WILLS POINT, TX — It’s one of the most remarkable stories in the colossal quest to provide clean drinking water to every person on the planet.
The “Jesus Wells” project, a monumental undertaking of Texas-based mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org), is 25 years old this year — and on the cusp of delivering safe, clean drinking water to its 40 millionth beneficiary.
CLEAN WATER AVAILABLE FOR MILLIONS: The “Jesus Wells” project, a monumental undertaking of Texas-based mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org), is 25 years old this year — and on the cusp of providing safe drinking water to its 40 millionth beneficiary.
“As we mark World Water Day this month, we’re grateful for all who have sacrificed and labored to make the Jesus Wells project what it is today,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan, also known as Metropolitan Yohan.
So far, the project has supplied reliable, clean drinking water to more than 39 million people in some of the world’s poorest communities — often in remote, parched areas — through a combination of new wells, water pipelines and filters.
This year, it aims to surpass 40 million beneficiaries, launching hundreds of new projects across Africa and Asia.
They’re called “Jesus Wells” because they display a plaque quoting Jesus in the Gospel of John: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.”
‘Hidden Catastrophe’
According to UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, 2.2 billion people worldwide — more than 1 in every 4 — lack safe drinking water.
Every year, it’s estimated more than 500,000 people worldwide die from diseases such as cholera and dysentery due to drinking dirty water.
“It’s a global catastrophe that’s largely hidden from us in America,” Yohannan said.
In Asia, GFA World’s team constructed an almost two-mile-long water pipeline through a mountain rainforest infested with blood-sucking leeches to rescue villagers whose water source was swamped with mud, feces, dead snakes and rotting animal carcasses.
The pipeline feeds water tanks that supply filtered spring water to every home. The organization has installed a similar water system in nine more villages in the area.
Since then, the attitude toward Christians in the area has “completely changed,” Yohannan said.
“They welcome the missionaries into their homes to share God’s love,” he said. “They witnessed for themselves how Christians love and care for people, regardless of their religion or social background.”
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 880 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 163,000 needy families, and teaching to provide hope and encouragement in 110 languages in 14 nations through broadcast ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide, discussing Kylan and his village’s struggle with unclean water, and the access to clean water through newly installed GFA World Jesus Wells.
Ten times each day, 20 minutes each way—Kylan and his wife, Esmai, spent cumulative hours on one task. Back and forth, the parents of two performed the same errand. They had to keep doing it for their survival.
Needing Water Every Day
Every day, Kylan and Esmae made the 20-minute journey to their village’s nearest water source. Nearly 10 times a day, depending on how much water they needed, the husband and wife trekked to the waterhole. There, they filled up their water cans as full as they could. Unfortunately, the road to the waterhole curved downhill. Trekking uphill with full jugs several times a day was taxing for Kylan and Esmae and it was even worse during the rainy seasons.
The rain made the roads difficult to traverse, and both husband and wife had fallen multiple times due to the slippery, muddy trails. Sometimes, the rain fell so hard that the road itself flooded, cutting off access to the waterhole. Adding to their misery, during the rainy season the quality of the water was even worse than normal.
“When the water level rises,” Kylan said, “the water from outside actually gets into the well … and the water becomes dirty … but we didn’t have any choice, we had to collect that water and bring it home.”
The water they gathered already was already dirty and untreated on a good day. The family tried to filter the water as best they could, but they could not remove all the pathogens.
“Because of consuming water from that well … we had problems like upset stomachs and even fevers,” Kylan said. “And also, we had skin diseases because of bathing in that water.”
Easily Drawing Clean Water
Thanks, the new Jesus Well, like the one pictured, Kylan’s village now has easy access to clean, pure water.
“We don’t have to go and fetch water from that [old] water source which is time consuming,” Kylan said. “Moreover, the water from the open source was not clean … it was very unhygienic and impure to drink.”
However, the water from the newly installed Jesus Well was clean and pure.
“We didn’t have to filter the water,” Kylan remarked on the Jesus Well, “because the well was dug very deep.”
