CHARLESTON,S.C.—Water Missions International has launched its second annual Water Sunday initiative—a program that urges churches from throughout the country to dedicate one Sunday toward educating their congregations about the global need for safe water and encouraging them to respond. In Water Sunday’s first year, the response was dramatic, with more than 30 churches participating nationwide.
Last year, participating churches raised more than $100,000 dollars that went to safe water projects worldwide. In 2013, Water Missions International has set a goal of recruiting 100 churches to participate. If those 100 churches then raised $5,000 each, 33,000 people in communities currently lacking safe water would be provided access to this life-giving commodity.
Access to safe water has proved to be transformational for communities throughout the world, as noted in a 2009 health impact study by Dr. Jeffrey Deal. The study found a dramatic 52 percent reduction of waterborne-illness-related clinical visits after the safe water solutions implemented by Water Missions International became fully operational.
Water Missions International Church Engagement Director Kevin Herr noted Water Sunday’s impact, saying: “Water Sunday has empowered churches throughout America to provide a solution to the lack of safe water. With every new Water Sunday participant, lives are changed.”
Water Missions International is a nonprofit, Christian engineering organization providing long-lasting safe water and sanitation solutions to people in developing countries and disaster areas. With nine permanent country programs, Water Missions International has worked in 49 countries on five continents. Since its founding in 2001, Water Missions International has provided safe water access for more than 2.4 million people. It has received Charity Navigator’s top rating six years in a row, a distinction shared by only 3 percent of the charities rated by the organization. Water Missions International is headquartered in Charleston, S.C.
