We first visited India in February 2008 and had a difficult time processing the staggering statistics that come to life once face to face with the reality. An astounding 900 million living on less than US $2 a day and some 130 million without access to clean water. Knowing and seeing this, we committed to work in India for the duration of our existence. We began our first project in north India with partners Living Water International. Working with indigenous groups on the ground helps us to better understand the needs for clean water and the best method of providing it. In this case, we agreed that drilling clean water wells was an effective and efficient means of providing over two thousand people with clean water.
While our friends at Living Water were drilling, young pastors were caring for small house churches in these villages. This ensures the connection can be made between clean water and true Living Water. Our goal in this project is simple: provide a village with clean water and a clear representation of the love of Christ.
Throughout 2008 we continued to develop relationships and explore how we could be a part of providing many more in India with clean water and a picture of the Gospel through the local church. In April of 2009 we came back to the region to see our partners’ progress and this time we brought two of our friends along with us - Jason Wallis to capture the brilliant images and Jamie Warren to produce a high quality video production of our work in India. Both excelled at their task. We are excited about the possibilities which continue to present themselves in India. Working with indigenous partners provides us great opportunities to take part in their work which is already impacting many lives. We are currently exploring more work throughout India’s some 600,000 villages.
What makes India a target country for us is the ability to help encourage the local church through clean water projects in a land where so few have any knowledge of the Gospel. It’s a way for us to help the local church engage the lost as they give a true representation of who Jesus is and how He cares for the poor. Our partnerships in India are extremely important to us. We complete extensive on ground due diligence before we partner with any like-minded organizations. Doing this, along with continued monitoring of the work, ensures our donors that their funds are being used for maximum impact.