Nearly everybody in the community uses the Jesus Well now. Kylan said, “The Jesus Well water is more [than] enough for all the villagers here in this village.”
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia World stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Provide a Village with Access to Clean Water. GFA’s clean water program is supplying safe, disease-free water to families across Asia through Jesus Wells. Each Jesus Well offers clean drinking water to roughly 300 people at a cost of less than $5 per person.
Learn more about the GFA World national missionary workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agencyGFA World (Gospel for Asia) now provides a water lifeline to nearly 40 million desperate people – a number roughly equal to the entire population of California.
Globally, 663 million people lack clean water. Every year, around 500,000 people — including 360,000 children under the age of five — die from waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and typhoid.
“These are overwhelming numbers,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan, also known as Metropolitan Yohan. “The good news is we can help save many precious lives, one community at a time.”
Texas-based GFA World has installed more than 40,000 wells — called “Jesus Wells” — and 95,000 BioSand water filters, providing safe drinking water to more than 39 million highly vulnerable people in Asia.
‘JESUS WELL’ PROJECT ENDS VILLAGE ‘WATER WOES’: Texas-based mission agency GFA World (http://www.gospelforasia.net) teamed up with a village church in Nepal to dig a “Jesus Well.” The resulting “miracle” means villagers no longer have to drink from contaminated ponds. Across Asia, GFA World’s water projects serve nearly 40 million people.
Altercations Over Water
In one village in Nepal, quarrels and fights sometimes erupted as villagers waited in line for up to two hours to fill their jars at a community water pipe, reduced to a trickle by months of drought.
Aware of their plight, GFA World came alongside the local church to help make a new well a reality. At first, the believers in this mountainside village began digging by hand, but – when they hit solid rock – their task seemed hopeless. A crew with drilling machines arrived to help, but even they soon gave up.
“The pastor had been praying for two years for God to solve the water problem in the community,” Yohannan said. “[The church members] continued to dig manually, and God did a miracle. Breaking through rock at 33-feet deep, they reached a spring.”
Astonished village leaders said, “This is a great service the church has done… you have become a blessing for us.”
Speaking of the community impact, Yohannan said, “Children won’t miss school anymore because of water-hauling duties, and people no longer get sick from drinking contaminated water from dirty ponds and mudholes.”
“Jesus Wells transform entire communities, Yohannan said, showing people “God really cares about them and answers their prayers.”
Give Clean Water, Fresh Hope! — You can help change tragic outcomes caused by water scarcity and waterborne disease. Help provide villages and families with clean, safe drinking water and give them fresh hope.
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this first part of a Special Report on the unstoppable compassion force of national missionary workers.
Compassion Sweeps ‘Forgotten Islands’
In what are known as the “forgotten islands” of South Asia, remote outposts dotted along the shoreline of the Indian Ocean, villagers still use oxen as a mode of transportation and wash themselves, their dirty clothes and their dishes in the same stagnant ponds they drink from.
Ritesh and his national missionaries are constantly on the move to show the love of Jesus to the “forgotten islands” in South Asia, to which they sail on boats, walking several miles a day, then riding on bicycles.
No clean water. No schools. No medical clinics. Life seems hopeless—and improvement seems impossible—for many of the “forgotten” people of these islands. But a team of young GFA World national workers was changing all that. Traveling on rickety boats from island to island, these committed young workers brought hope and good news to islanders on the brink of giving up.
“It is not we who have been doing ministry, but it is God who has been doing ministry through us,” said group leader Taj, whose team earned the trust of hundreds of villagers as they prayed for the sick and showed these “hidden” people the love of God.
Their hands-on compassion and care has built strong bonds.
“You are my son,” one elderly widow told a member of the team. “You are my mother,” the young missionary replied.
When Gospel for Asia (GFA World) launched its child sponsorship program on several of the islands, the impact on children who’d never before had the chance to go to school before was staggering, resulting in a new birth of hope and purpose.
