By Pam Mueller

They greeted us at the door with handmade greeting cards.

“Welcome to Jubilee Four!” they said.

A small hand grabbed mine and led me to one of the bedrooms. My new friend showed me her bed and her “cubby” where she keeps her personal belongings–clothes, dolls, and stuffed animals. This facility for children who have contracted HIV was far from an institution. Bright and cheery, it was a home.

After playing games, the children went off to get ready for school. Our team leader discreetly showed us pictures of a few of the children before they came to this home. One was an emaciated skeleton, in the hospital, just days from death. Another picture showed a brother and sister who had been living on the streets—the five year-old taking care of the 2 year old.

Next to each “before” picture was an “after” picture. The same children, after being cared for in this home, had plump cheeks, big smiles and energetic eyes, and they wore school uniforms. The pictures told a story of transformation.

Not all of the children in this home were snatched from the jaws of immediate death. But most were living on the streets or in a brothel, where their chances of long-term survival were not very high. Where uncertainty was certain, and abuse was common. What a contrast this home is to how they used to live!

Safety. The security of having people who are able to take care of them. Nutritious food, provided consistently at meal time. Medical care for their compromised immune systems. Education, which opens the door to a future with opportunities. Introduction to the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who died so that they might live.

This is a Jubilee Home.* I started pondering that word. Jubilee. What does it mean? Dictionary.com defines it as “any season or occasion of rejoicing or festivity”. This is a home of rejoicing—where the lost are found, the sick are healed, and the (almost) dead are raised to life.

I found another meaning for this word “Jubilee”. In the Old Testament, the Jewish people celebrated the Year of Jubilee every 50 years. Among other things, slaves were set free in this year.

The children in this Jubilee Home were not physically enslaved. But most of them, if they had not been rescued, would have ended up there. Little girls who live on the streets or in brothels end up being forced into prostitution, many of them at a very young age. Little boys on the street are also exploited, often addicted to glue or drugs.

Jubilee Homes provide a place for children to go before they become entrapped in slavery. Some of these children were sent here by their mothers, who are still trapped in Mumbai’s red light district. They send their children to protect them and to prevent them from being enslaved. Prevention is a great way to fight human trafficking.

*Jubilee Homes are part of the ministry of Bombay Teen Challenge, Sower of Seeds’ ministry partner in India. We are currently raising money for a new Jubilee Home to be built, so that we can care for more children.  Go to this link to learn how you can be involved in Project Red Light Rescue.

March 25 is the International Day of Remembrance of the victims of slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade on the United Nations calendar.

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Most of us have been in situations where we feel utterly powerless. It is in these situations that we find ourselves praying for a miracle, for an intervention.

If we wake up to empty taps or a pipe breaks, we phone the plumber or the city. It is not like this in India. In a country the size of India, having enough is a perpetual challenge. Enough food for everyone, enough toilets or enough water for everyone.

In India gathering water is a daunting task, one delegated to women and girls and one which can take all day, every day. Because of limited access to safe water, people drink contaminated surface water, and 24,000 children still die every day from water-related illnesses.

In a country like India where a their year’s supply of rain falls in a short 3 month monsoon, many farmers find themselves battling for survival, not in their fields, but in slums where their relocated families now share city water with thousands every day. Many of India’s 1.2 million men, women and children live in villages, but an increasing number of people flood the cities in hope of finding a better life for themselves and their children.

Women and girls stand in lines for hours, desperate to get their turn at the trickle that comes through the pipes every day.
Some give up on the lines and the arguments at the taps, and walk miles to gather unsafe water from open water sources. Others sacrifice their daily wages to buy water from those who control private water sources. Just to survive.

Over the years that we have worked in Mumbai’s slums, we’ve talked to parents desperately trying to do their best for their children. One thing is certain. They need help. They have asked for help. Pastors working in these communities have asked for help.

