Church Engagement Guide

Water MissionsInternational

CHURCH ENGAGEMENT GUIDE

“People are always questioning about how this system works and asking how they can acquire it. We always tell them about our great God and there we end up with the chance of preaching to them the gospel.

Can you imagine that even non believers come willing to offer us land to plant churches because of this water system. Not one or two, many have come to us! So to us, it is an iron tool for the gospel.”

Pastor Charles - Glory Center Church, Neddje, Uganda

Since our founding in 2001, Water Missions International has responded to the world’s largest natural disasters and daily tackles the world’s single biggest cause of illness - lack of safe water and adequate sanitation (U.N. Report, 2005). Our engineers, staff andvolunteers design and provide sustainable, safe water solutions to disaster victims world-wide and people in 49 developing countries. Today, we have active programs with full- time staff in nine countries: Belize, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Sri Lanka and Uganda. We also have active affiliate programs in Bangladesh,Pakistan, Peru and Nigeria. After years of consistently following God’s leading, we have served more than two million people through sustainable community development initia-tives and disaster response. In countless situations, safe water has given us the opportunity to share the Gospel in hostile areas. From China, North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, Indo-nesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Cambodia and other countries come wonderful stories of how the Gospel springs to life through the gift of water.

Water Missions International is not just about giving people safe water and sharing the Gospel. It is also about the change that happens in each one of us who are called to be a part of the process. The Apostle Paul recognized this when he encouraged Christ followers to “learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unprofitable.” (Titus 3:14 ESV)

Our goal is transformational development in the church. We want to see the church built, strengthened and encouraged. Our desire is to see people move from merelytransactional givers to those who have been transformed through doing. We often talk about “lighting fires with water” which is what happens when people get involved. Your church will be changed. This is a guide to help your church get involved in helping others through Water Missions International.

INTRODUCTION

“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. Elijah was a man witha nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain onthe earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rainand the earth produced its fruit.” (James 5:16 - 18)

Does your church have an effective and fervent prayer ministry? Would you stand in the gap and pray for those in desert areas who have no safe water? Would you pray for those who are diseased and dying because of the water they drink? Would you be part of our PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens) teams and agree to pray with and for acommunity that is in need of safe water until they receive it?

Please also sign up to receive our “Prayer Ripples” weekly e-newsletter that provides alist of requests and praises from our national and international staff. Commit individuallyor alongside a group from your church to be a part of our PUSH teams and join thegrowing family of Water Missions International prayer volunteers!

Learn more about our prayer ministry and sign up for the “Prayer Ripples” weeklye-newsletter at www.watermissions.org/pray.

PRAYER

Some one billion people worldwide do not have access to safe water. Drinking dirtywater comes with a price. Approximately 1.4 million children die every year due to water-borne illnesses. Your church can make a difference. Not only can you help save lives byproviding safe water, but you can bring real and lasting hope to communities throughthe message of Jesus Christ.

Water Missions International works alongside communities and ministry partners for aslong as needed after the installation of a water treatment system to ensure it’s sustainabil-ity, teach Health & Hygiene courses, and engage in ministry outreach. Some of thesevillages have never heard the Living Water message in their community before.

Your church can bring relief and hope by sponsoring a Living Water™ TreatmentSystem for a community.

Here is the financial breakdown:$10 = safe water for one person for a lifetime.

The average safe water project costs $25,000 and provides access tosafe water for approximately 2,500 people.

On the following pages are a series of initiatives that will help getyour church congregation involved in raising funds for a safe waterproject while learning about the importance of holistic ministry.

SPONSOR A COMMUNITY

water sunday

Water Missions International would be thrilled to have your church be a part of thegrowing concern for the global water crisis by hosting a very special Water Sunday.

When our concern joins with others, we create a chorus of thousands that makestomorrow a reality for millions. Your church can be an active part of the solution for theglobal water crisis. Just think about the transformative, life-long shifts in the lives of realpeople around the world.

We will provide you with a Water Sunday consultant to walk you through the entireprocess, should you choose this initiative. Your Water Sunday consultant cares about therelationship between your church, our organization, and most importantly, the peoplewho will receive safe water.