But Taj and his team weren’t done yet. “I began to pray that we may have enough resources of water,” Taj said.
Jesus Wells meet practical needs in communities for safe, clean drinking water, and in doing so, convey the love Jesus has for the people in these villages.
The answer to his prayers came: Teams drilled new Jesus Wells, bringing clean water for the first time to thousands of islanders who had only tasted water from filthy ponds, which were contaminated and often caused children to fall sick and even die.
In just two years, the commitment and perseverance of Taj and his team brought new hope and good news to dozens of islands, showering the love of God on everyone they met—including the boat drivers who ferried them from place to place.
Such perseverance is a hallmark of faith-filled national workers who have a deep interest in the well-being and health of their fellow countrymen, propelling them to great lengths to share the wholeness and inner peace they’ve discovered themselves.
As a child, Pastor Marty often dug through garbage to fill his empty stomach. Now he is living in the same slum he grew up in, showing the love of Jesus by meeting practical needs of people who are going through the same struggles he went through.
A Native of the Slums Brings Hope
Marty, an indigenous pastor, has dedicated many years to transforming life for the children in the sprawling South Asia slum he was born in. He recalls digging through the garbage as a boy, desperate to find scraps to relieve his hunger. When his alcoholic father died, Marty, who was still only a boy, became his family’s provider.
Every morning Pastor Marty goes on a neighborhood prayer walk, interacting with residents, praying over the community (shown above) and asking for help in showing the love of Jesus in practical ways. It is only through the power of prayer and tangible help that these communities in South Asia can be transformed.
Having experienced the pain, struggles and addictions that plague children every day in the slums, Marty’s eyes tear up as he describes his heartache for children wallowing in extreme poverty, sifting through the trash without hope—like he once did. That’s why he and his wife, Prina, are so passionate about serving the slum dwellers.
“Most of these children’s parents are my friends. We went to school together,” Marty said. “But most of them dropped out. … They started indulging [in] wrong things. … Some of them are even dead. So I started thinking about their children. Why [don’t] we do something for their children?”
Every morning, Marty goes on a neighborhood “prayer walk.” He prays for each individual by name, and the people in the slum—who embrace him as one of their own—recognize there’s something different about him, something almost heavenly.
“[He] is a great example for us,” says one of his neighbors. “He does what Jesus would have done. Helping the poor and needy and also loving people … He is always willing to help people. … He knows the situation… He understands better than anyone else.”
After serving his neighbors in the slum for 15 years, Marty’s perseverance has turned gray skies into blue. He’s launched two child sponsorship initiatives, turning others’ despair into hope and his own tears into joy.
“Ever since my childhood, the pain and difficult situations and poverty—all those things,” Marty says, “when I look back, [they] were … to make me strong and to trust and [have] faith in [God].”
“Pastor Marty … grew up in [this slum] and now is back serving with his family.” says GFA World’s Yohannan. “Serving here is not easy. … Pastor Marty and many other [national workers] are faithfully serving in the slums.”
Across Asia, thousands upon thousands of national missionaries toil and labor every day, trekking miles on foot—often barefoot in extreme heat or cold—to bring hope and good news to their own people who struggle to see any purpose in their lives or reason to go on living.
With a heavy-duty bicycle like this one, two women missionaries can visit many more ladies than they could on foot, travelling from one village to another, meeting practical needs for personal help, hope and encouragement.
Inspired by Jesus’ love for the poor, these workers press on. Even in the face of hunger, disease, dangerous journeys and other hardships, they refuse to give up.
To reach the remotest villages that are too far to reach by walking, national workers turn to pedal power.
In 2020, amidst the pandemic, hundreds of trained workers on bicycles—a compassion crew on wheels—ventured to remote villages across Asia. Working in conjunction with local authorities within pandemic restrictions, with the heart of Christ they provided help for people in desperate need.