Access to safe water liberates families from spending their days toting contaminated water over miles of hazardous terrain. Education and employment become possibilities for women and girls, and children regain their health. Water wells transform their communities and because it is all done through the local church, people get to know Him who cares about their physical and spiritual needs.

S.O.S. has been providing water wells in villages, schools and slum communities in cities across India at the request of local pastors. Projects range in size from small hand-pumps to wells with electric pumps and reservoirs. We are truly blessed to be answering cries for help. This is only the beginning.

On World Water Day this year, March 22, will you consider those who do not have clean water today. You can help bring an answer to cries for help that go out this very day.

Water of Life offers an answer by providing the essential, felt needs of others in a practical way.  Local churches in India partners with S.O.S. to provide wells and offer water freely to communities.

You can participate in this life saving outreach in the following ways:

$4,800 provides one well for a village community
$777 provides water for 100 people
$388 provides water for 50 people
$194 provides water for 25 people
$39 provides water for 5 people
$7.77 can save one life by providing clean water for one person

… for the next 30 years!

“When the poor and needy search for water and there is none, and their tongues are parched from thirst, then I, the Lord, will answer them.” -Isaiah 41:17 (New Living Translation)

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This coming month, SOS has some needs for a special fundraising event. We are hoping to gather items for our raffle to benefit Project Red Light Rescue. We are putting together themed baskets for the raffle. All the proceeds from these baskets will go to support rehabilitated girls.

We are looking for donations of new items to go in the following baskets:

Board Game Gift Set:  We need more new board games for this set. Games like scrabble, Chess, checkers, monopoly, poker, catch phrase…
Movies Gift Set:  We have a blue ray DVD player for this movie basket. We could still use some Blue Ray DVDs.
Coffee Gift Set:  We have a lovely Coffee Starbucks gift basket and espresso machine for this package, but we could still use some food items to include with this basket.
Cooking Gift set:  The cooking themed basket is coming together well, however we could use items like nice kitchen knives and/or utensils, Pot and Pan set, Wok, Spices, Central Market gift card…
Travel Gift Set:  We have a nice carry on bag for this set but could use a GPS, hotel vouchers or any other travel related items.
Water Park Gift Set:  Could use any water park tickets for local water parks
Lego Gift Set:  We have 6 nice sets of lego (City and Hero themed) and could use additional sets to really deck out out this gift set.  Tickets to Legoland would also be an awesome addition.
Children’s Reading Set:  We have a hand-painted bookshelf and 2 children’s chairs. We need new children’s books for all ages to pair with this set.

Contact us if you would like to donate items, or phone the office at 817-898-0262.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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“At a regional scale, the Water Security Index confirms South Asia (Water Security Index= 1.6) as a hot spot where populations and economies are being adversely impacted by poor water security. South Asia is less secure than all other regions in terms of its household water security (including sanitation), urban water security, environmental water security, and resilience to water- related disasters.  ”

Click here for the full report 

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RANCHI: The summer has announced its arrival and its time for Ranchi to brace up for severe water crisis. The problem of insufficient drinking water supply has already hit a few areas in the city. Wells and ponds have started drying up, hand pumps are running dry, areas like Ratu Road, Madhukam, Hindpirhi, Adarsh Nagar, Chutiya, Kishoregunj and many others, are faced with the problem of insufficient drinking water.

via Water crisis looms over Ranchi – Times Of India.

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If you are not familiar with SOS’s 777 Project, please check it out. It is an easy way for you and your friends to help give communities in India water.  Every year, on March 22nd, World Water Day aims to draw attention to a different aspect of the world water crisis.

With the help of partners like you, SOS has provided over 500 wells to date in India. While the average cost of a well is $4,800, the water crisis in India is so severe that every personal donation counts.  We designed 777 to make it easy and simple for you to give one person water every month.

To help you spread the word this year, would you consider embedding a picture in your email signature or on your blog?

