Clean water for God's thirsty children
Tomorrow, March 22, Join Us As We Celebrate World Water Day
Thanks to you, these young boys are drinking pure water for the first time.
What so many of us are able to take for granted, is a source of wonder for this little boy and millions of children like him all around the world.
Across the Americas, in Asia and Africa, in small villages and on the margins of large cities, children who were suffering from water-borne illnesses are now drinking clean water. But we still have work to do.
But when your children are sick from drinking dirty water, every day is World Water Day.

Wilda is a single mother of three children who does laundry for others to provide for her family. In 2012, she suffered a case of cholera from drinking contaminated water. Soon after her own illness, her mother died of cholera. Today, though the Water Women in her area must walk for 45 minutes to get water from the rainwater reservoir, Wilda says, “I am glad to be among those who had a chance to receive one of the water filters…”
 
Leonard lives alone after being abandoned by her children. She has continuing stomach and other physical ailments after years of drinking what she calls “raw” water. Even with these challenges, she is a woman of hope. “Today I feel very lucky because I didn't think I would have the opportunity to get such a wonderful filtering system,” she says. “Thank you so much for that exceptional gift!!! May God keep blessing you for that job!!!”
 
These are just two of the thousands of Water Women whose lives and communities you have changed.
Ten years ago in Honduras, a small group of volunteers from Kentucky gave ten filters to ten women to see if this would break the cycle of deadly water-borne illnesses. Out of that first effort grew what would become Water With Blessings, a grassroots Community in Mission with world-wide impact.
 
Today, there are more than 100,000 filters in the hands of Water Women in countries all across the world. And while many good organizations dig wells and perform other services to provide access to water, in most of the developing world the people still need a filter to eliminate parasites and other contaminants.
 
In other words, they need the Sawyer PointONE Filter. They need Water With Blessings. They need you.
 
As you know, we had to postpone our Grand Opening that was to be celebrated in conjunction with World Water Day tomorrow, March 22, until April. But we will use this occasion and this week to bring you stories of Water Women who face their challenges with courage and hope, because they know our Community in Mission is there to support them through our work and prayer.

At Water With Blessings, and for our Water Women, every day is World Water Day.
 
To read more about these and other women, click on the link below.
To celebrate World Water Day, please consider adding to the number of Water Women around the world

Most of you will never witness the joy of a woman whose name has been picked out of the lottery basket or container. Nor will you see the concentration in her face as she goes through the training and assembles her bucket and filter. And you won’t be able to watch as she walks proudly back to her home, prepared to provide clean water to her own and three other families.
 
But you are there.
 
To the people of that small, impoverished area, it is as if you handed them the equipment yourself. You are remembered in prayer. You are thanked and blessed. You are an instrument of God’s love for each of them.
 
Please consider changing another woman’s life – and by extension the lives of several others. One gift of $75 provides the bucket, filter, and training for one new Water Woman.

Or you can join our growing list of monthly sustainers by clicking the link below. By giving $12.50 each month, you can sponsor two new Water Women each year. We will send you information on where the Water Women live, and the impact your gift is making.
 
On behalf of those whom you will help, we ask God to bless you for your generosity.
And thank you again for
spreading the good news...

Once again, more people subscribed to our newsletter last week. We welcome these new members of the Water With Blessings community for mission, some of whom have already invested in training and equipping new Water Women.

We thank you for sending this newsletter to your family and friends and helping us increase the numbers in our Community for Mission.
Why We Began
Water With Blessings
Arnie LeMay
Co-founder, Former Board Chair
Water With Blessings

It sounds like the beginning of a corny joke.
 
“A nun, an architect, and a hospital engineer wander into a marginal community,” said Arnie LeMay.
 
Arnie, Sr. Larraine Lauter, and Jim Burris were veterans of ecumenical mission trips to Honduras. Despite their efforts, the same problems faced them every year. And the challenge came down to one factor: dirty water.
 
“We saw the effects of water-borne illnesses and Sr. Larraine was insistent that we had to find a way to change that,” he said. “But there was no infrastructure, no power, no piped water, no security. We began looking for a solution.”
 
The first system they tried relied on one piece of equipment in one location. While it was somewhat effective, it really didn’t work for the whole community. They looked for an in-home solution. At a seminar they attended, they saw the Sawyer PointONE filter demonstrated.
 
“At some point, we had to test it in the community,” Arnie said. “We took ten filters on our next trip and asked ten women to try them and give us feedback. When we returned the next year they asked: ‘Did you bring more? It’s a blessing!’”

To read more of Arnie's story,
please click the link below.
Want to hear more about Water With Blessings’ beginnings? Join us for a historic Coffee Chat...
And we hope Sr. Larraine will be back hosting the chat

In celebration of World Water Day (and Week) we will have Arnie LeMay as our guest on this week’s Coffee Chat. Arnie has been here from the beginning, working with Sr. Larraine and Jim Burris to found Water With Blessings, then serving for many years as Chair of the Board of Directors.
 
While Arnie, humbly, points to Sr. Larraine as the key to the organization’s success, she points right back at him and Jim. So it will be interesting to see who wins on Friday.
 
So please join us for a very important Chat. We promise that once again 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, March 26. We look forward to seeing you then.
Even though we had to postpone our Grand Opening, our new sign went up on Friday, March 19

It was a cool March day, and the wind whipping around didn’t help any. But by the end of Friday afternoon our new sign was shining from above the front door of our new offices.

View Sign & Light, a company in Overland Park, Kansas, produced the signage for us at cost. The company is owned by Dave Vavak, the uncle of our team member Renee Schultz. Members of Renee’s family volunteered their time and skills to install the sign for us.

Pictured above are: team member Brian Hsiao, Scott Schultz, Cindy Schultz, Renee Schultz, team member Debbie Robson, Sr. Barbara Smith, and John Schultz. And of course, they had some canine accompaniment.
We believe every child should be drinking clean water. Are you with us?
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