monthly donor.

Clean Water Ministry Can Be Dangerous

It’s easy to assume that a clean-water ministry would always be welcomed enthusiastically by people in places where clean water has never been available, but that isn’t the case. 
 
The most dangerous places in the world.
Many of our ministry partners work in literally the most dangerous places in the world to practice Christian ministry. People are often executed for being Christians. Churches can be illegal. Our ministry partners are often trapped between armies in a civil war. A few examples:

  • Terrorists In Mali ambushed and killed the head of the drilling operation that oversees construction of our wells.

  • In Cameroon, five of our ministry team members were murdered this year.

  • Boko Haram Terrorists murdered another Cameroonian disciple maker and well coordinator three years ago. 

‘What kind of man brings such a gift to people he doesn’t even know?’
This last story has a more positive ending, though. When the terrorists realized they had killed the man who brought water to their village, they were deeply grieved and asked, what kind of man brings such a gift to people he doesn’t even know? Impressed by the faith of the man they had killed, these terrorists came to their own faith in Jesus. They are now in prison where they have started a Bible study and are sharing their faith with 70 other prisoners.

Help us reach 7,000 more people. 
Our ministry partners are willing to put their lives on the line to help their neighbors. Can you help them? We’ve set a goal of raising $80,000 by the end of the year to provide clean water for about 7,000 people. Please help these people by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly contributor to the Living Water Project. Please click the DONATE button below.

LWP By the Numbers

As of October 2024, The Living Water Project has funded 1093 clean water projects in 28 different countries, with a total of $3,405,279 committed to clean water. Here is a breakdown of number of wells constructed in each country:

Zambia (222)

Togo (202)

Chad (100)

Liberia (97)

Malawi (87)

Ghana (69)

Cameroon (54)

Nicaragua (47)

Sierra Leone (41)

Nigeria (36)

Mali (33)

Guatemala (31)

Niger (13)

Benin (12)

Haiti (8)

Democratic Republic of the Congo (7)

India (6)

Kenya (5)

Senegal (4)

Burkina Faso (3)

Philippines (3)

Honduras (2)

Ethiopia (2)

Rwanda (2)

Sudan (2)

Uganda (2)

Dominican Republic (1)

Tanzania (1)

A Family Vacation to.... Zambia?

Instead of going to the mountains, the beach or a fancy theme park, in May of this year, Jessica and Scott Schwieger took their family to some of the poorest villages in the impoverished nation of Zambia. Jessica and Scott knew it would be a different kind of vacation and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for their children, Arlie, Abe and John to…

…share in the joy of villagers’ singing, dancing, laughing and cheering as they watch water bubble up from freshly drilled wells to give them clean water for the first time EVER! During their family “vacation”, the Schwieger family participated in the drilling of wells that now serve thousands of Zambians.

…meet some of the thousands of villagers who no longer have to worry about water-borne diseases because they now have clean water from 200 wells drilled in Zambia since 2011.

…get to know the people who make it all happen. They met Shadreck Sibwaalu, the staff at the Namwianga Mission, the drilling crew, the newly assembled maintenance crew and the village water committees.

…help plan a new system for well maintenance and repair to keep these wells pumping clean water for years to come. The Schwiegers helped set up a parts warehouse and support system to help local villagers keep their own wells running by providing hard-to-source parts and skilled labor to perform the most difficult repairs.

As we ‘Zoom in on Zambia’ all this month, please consider picking up where the Schweigers left off and help keep the funding for these clean water projects going! A button to donate can be found at the top of this page.

The Schwieger family’s vacation to Zambia. From L to R: Arlie Schwieger, Scott & Jessica Schwieger, local ministry partner Shadreck Sibwaalu, Gwangwazu Water Committee leader Jackson Sikumbani Simbumali, and Abe & John Schwieger. Gwangwazu is the location where LWP funded our first well in Zambia in 2013.