Before the pandemic took hold, bicycles were already helping workers to make the most of their time. Rainer saw how he could help even more people, and he prayed for two years for a bicycle so he could encourage and help a cluster of villages nine miles from his home. Months passed with no sign of a bicycle, but Rainer refused to give up hope. Eventually, he got news that he would receive a bicycle, which was provided through generous donations of people in the West. Rainer cried tears of joy. Today, he rides to 10 villages too far away to visit on foot. His bicycle has even become the local “ambulance,” transporting sick villagers to the nearest clinic. In short, Rainer and his bicycle have been a blessing beyond all expectations.
Because of a bicycle Gospel for Asia (GFA) national worker Rainer has been able to travel to various communities and their churches to show the love of Christ by encouraging the believers, meeting practical needs within the villages for food, clean drinking water and health care, and to support other national workers present in those neighborhoods.
National & Non-National: A Beautiful Partnership
Rainer’s story is a wonderful example of how missions-minded people all around the world can link their lives with the lives of national workers on the frontlines, bringing hope into places they could never go. By supporting and sponsoring a national missionary—perhaps by purchasing a bicycle for them, providing monthly financial support, or committing to pray for them—a beautiful partnership is formed, blessing everyone involved.
The unstoppable, never-give-up attitude of national workers like Rainer is a soul-searching challenge to all who desire to bring hope and love to their neighbors in their own communities, wherever they live—a challenge presented in Yohannan’s new book, aptly titled Never Give Up.
“A day will come when all your family, friends, responsibilities, possessions, degrees, popularity, all of it will be gone,” Yohannan writes. “It’s just going to be you and Christ and nothing else. Let the decisions you make today be ones that will reflect well in the light of that moment.”
“Let me ask you, when was the last time you actively went out of your way to show the love of Christ to someone, and then to talk to them about His love for them?”
“Do you sense a growing ache for those who do not know the love of Christ?”
“Do you feel a deeper burden to care for the suffering and needy… widows and orphans as He did?”
“The choice not to give up is mine. It is also yours.”
As we ponder how to personally convey God’s love in word and deed to those within our spheres of influence, we can also partner with a national missionary who is dedicated to being an unstoppable force for compassion in areas of the world we could never reach on our own. Our prayers and financial support of their commitment to bring practical help and hope to people desperately in need is one way we can never give up in the effort to share good news to a world in need of Christ’s love.
If this special report has touched your heart and you would like to help national workers show Jesus’ love by meeting practical needs, then make a generous one time or monthly gift to support a national missionary in Asia or Africa.
GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Learn more by reading this Special Report from Gospel for Asia on the Lord’s work in 2020 through GFA and the partnerships worldwide while following Him in His work in 16 nations, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Last updated on: September 11, 2022 at 8:31 am By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan – Discussing Suhana, a victim of child marriage, the desperate need for clean water, extreme poverty, illiteracy, and the Gospel for Asia provided Jesus Well that brought stability and hope for a future.
Nine-year-old Suhana stood in her bridal dress, her childish face masked under heavy kohl eye liner, and the red powder on her forehead signaling her entrance into the adult rite of marriage. Her young husband, closer to adulthood than herself, placed a floral garland around her neck. After the ceremony, Suhana moved to her husband’s village, where another newcomer had arrived just a couple years before her—a Jesus Well.
Harmful Customs Sustained by Need to Survive
Suhana
Suhana’s people lived in rural forests, mountains and valleys where they practiced the same traditional way of life for thousands of years. Predominantly farmers, they cultivated their land to produce rice, vegetables and cotton, which were their main economic resources.
The goal for these farmers was simple and straightforward: survive. But there were many obstacles to overcome. Ponds, which irrigated the fields and provided water for households, dried up during the summer and were reduced to mud holes. Sometimes the area experienced droughts so severe entire villages had to relocate, leaving behind anything they could not carry and becoming poorer in the process.
The need for clean water is not unique to Suhana’s people; it is an urgent issue for 783 million people worldwide.