The address for this image is: http://www.sowerofseeds.org/mail/sticker_savealife.jpg

The link is http://www.777water.org

Help save lives!

Read more about the India water crisis on our blog

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“Children are the most vulnerable to water-related diseases. Diarrhoea, caused by unclean water, is a leading cause of child mortality. Although diarrhoea mortality has declined in recent years, it remains the second leading cause of death for children under five after pneumonia, accounting for one-fifth of child deaths. This death toll is greater than that caused by AIDS, malaria and measles combined.”

via Quantifying Water Supply, Sanitation and the MDGs – United Nations University.

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by Hannah Weehunt

Water Pots lined up at a water distribution site in India. (Photo: Hannah Weehunt)

I am a waster of water. To say I take it for granted is an understatement.

Every day, I turn on the tap for a good 2 minutes before I ever use it, just to make sure the water streaming from the pipes, is hot enough for me.

I live in a house with 2 other girls and we all take really long showers despite the consistent knocking and lamenting from the other side of the door.

I often drink half a bottle of water and throw it in the backseat of my car, only to find it a month later before hydrating the cement with its remains.

I don’t think about water. It’s there and I use it.

Have you ever thought what it would be like if we had to wait in line for hours to have drinking water; to have to carry our water on our heads every day so that our families could cook and clean? 

I was in South India not long ago with a team documenting the hardship of tsunami victims on the coast. We were filming in an oceanside village and I didn’t think twice about the water needs of anyone living in this community.

One day as we drove through the narrow streets of the village I saw a sight I will never forget. Ahead of us was a cluster of women in colorful saris pushing and shoving each other. Water jugs lined the street.

As we got closer, the atmosphere intensified. Traffic had slowed significantly as women flooded out into the narrow road. Despite our host’s (a local church pastor) best efforts to keep us in the car, we hopped out and moved in for a closer look.

Women battling to fill water vessels behind a water distribution tanker in South India

“This community only gets water a few times a week”, the pastor explains. “It is shipped in by truck and the women are responsible for bringing jugs to fill and take back to their families. Once the truck is empty, the water is gone until the following visit days later.”

Woman of all ages fought their way to the back of the truck, desperately trying to get their pots to a small spigot dispensing the water.  It was the middle of the day. The afternoon sun and heat was almost unbearable.

These women had no time to be concerned about the heat or the traffic zooming past just inches from their feet. They would shut down the whole road if they had to. This water was essential to their survival. This water was their family’s only hope. They knew that, and the longer I stood with them, I slowly began to realize it myself.

Filling pots at the water tanker. (Photo: Hannah Weehunt)

We eventually walked back toward the car and I breathed a sigh of relief. I get to leave the situation these women are trapped in. For them, having enough clean water for their families is an absurd dream. Every day they fight for something I don’t give a second thought to.

The need for water is so much greater than I could ever express. Even those who do have access to water could just as easily be killed by the contamination in it.

Can you imagine giving your child water that you knew was killing them, having to decide if they would die today from dehydration or tomorrow from water-borne illness?

Approximately 1.83 million children will die this year before reaching their 5^th birthday due to water related issues.*

While standing on the side of the road that day with these women, I was reminded of the time Jesus found himself in the middle of a crowd, surrounded by the physical needs of 5,000 men (Matthew 14:13-21). After he spoke to them, he didn’t send them away to deal with their physical needs on their own. Instead he looked to the disciples and said “you feed them.” The disciples brought what they had, which was very little, and Jesus blessed it. After he blessed it, they not only had enough but far more than they ever needed.

That day the disciples got to see the “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think” God (Ephesians 3:20-21). They got to see their meager contribution turn into someone else’s plenty because they responded to Jesus’ voice, a voice that is still calling out to us. Where there is physical need the Lord is ready and eager to meet it.