Use Water Sunday to educate your church about the global water crisis and WaterMissions International. Challenge them to get involved. Collect a specific offering onthat day or use the event as a kick off to one of our other initiatives. In the end, we wantto rejoice together in what God has done through your Water Sunday!

WATER SUNDAY

promo videos • posters • stunning imagesevent website • sermon outline

Here’s the challenge - get 10 friends to give $10 to bring safe water to 10 people. Yourchurch will receive a box of greeting cards, each with 10 lines for names and e-mail ad-dresses. Challenge each member of your congregation to share with friends what their church is doing and ask them to donate. When someone commits to a donation, they write a note to the community receiving safe water with their name and email address. At the end of a specified period of time, collect the completed cards and send them to us. Water Missions International will detach the part of the card with the notes and names and send them to the community for the safe water celebration!

When the safe water system is installed, we will hand out the cards to the communitymembers and capture a short video of the celebration. We will then send a link of thevideo to those who left us their e-mail addresses. Everyone who participated will seeexactly how far their $10 went!

THE TEN CHALLENGE

1 simple card | 10 friends | 10 lives changed

GIFTS OF CHANGE

For 1 in 8 people around the world, the water they drink is truly filthy; it is unfiltered &unsafe. This dirty water kills more people each day than war, natural disasters, AIDS,or hunger. Your church can help change that!

Distribute water bottles with our special Gifts of Change wrapper to your congregation.Challenge them to make water their only beverage for three weeks and collect themoney they saved in the bottle. At the end of the three weeks, ask members to bringtheir bottles back during the offering to bless the funds and pray for the people who willreceive safe water through their efforts.

GIFTS OF WATER, GIFTS OF CHANGE

WOULD YOU DRINK THIS?

Your Gift of Change will change the life of a child

TAKE A STEP TO ENDTHE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS

WALK IN A

BUCKET

Every day, millions of women and children in developing countries walk nearly four miles to retrieve water to meet their family’s daily needs. On average, they carry fivegallons of water which weighs 42 pounds! Our new Walk in a Bucket Initiative allows your church to host its very own Walk for Water fundraising event. You walk soothers don’t have to!

Water Missions International will send you an official Walk in a Bucket toolkit. This toolkit has the resources and information you need to hold an interactive experience that engages and informs your participants. It will help your church impact the world as you raise funds toprovide sustainable safe water and sanitation solutions for communities around the world through Water Missions International.

To accurately symbolize that trek, we suggest a walk route that is 3-4 miles in length, or whatever distance would be appropriate for your participants. This is a fun,family-friendly event that your whole church canparticipate in!

WALK IN A BUCKET

Lack of safe water and adequate sanitation is the world’s single biggest cause of illness(U.N. Report, 2005)... and often the major cause of death following a natural disaster.Water Missions International transforms communities long-term, whether movingquickly in natural disasters and war zones or customizing water solutions in developingcountries.

Our engineers’ design works like a mini “municipal water treatment plant” (TheWashington Post, 2010) and can purify more than10,000 gallons of water per day - enough for 3,000people - the equivalent of 22,000 bottles per day. Wetrain local people to operate and maintain our watersystems, which can provide safe water for 20 years ormore.

TECHNOLOGY & TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

“And let our people learn to devote themselves to goodworks, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not beunprofitable.” (Titus 3:14 ESV)

Thank you for taking the time to look through this guide.We value your partnership and look forward to workingtogether to end the global water crisis. We hope that theseinitiatives will empower your church to take action inbringing safe and Living Water to this thirsty world!

If your church or organization would like to learn moreabout any of these initiatives or commit to a particularprogram, simply e-mail [email protected], call our Church Team at (843)769-7395, or sign up onwww.giftsofwater.com. Upon receipt, we will promptly get in touch with you and walk you through the next steps.

To learn more about:Water Missions International visit www.watermissions.orgChurch Initiatives visit www.giftsofwater.com

CONTACT US

“And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little onesbecause he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”Matthew 10:42 NIV

WATER MISSIONS INTERNATIONALPO Box 31258

Charleston, SC 29417Office (843) 769-7395

Toll Free (866) 280-7107Fax (843) 763-6082

Email: [email protected]: www.watermissions.org

Water MissionsInternational