The lack of fundamental needs, such as water, traps many communities into a life dedicated to obtaining basic necessities. Initiating community development projects, like drilling wells or educating children, are unattainable luxuries for many families. The effects of poverty are especially strong on young girls, who are not seen as able to contribute to the family’s survival—and are subsequently married off at a very young age, making them the in-law’s responsibility to support.
783 million people worldwide don’t have clean water
Open sources of water quickly become polluted when hundreds of families use them for everything from washing clothes and watering animals to cooking and bathing.
Suhana established herself in her new community and joined the other wives in daily visits to the well. She balanced water jugs on her head as she carried back clean water for cooking the family meals.
When the Jesus Well came, everyone rejoiced in the immediate benefits, but the long-term benefits had not yet been imagined.
Suhana visits with a neighbor while she gives her cow a drink of water at the Jesus Well. This well, located a stone’s throw from Suhana’s home, was constructed shortly before she arrived in the village as a young wife.
Consistent Water a Stabilizing Influence
Within a year of becoming a wife, Suhana became a mother, and then quickly had two more children in the next few years. She worked hard on her daily household chores and earned extra income doing manual labor at construction sites working with bricks, sand and cement. Her husband worked as a painter, and they both cultivated their land to feed their growing family.
The Jesus Well assisted Suhana in almost every task, from watering her crops and animals to washing dishes and cooking food. Since the Jesus Well was nearby, Suhana did not have to spend extra time hauling water back and forth from a distant water source.
With their basic needs taken care of, Suhana could send her children to school rather than to the fields or to earn money as daily laborers.
The Jesus Well blessed more than just Suhana’s family. People from all over the village came to the Jesus Well every day. During summer droughts, the Jesus Well faithfully poured out clean, pure water, attracting people from other villages whose water supplies had dried up. Even with the additional burden of more people drawing water, the Jesus Well flowed continually, giving life to Suhana’s community and many others.
Suhana uses water from the Jesus Well for almost all of her household tasks, like preparing a meal for her family. The Jesus Well has eliminated the water crisis in Suhana’s village and brought stability to the residents’ daily life.
“This Jesus Well water is more than sufficient for the entire village and also for some neighboring villages,” shares Suhana. “It never dries up during summer, whereas many other water sources dry up. The more we draw water out of this well, the cleaner and purer the water comes out. Everybody comes here and takes water every day, and good water keeps coming out of this well. Everybody is satisfied with the water.”
Village Steadily Transforms
As years went by, Suhana’s children grew and so did the community’s dependence on the Jesus Well. With a reliable source of pure water, children weren’t as sick and missed fewer school days. People could grow their crops and did not have to leave their homes looking for water, and children didn’t need to help their parents earn money.
Eventually, a girls’ school was built nearby, and the daughters of the village attended school instead of preparing for marriage at a young age. Each day on their breaks, students would come to the Jesus Well for drinks and to play and laugh in the cool water.
Suhana and the Jesus Well have lived in this village for almost 20 years now. They have both become part of the fabric of the community.
A local Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor, whose church building is located next to the Jesus Well, shared the impact this gift has made in the community.
“I feel very happy to know that this is one of the first Jesus Wells…” — the local pastor
“I feel very happy to know that this is one of the first Jesus Wells,” the pastor said. “It’s not easy to have a well maintained for this many years; because anybody can install a well, but maintaining it for almost [20] years, where it still gives clean and good drinking water, it is not easy. That makes me very proud and happy, and I am so glad that this well is [by] our church.”
The Jesus Well has brought stability and health to this village and surrounding villages, serving hundreds of families, including Suhana’s, whose children now have the option of continuing their education and no longer have to give up their dreams in exchange for the daily struggle to survive.
Over its 20-year life, this Jesus Well has served hundreds of people thousands of gallons of pure clean water.
Each person that comes to well is presented with the Scripture declaring Christ as the Living Water: “Jesus answered and said to her: ‘Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”—John 4:13–14
You can help bring relief to an entire community through a gift towards a Jesus Well, establishing a legacy of God’s love and goodness for hundreds of people.
