Clean water for God's thirsty children
This Valentine's Day,
We Thank Our Community in Mission For the Gift of Love
Because or your generosity, the mother holding her child above, and those two new Water Women below, are providing clean water to God's thirsty children in hurricane-devastated Honduras.

What the world needs now…
 
Those of a certain age know the words that come next: …is love, sweet love.

Today it seems even more true than when that song came out. There is conflict in our public square that even divides friends and families. There is separation and loneliness caused by safety measures. And there is fear in many hearts that only love can cure.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…
We love, because God first loved us.”
(1John:18-19)

On this Valentine’s Day, we send our special greetings and congratulations to all those who have celebrated this day together over the decades. We know we have faithful members of our Community for Mission who have been married for many years, and your commitment inspires us all.

And we wish God’s special blessings on those whose sweethearts have gone before them. We know your wonderful memories are tinged with sadness, but hope today they can bring a smile and perhaps even a chuckle or two.
But our Water With Blessings Community also shares another kind of love, the one called Agape: the selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love that moves you to help those in need. This love reflects, in our own small, human way, the overwhelming, unfathomable love God has for each of us and for all of Creation.
 
You show this love every time you do something for those who can’t return the gift. This is the love that has trained and equipped well over 100,000 Water Women around the world with their filters and buckets, providing clean water to God’s very special children: the least of our sisters and brothers.
 
May God, who sees all of our actions, bless you for your greatness of heart.
Making Progress in Honduras

That's a picture of our Country Team in Honduras, setting up for a training session. We are on track to train and equip 5,000 new Water Women over the next several weeks.
 
In fact, even as the country continues to dig out of the destruction caused by the hurricanes, more than 1,200 Water Women already are providing clean water to their own and three other families.
 
We have a lot of work left, obviously. But with the help we’ve received from The UPS Foundation, great friends like Bill McGraw from Quality Home Products of Texas, and the very important people at Sawyer Products who make the PointONE Filters, our Team is making impressive progress.
 
And we thank all of you who have invested in the people of Honduras. You are saving lives every day.
Join the Water With Blessings
Community for Mission on
Our Lenten Journey ...

On our spiritual journeys, there are times we can get stuck, like this truck carrying buckets and filters to a training session in Honduras.

But Lent is a time for starting over. As God says to us in the Book of Joel: “Return to me with your whole heart.” Life is not a one-act play or a one-chapter novel. We need time to stand back, pause, and reflect on life – especially after the deeply challenging script we followed in 2020.
 
Lent offers us a time to slow down, pray, and reflect; not only on our blessings, but also the disappointments, losses, and events that sometimes confound us. During the 40 Days, we can find life-giving resources in the Gospels, Psalms, and other readings that provide a map for the journey. They remind us that God walks with us through all of life’s events.
 
We take this opportunity to offer you a map for your Lenten Journey, a journey of renewal. Subscribe to the WWB Lent Journey for no charge (although as you will see, donations are accepted). Each day you can receive a scripture verse and reflection.
 
Please sign up for your subscription using the link below. We look forward to sharing this journey with you.
It’s Not Often That The IRS Gives Us A Break,
We Might As Well Take Advantage of It

2021 has just begun, but there are things you can do now to plan your charitable giving, and perhaps lessen your tax burden. There are tax-based incentives to help charities like Water With Blessings, that can help you at the same time.
 
The CARES Act is still in effect, giving you the opportunity to deduct charitable contributions even if you don’t itemize your deductions.
 
 
And if you need more information about charitable giving, please contact Rebecca Stutsman, our Chief Development Officer, at rebecca@waterwithblessings.org

And you can make a long-term impact by clicking the link below to
become a sustaining donor to Water With Blessings.

By giving $12.50 each month, you can sponsor two new Water Women each year. We'll be sure to send you information for locating where your Water Women live and the impact your gift is making.
Rachel Green, who passed away
on January 12 at age 44
Why We Support
Water With Blessings
Vivian Green Fetner
Decatur, Alabama
 
While we have many individuals who invest in clean water for God’s thirsty children, sometimes that support spreads through a family tree. That is the case with the family of Rachel Green, who passed away suddenly on January 12 at the much-too-early age of 44.
 
“The autopsy said it was her heart,” said Vivian Green Fetner, Rachel’s sister. “But she had no issues beforehand, so it was quite a shock. There are 11 children in our family, and she was truly the best of all of us. In all of her 44 years, I never heard her say anything ugly about or to anyone. She was a gentle soul.”
 
The family had been introduced to Water With Blessings a few years ago by their relatives – our faithful friends Harold and Kathy Young. This large, extended family joins together before Christmas each year for a creative contribution to Water With Blessings, which we will tell you more about later in the year.
 
Because Rachel’s death was so sudden, and because the coronavirus affected their Christmas celebrations and charitable giving, the family wanted memorial gifts for Rachel to fund new Water Women.
 
“My mother thought it would be a great memorial to Rachel,” Vivian said. “So we placed the idea in the obituary. Several people sent donations straight to Water With Blessings, and then many people gave at the funeral home.
 
“We like Water With Blessings because it’s not just saying: ‘You need clean water, here’s clean water.’ Instead, it says ‘Here is a filter so you and other families can have clean water for years to come. And you can do a lot with a small amount of money, which is awesome.
 
“I encourage people to go online and check it out. That’s what I did.”
This Week’s Coffee Chat Brings An Update from the North Coast of Honduras
Our team is hard at work in Honduras, and on Coffee Chat this week we will hear from our Country Coordinator Denis Garcia, who will give us a first-hand report of the progress as we head toward 5,000 new Water Women. We also hope to hear from our great friend Bill McGraw, and maybe even a representative from Sawyer Products, maker of the amazing PointONE Filters.

Just as in Haiti, this is another very serious situation. But on Coffee Chat the focus is on the positive. We give thanks for the opportunity to provide clean water to God’s thirsty children especially in the most difficult circumstances.

So please join us for a very important Chat. We promise that we will lift your spirits with the Good News of God’s love for the poor. Remember, we will gather virtually at Noon Eastern Time, this Friday, February 19. We hope to see you then.
These new Honduran Water Women join our Country Team Members in prayer before the training session. As is always the case, one of their prayer intentions is for you, the people who make it possible for them to provide clean water to their own and three other families.
Please consider joining us in prayer for them each morning, just as they are praying for you.
What a Great Valentine's Day Gift A Colorful Filter Cover Would Be

No matter the time of year, our crafters always put their hearts into these beautiful creations. It seems that no two are the same. And it's wonderful that each reflects the personality of the crafter and gives the Water Woman her own special colors.

They are starting to come in now, but we really need more of those colorful covers for the Sawyer PointONE Filters that are now used all around the world. And thanks to all who have clicked on the button below to find out how you can contribute in this important way.

If you can, please pass the pattern around to other crafters you may know. Because of the growing need, especially for our emergency work in Honduras and Haiti, right now we need as many as we can get.

As we have said, the Water Women really love them, and we have always appreciated the generosity of our Water With Blessings crafting community. To find out how to create them, please click on the button below. Thank you again for your help.
We believe every child should be drinking clean water. Are you with us?
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