On Tuesday, I witnessed the first pump of water out of a newly installed well. People cheered and buckets were immediately lined up to be filled. It was an exciting day for this village. This well means hundreds of women no longer need to hike miles with heavy buckets on their heads and others no longer need to fetch dirty water from a river, because now they can walk to this well.
For me, water has never been something that I’ve had to work hard for and I can’t even fully comprehend how big of a deal this well is for the people of the surrounding area. But I do know how crucial water is for health, hydration, hygiene and more. This well is truly a game changer and it was such a cool experience to see it being built and to see the water flow out of it.
But there is still a huge need for more wells everywhere. We visited a school in another village and the only water available there for the children to drink was the color of watered down peanut butter, just runoff from a pond.
Will you help bring clean water to the people of Malawi?
And then today was another great day. After helping pass out food to children last week, we decided as a team to come together to purchase huge bags of both rice and beans to feed the children in two areas today. Over 150 people in total were fed. The mothers that shared their appreciation told us they did not think their kids would eat today.
Will you help feed the hungry children of Malawi?
I could have written a blog like this multiple times for every country we’ve been to so far. There are needs everywhere and I’ll continue to wish I could do more in the next countries too. But, the specific needs for resources that we’ve seen here in Malawi have stuck out to me and the man behind in all, Pastor Ronald, is someone I believe is doing big things.
We have been working with Pastor Ronald of Harvest Life Missions to do door to door evangelism in remote villages, preach the Gospel to crowds, assist in feeding children, sing songs and act out Bibles stories for the children, and assist in a building a well. We are living just outside Lilongwe with Pastor Ronald and his big family and we can’t help but soak up his wisdom, his joy, and his passion for growing God’s kingdom. This man not only loves the Lord, but he acts on it.
He is invested in providing clean water in villages and he has a team of people that dig and build the wells. A shallow well costs $3,500 and a deep well costs $7,500, part of which goes toward paying his work crew.
In 2011, Pastor Ronald started a school for orphans. He brings school supplies when needed, he pays the teachers, and once a month he provides rice and beans to the 150 children at that orphan school. A big feeding like that costs about $200 USD. And additional money is needed in order to give the volunteer teachers some money and to buy notebooks and pencils.
He also has a dream of the children at his school no longer sitting in the dirt for classes, but instead on a nice floor and he would love to install windows and doors to keep the bugs out. He also dreams of building housing on site for the orphans.
Every Saturday he provides rice and beans for the children at the church, out of his own pocket if needed. And when he has the resources, he does feedings at other locations as well.
Beyond providing physical water and food to the people of Malawi, Pastor Ronald is even more passionate about bringing them Living Water and the Bread of Life. He has planted over 40 churches in Malawi and is working to plant more. Everywhere we go, whether with the purpose of evangelism or while celebrating a new well or serving rice and beans, he has one of us preach the Gospel of Jesus.
While talking to a Samaritan woman by a well, Jesus told her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13)
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
We have a God who, like a loving father, enjoys providing for His children and promises to take care of us. But also, a God who desperately wants us to love Him and to set our eyes on Him, instead of just on the food and possessions we crave. We have a God who offers everlasting satisfaction, even when the well runs dry. And a God who gives eternal life to those who believe in him, even though we don’t deserve it.
I know there are a billion causes in the world asking for money, but if you feel led to donate to Pastor Ronald’s ministry of installing wells, providing food to children, and pointing people toward Jesus, follow the link to the Go Fund Me site below. As a team, we are coming together to raise money for this great cause. I have seen first-hand that this man is go-getter and I fully trust that the money given to Harvest Life Missions will be stewarded honorably.
DONATE HERE: http://www.gofundme.com/ko49m4