Jesus Wells are a wise investment and we keep the costs low too. For only $45, you can provide clean water for up to nine people for around 20 years. See more ways to provide clean water »
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
esperate for water, Madhura and Jaival pushed the handle up and down on the old, abandoned hand pump. A brown substance spilled from the dirty pipe. It was not fit to drink or cook with in any other circumstance, yet it is what they were forced to use. They had no other choice. If they didn’t drink water, they would die; if they drank it, maybe they would die from waterborne diseases. This is what Madhura and Jaival faced every single day for five years.
Pastor Jaanai (pictured here with his family) serves his congregation faithfully and loves to share with others the hope of Jesus.
Pastor Sees Villagers Suffering
From one household to another, everyone seemed to be crying out for clean water—or any water—to quench their thirst and meet their needs. Our pastor Jaanai’s heart broke and welled up with love for the people God had called him to serve. He knew many had never heard of Jesus and His love, and on top of this, they were suffering from lack of pure water. In one day alone, it was not rare for him to pray for several individuals who were sick from waterborne illnesses.
Within Jaival’s village, there were 750 villagers, and they shared three hand pumps. But the pumps were old and damaged—and only one supplied any water. But just one small hand pump wasn’t sufficient for everyone.
Struggling for water was not uncommon or unfamiliar for most people in this region of Asia, but Jaival and his wife Madhura suffered from water crisis worse than most. Madhura was accused of performing witchcraft that took the life of another villager, and with no trial, her neighbors and friends banned her and Jaival from all the village activities, and worst of all, from the village hand pumps.
Water was limited, and clean water was even harder to come by. Villagers suffered from waterborne diseases continually because of polluted water sources, like this well.
When Jaival and Madhura met Pastor Jaanai, they poured out their struggles to his listening ears. Pastor Jaanai told them about his hopes to get a Jesus Well in their village, and the couple began praying within their hearts that this God of love the pastor shared about would help them. Maybe He would give them what their neighbors refused them. Though they didn’t attend church, Jaival and Madhura became curious and watched to see what this God would do. Maybe He wouldn’t cast them aside unjustly.
Faithfully loving Jesus because He first loved them, Jaival and Madhura are now growing in their knowledge of God’s pure love, which never runs dry!
When Jaival and Madhura saw how Jesus answered their prayers and accepted them even when so many people had rejected them, they decided they wanted the Living Water in their lives every day. Faithfully loving Jesus because He first loved them, Jaival and Madhura are now growing in their knowledge of God’s pure love, which never runs dry!
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
If someone were to ask what a Gospel for Asia Jesus Well is worth, the most popular response from faithful followers of our work might be “$1,400.” That’s because we consistently remind our family of believers that a gift of $1,400 can fund the building of a brand-new Jesus Well.
However, $1,400 is what it costsGospel for Asia to install a well in drought-ridden villages across South Asia. The value of a Jesus Well is something entirely different.[1]
Defining the Value of a Jesus Well
Whether we realize it or not, we make nearly all of our purchases based on the value proposition of a business transaction. For example, if someone is buying a new tire for their car, their buying decision will take into account the expected length of time they intend to own the car. If they plan on trading the car in the near future, most people will choose to purchase a less expensive tire than they would if they were planning to keep the car for a long time. Price is an issue, but the amount the customer is willing to spend is primarily based on the value they expect to receive. Our point here is to try to establish the value of a Jesus Well.
Villages do not pay for installation or maintenance of Jesus Wells, so the value proposition is not based on cost at all. It is entirely about the benefit received. Christian businessman, Bill Westwood, explains biblical value proposition this way:
Christ’s work of salvation includes the potential for us to fulfill that mission of adding true value by collaborating with him in the process of bringing order out of chaos.
[The value proposition is] the combination of resulting experiences . . . which an organization delivers to a group . . . in some time frame.
Delivering value . . . , meeting their needs and, wherever possible, exceeding their expectations, is to fulfill the golden rule to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39). In serving and loving others, we are serving God inasmuch as humanity bears the imago Dei.[2]
So, defining the worth or value of a Jesus Well has to be ‘calculated’ in the eyes of the recipients.
