Around the world, a child dies every eight seconds from a water-related disease.

We seldom even think about turning on the water faucet and being able to have drinkable water.  We often complain if it tastes like minerals or if it smells like sulphur and yet the majority of the world doesn't have access to clean water.  Waterborne diseases are caused by organisms that are directly spread through water. Water-related illnesses can be acquired due to a lack of water for good hygiene, lack of sanitation, or increasing insect populations that breed in water and then spread disease.

Many of the people groups with whom we work are plagued by these diseases if they are fortunate enough to have water at all.  There is a long list, but some of the more common, often fatal waterborne diseases are amebiasis, cholera, chronic diarrhea, dengue fever, giardia, hepatitis and malaria. 

Malaria, the world's most important parasitic infectious disease, is transmitted by mosquitoes which breed in fresh or occasionally brackish water. Without prompt and effective treatment, malaria can evolve into a severe cerebral form followed by death. Malaria is among the five leading causes of death in under-5-year-old children in Africa._[1]

Harvesters International has been drilling water wells practically since its inception in the 1970's.  For the past decade we have used the correlation between physical water and living water to share the Gospel primarily in Africa, but also in Asia. 

Clean drinking water brings not only physical life to the people, but also opens the door to share of the eternal life offered by Jesus Christ through His death, burial and resurrection.  By bringing safe, accessible drinking water to the people, they continue to return to the areas with the wells and this gives our national partners an opportunity to share with the same people on a continual basis, which in turn guarantees that they are being nourished in the Word.

We at Harvesters strive to be good stewards of the resources that God's people provide and we seek to find the most effective way to use those resources to bring the Gospel to the lost.  Repeatedly, we find that bringing water opens the doors more than any other tool - it is life-giving and provides many Biblical illustrations. 

We invest in drilling water wells not just because it improves the life of the people, but because it is among the most effective means to share the Gospel.

 _[1] World Health Organization, "Water-related diseases" - Malaria