WATER WELLS
“Emerging countries in turmoil pose great opportunities for evangelism.”
Since 2010 MERCY PARTNERS has provided ten deepwater boreholes, 265 feet deep, 8” bore that pierce the burning soil of Sudan through our “PROJECT JACOB." Each well supplies safe water to thousands in the midst of conflict.
Statistically, 8 in 10 wells which Non-Governmental Organizations bore fall into disuse with in the first 18 months, MERCY PARTNERS has reversed the statistic by utilizing native drill teams who assembled and hold evangelistic outreach along with community training to care for the well long after the crew leaves the region. Site surveys incorporate evangelistic outreach and the communities that are blessed with the well must host the team. The village that surrounds the well is responsible for assuring all have unimpeded access. The community is tasked to locate and carry the gravel for the cement mixture that secures the well and totes the water that is used for lubricating the bore head as it borrows towards the aquifer. The depth of the bore is calculated by the aquifer level during the dry season to supply even the most remote locations. At times, a drill point burrows into the parched soil of Sudan over 20 stories deep seeking the aquifer of the life-giving liquid.
TESTIMONY
“My name is Selina Kapiki Wala and I am a Muru by tribe but was born of Mundri West. My family and I have been here in Juba even during the civil war. The water crisis in Juba has been a history we have suffered a lot. I am thankful that MERCY PARTNERS came to put an end to this. Women use to wake up early in the morning to go and search for water - a distance of 2 to 3 km for polluted water. We have been victims of severe waterborne diseases; financially, life has been so expensive because of buying water every day. Thank God to MERCY PARTNERS with this gift of water we are partners together in life. May the almighty hand of protection dwells among you. Amen.”
After reading Immaculée Ilibagiza's autobiographical story, Left To Tell, about the Rwandan genocide, Sarah D. felt she needed to put on a benefit concert to help those who were affected by the genocide in Sudan. She was especially alarmed by the number of women who were raped by militias. Sarah contacted MERCY PARTNERS through their website with her hope of a benefit concert to aid the people they serve. Sarah's artistic temperament, coupled with the ambition that one person could really make a difference, harmonized with MERCY PARTNER's belief that each individual has an opportunity to change the world if we get off the soapbox of "awareness" and become "active." Sarah empowered other musicians with that same spirit. Sarah’s "With One Voice" spearheaded the water-well initiative we call Project Jacob to provide safe water to villages.
CHURCH GROWING
"We believe that partnership is at the root of mercy. Church growth stems from mercy. "
6 churches top a collective number of 800 disciples with additional followers. Church growth has been a direct response to MERCY PARTNERS evangelistic outreach and has resulted in 335 souls baptized in Christ, many of which have produced more disciples of untold numbers. By unleashing the church to be free from dependence on a “mother” church, we no longer refer to the spread of God's Kingdom as a "church plant” but a dynamic living organism in which we advocate churches “grow” by remaining attached to the true vine, Jesus Christ.
TESTIMONY
“I was born when my mother and father paid a witch doctor to open the womb of my mother. The agreement they made with the witch doctor included that I would be named after a demon. When something very bad happened in my village, people would run to the witch doctor to place a curse on their enemies. This is why South Sudan is in a failed state today.
The church had brought peace when they brought the understanding of God's Son. He did not place a curse but released those of us that were once an enemy. We are now His family. What love! I am now of the tribe of Jesus Christ." -(Name Withheld)
Out of the 56 tribes in South Sudan, Peter was born among one of the marginalized. Peter shares that religion is a major factor in his country's war. The church of Christ can help these communities through peace-building initiatives and conflict mitigation. To do this, he has grown a church family in an expanding area near the capital city. Peter personally acquired a barren land plot and had the vision to construct a shelter to worship under. MERCY PARTNERS identified an opportunity to show mercy and took the task to provide resources for natives to build a mahogany rafter with teak poled structure and sheet metal roof. Thus, Gudele Church of Christ was located, and our Church Growth project was initiated.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
"Extending Mercy creates equality and provides empowerment
through resources and teaching."
Many of “the least of these” that MERCY PARTNERS works with, do their utmost to sustain themselves. Undeveloped nations have little opportunities for self-employment, but when the opportunities become apparent the most basic resources can make a life-change for families and provide lasting stability.
MERCY PARTNERS comes alongside such opportunities with resources in micro-financing (small loans) and gifts of empowering resources (plows or tools, etc.). We provide capacity building and accountability procedures that provide rising entrepreneurs with a clear path out of their distress.
A core ambition of MERCY PARTNERS is for native evangelists to remain free of dependency. Dignity and strength of the native church worker assure lasting kingdom impact. During times of conflict, this becomes difficult, however, at a time of relative peace, efforts in vocational training goes a long way to fulfill the empowerment of the next generation.
TESTIMONY
"It was my husband that gave me HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). I had not known that he was with other women and I have always worked hard. After my husband had the ambition of offering our daughter as a sacrifice to a witch-doctor, our marriage was no more. I have cast aside from him and my children and I were exiled. What was I to do? What I knew was only to mix the feed for the chickens so they can produce good eggs. When the Church was asked, 'What are you doing about your circumstance?' I was challenged to pray for the things I could not do, but to keep doing all I could to change my situation. And it happened. MERCY PARTNERS empowered the church to provide a small loan so I could begin buying feed in bulk and mix them for a profit to care for my family. Even my HIV is in remission because of doing what I could and praying for God's strength. Jesus is everything to me." - Mary K.
For Mary and Joyce, an economic solution for their families manifested only in their imaginations. If they had a small building with bulk supplies that they could portion out and sell for a profit, then things would take a turn. MERCY PARTNERS provided funding for a local welder to create a kiosk and enough funds to outfit the supply. Since “ Jack’s Store” opened it has paid for school fees, medicine, and bread and juice for Sunday’s Lord Supper celebration with the church family.
HOW TO HELP
GIVE BIBLES
Give old or new Bibles, songbooks, and Christian Literature
ESTABLISH SAFE WATER
Establish safe water well or repair a disabled well.
MICROLOANS & TRANSPORTATION
Provide Transportation to mobilize the Gospel. Provide funding for a microloan that will empower others to strive.
DONATE
Charitable donations give mercy wings and allow transport of aid in conflict zones and mobilize our service programs and health clinics.
WHY SUSTAINABLE AID?
"For people to sustain themselves they must get beyond survival."
The inability to feed children, care for their health, and education is a struggle and impossibility for families in North and East Africa. Breaking the cycle of poverty means not just providing for the day, but working with folks that already have an idea about how they can be pulled up in a state of equality if key resources can be tapped into. Many times western Non-Governmental Organizations have programs and plans that are scaled and adaptable to the culture that made them rather than for the culture that they are meant for. This misplaced compassion has a way of backfiring on helping people and can actually hurt. To do this, basic necessities need to be obtained… achieved and not necessarily handed out...