Today He looks to us to help meet these needs. He is calling us to feed, to provide water, to bring our contribution to the able hands of Jesus and watch him turn it into more than enough. He wants us (and those whom we help) to experience His “exceedingly abundantly above” ability as we reach out to meet other’s needs.

It takes less than $4,800 to provide a water well for a community and less than $10 to give a someone in India access to water.

So bring your little and I’ll bring mine.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”- Ephesians 3: 20-21 NKJV

Hannah Weehunt is an intern in the communications department at Sower of Seeds. She studies Journalism at the University of North Texas.

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by Pam Mueller

“Every minute, four children die from waterborne disease.”*

I’ve seen this and other videos on water needs in India before. I’ve seen and I’ve smelled the waterholes where people are contracting those waterborne diseases. I’ve cringed to think of touching that water, much less bathing in it or drinking it or cooking with it. I must confess that sometimes I get too familiar with the information, and I forget the reality of what unclean water means to the person who is living with it.

Waterborne disease. An unpleasant topic. I don’t personally know anyone who has died from waterborne disease. But it kills four children every minute. What does it look like?

There are many different viruses, parasites and bacterias that can contaminate water, and each has different effects on the body. The most common scenario is that a child drinks infected water, or eats food prepared with infected water. Then he gets sick with diarrhea, vomiting, stomach pain, and possibly other symptoms. After suffering, he dies.

In the time that it takes to watch this video and read this blog, twelve children will die of waterborne disease. Statistics can be just numbers in our head, but each of those children has a name and a family. Each of them felt real pain in their final days and probably didn’t understand what was happening to them. There are many more like them who will die if they don’t get clean water.

I don’t know about you, but this causes a deep sense of dis-ease in the pit of my stomach. I’m not trying to be clever with a play on words. I think it is right for us to say that this shouldn’t be so. It’s right to feel disturbed that small children are dying, especially when there is a solution that can prevent those deaths. It is human to say that we want to do something about it.

For $7.77, we can provide clean drinking water for 1 person. When a person gives $7.77 each month, we can provide water for 12 people. You or I will probably never meet the people who benefit from the gift of clean water, but to some of these children and their families, it is the difference between life and death.

“The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.”                  Isaiah 41:17

Click here for more information 

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By Pam Mueller

We stepped down into the busy schoolroom, and immediately I could tell it was a happy place. The 10 x 20 foot space held 25 preschool children, and they were ready to sing and recite for us! The teachers graciously let us interrupt their day to spend some time with the kids. A lot happened in a short period of time as we got down on the floor and did crafts, told Bible stories and sang songs. And then it was lunchtime.

I love visiting Destiny India Schools. I love the children: their cuteness, their curiosity, their excitement and energy. I love hearing them sing songs about Jesus and recite the English alphabet with their accents that are some mixture of Hindi, Tamil and British.

I love the opportunity given to these children who otherwise would not have access to an education. Education is one of the keys to breaking the cycle of poverty from one generation to the next. Education at a Destiny India School instills hope in these children and their families for a better future.

I love all of these things about the Destiny India Schools. But most of all, I love lunchtime. It’s a simple meal of rice and lentils. For many of the children, it is the only meal they will eat all day. Their only meal.

I love lunchtime because I see with my own eyes that Destiny India Schools are feeding the hungry. And while their bellies are being satisfied with a hot meal, we are also serving them hope. Hope in the form of a better future. Hope in the form of hearing about the God who created them and loves them.

It occurs to me that someone back home gave money to pay for this hot meal. Someone made a donation because they wanted to help these children. Someone made a sacrifice to feed a hungry child.

If you have given money to support a Destiny India School, I want to say thank you. Your gift impacted a life today. Your generosity fed a child who would have otherwise gone hungry. And your gift helped take them (through education) one step closer to someday being able to feed themselves.

My heart still breaks for the ones who remain hungry. I send up silent prayers as I walk back through the neighborhood to the cars waiting to take us back to our hotel.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry?”
Isaiah 58:6-7

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