The Need for Jesus Wells
Disease
“More than 1.8 million children under the age of five die each year from illness associated with contaminated drinking water. Primary diseases contracted from unclean drinking water include cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, roundworm, hepatitis, and dysentery.”[3]
“It is estimated that over 80% of India’s population does not have access to clean drinking water. Indians regularly drink water from lakes, ponds, and rivers. This is the same water used for bathing, laundry and watering cattle.”[4]
One child dies every 90 seconds due to waterborne disease.[5]
Poverty
Lack of readily available clean water is inextricably related to poverty.
“I don’t think people in the West can even begin to understand that there are people, like the Untouchables in India or Nepal, who have to walk eight, nine, or ten miles with a water pot to draw water from some pond. And often it’s a dirty pond because they are not allowed to draw water from the public well where the upper castes are also drawing water.”[6]
How can a person be productive and provide for their families if one or more of the people in the household has to spend several hours per day carrying pots to fetch water?
Education
When children are sick because of waterborne disease, they cannot attend school.
When children are needed to help carry water long distances, they cannot attend school.
What is a Jesus Well Worth?
Because Jesus Wells are gifts, every benefit derived from the provision of clean drinking water contributes to the value of the well. It is not easy to calculate each well’s precise value. However, we can make some reasonable assumptions based on an average village population of 300[7] where there are 260 adults and 40 children.
300 people will begin to become healthier because they are no longer drinking contaminated water. Jesus Wells are built to last 20 years or more. Imagine how improved health can change the lives of young children over a 20-year period.[8]
“Literature suggests that access to sanitation or drinking water may improve student participation or cognitive functions and therefore lead to better educational outcomes.”[9]
According to Gold Standard,
“Households [using clean water wells] are 9 times less likely to contract waterborne illnesses.”[10]
Clean water will improve the potential for school-aged children to escape poverty. A child’s education is affected by an increase in absenteeism, decrease in cognitive potential, and increased attention deficits, according to A Layman’s Guide to Clean Water.[11]
There could be a reduction in deaths of children age four and younger.
People over the age of 60 could live longer.
Immediate, local access to free, clean water could release women from the burden from an average of 20-30 hours a week spent fetching and carrying contaminated water.[12] These people are not lazy – which is readily evidenced by their willingness to do whatever it takes to provide water for their families. They are industrious. The time saved goes to finding new jobs and often a more stable lifestyle.
Wells are drilled during the dry season to ensure that they are deep enough to provide clean water year-round without villagers having to regress to daily treks to obtain water.
Jesus Wells are maintained by the local church at no cost to the community.
The love of Jesus is evidenced daily by the continued access to Jesus Wells for everyone in the village. “Whosoever will” may drink from the water of Jesus Wells.
Did You Know?
Did you know that the Jesus Well project is one of the largest clean water initiatives in the world?[13]
Did you know that Gospel for Asia has drilled over 11,000 Jesus Wells between 2016 and 2017?
Did you know that every Jesus Well features a plaque with the message John 4:13-14?[14]
Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Did you know that when our Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastors and churches gift a well that you have funded, the people in the village want to understand why someone would do that for them? Most of them have been considered outcasts and have never experienced the unconditional kindness of the love and grace of Jesus Christ.[15]
Did you know that the greatest value proposition of a Jesus Well is that it is a visible and tangible demonstration of His love and grace? A Jesus Well is often their introduction to the one, true God who gives them life on earth and offers the proposition of everlasting life where they will lack nothing. There is no other value proposition that can compare.
In Jesus’ name, I come to you To share His love as He told me to. He said freely, freely, You have received Freely, freely, give. Go in My name And, because you believe, Others will know that I live.[16]
WILLS POINT, TX — Endless scrolling and digital overload are creating a surprising hunger among the smartphone generation known as Gen Z — a deep longing for a real, personal encounter with God, says a global missions leader.
