Uganda (MNN) — Calm in Uganda is providing Christians the opportunity to reach out with physical and spiritual help in a country decimated by violence. Home to the Lord's Resistance Army, which is now being hunted down by the United Nations, Uganda's peace is providing opportunities for God to work in the hearts of the Ugandan people.
Lifewater International is a part of that physical and spiritual healing. They're helping nationals provide clean safe drinking water, says the ministry's Africa programs officer Julie Smith. "The people on the ground who live there know it best. They know who they're serving. They know who they're working with and how to make these projects most sustainable."
Because Lifewater is a Christian based ministry, "We make sure that all of the partners we work with are somehow Christian-based, whether that be Christian companies, Christian businesses, or churches themselves, and sharing the Gospel is all that we do," says Smith.
Dickson Odyek with Divine Waters Uganda is their partner on the ground in the north. He says peace reigns in Uganda. "Everything is good, and people are just getting a good life now. We are not so much fearful of anything. We no longer even hear the gun shots or even seeing military men with guns."
Lifewater is providing the funding Divine Waters Uganda needs "to drill wells in the communities, to preach the Good News to the community. They are also training people who can go out and train the villages where we have put the wells."
Since Divine Waters started the program, they have drilled 437 wells. Odyek says that means 437 villages have heard the Gospel. "Every time we go to the villages, people come around us to see what we are doing, and we preach the Gospel to them. The machine we are using attracts them to come, and then we stop and preach. After that, we also show the JESUS Film."
While people are coming to Christ, Odyek says it doesn't end there. "We normally organize with the local churches around there, and then we [send them to the churches for discipleship].
These new wells are giving new opportunities to children in these villages. Because it took hours to fetch water, many children were forced to drop out of school in order to get water for their families. Now, they're free to stay in school. The clean water is also preventing diseases, allowing families to spend money on the essentials of life.
Lifewater International works primarily in Ethiopia, Cambodia, Uganda, Kenya and Laos. If you'd like to support their work which is providing both physical water and living water, click here.