“Young people are craving more than just entertainment and information,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, president of global mission agency GFA World. “They’re craving to encounter the living God.”
GEN Z’S ‘GOD ENCOUNTER’: GFA World’s Set Apart retreat June 2-8 offers young people ages 18-30 the opportunity to swap social media and compulsive texting for a week of “encountering God.”
His comments follow a new study by Barna researchers that revealed young Americans are more likely than older Americans to affirm a “personal commitment to Jesus Christ.” In other research, based on a poll of 2,000 young Americans, two-thirds of Gen Zers said they had prayed to God in the past week, while more than one-third said they had read from the Bible.
Findings suggest many teens and young adults are seeking something deeper than social media likes and followers.
Now Texas-based GFA World is giving them that opportunity.
From June 2-8, the Set Apart retreat at the mission organization’s campus in Wills Point near Dallas offers Gen Zers and Millennials ages 18-30 the opportunity to swap social media and compulsive texting for a week of encountering God — the “encounter they crave,” according to Bishop Daniel.
A Narnia-Like Experience
He likens the retreat to the moment in C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” when the children step through the wardrobe to encounter Aslan, a fictional representation of Christ.
Gen Z longs to “walk through the wardrobe” and meet with God personally, he said, “but they don’t know how or haven’t been given the opportunity.”
The retreat will inspire young people to respond to Jesus’ challenge to “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me” — a radical call, Bishop Daniel says, to embrace “what it means to follow Christ, to live in the light of eternity.”
Seeking A Solid Foundation
Many young people feel empty and are looking for something to anchor their lives on.
A recent report in Premier Christianity noted a growing interest in historic Christian practices and liturgies — dating back to the early church — that “have become more attractive to young adults seeking a solid foundation.”
When young people set aside their phones purposefully for a time of silent prayer and reflection, Bishop Daniel said, the effect on them is profound.
“You have no idea how many young people say that the most impactful thing in their life is just to have the opportunity to encounter the living God,” he said. “As we listen for God’s still small voice, he meets us, but we must give him the space to speak to us.”
Bishop Daniel sees this generation as the future leaders and missionaries of the church — the ones who will carry the message of Christ into the next era.
“They’re going to be the ones to move nations,” he said. “The greatest gift we can give them is the opportunity to encounter God for themselves.”
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and more than 150,000 families provided with the means to break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
“Africa is bursting with possibilities,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, the organization’s new president. “Roughly 40 percent of the population of Liberia, for example, is under the age of 15.”
NEW WAVE OF HOPE ACROSS AFRICA: Texas-based GFA World (www.gfa.org) has launched a new mission base in Liberia, in addition to the construction of a large-scale multi-specialty hospital and training complex in Kigali, Rwanda — a “springboard” for ministry across Africa.
Across Africa, it is estimated at least 32 million children of primary age, mostly girls, do not attend school because their families cannot afford the fees. GFA World’s child sponsorship program seeks to change that, and actively partners with communities.
The organization is also launching projects and missionary training in Liberia.
Training and equipping nationals — or locals — to do missionary work is nothing new to GFA World. In the 1980s, its founder, K.P. Yohannan, launched what was described as a “revolution in world missions,” sending thousands of trained national missionaries on foot and bicycles to “share the love of God” in communities across Asia, bringing hope and healing to places where there was no previous exposure to the Gospel.
‘Never Met a Christian’
Many people in isolated villages have never heard the Gospel message — or even met a Christian — while millions live and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ, the missions organization says.
“National missionaries know the local customs, languages, and beliefs, and don’t face travel or visa restrictions that cross-cultural workers have,” said Timotheos Yohannan, adding that local missionaries “can easily connect with their own people.”
Meanwhile, the organization’s ministry base in Kigali, Rwanda, continues to expand. With one of the highest-density populations in Africa, there is only one doctor for every 8,300 people. The organization is constructing a large-scale multi-specialty hospital and medical training complex that is modelled on its state-of-the-art facility in Asia that helps nearly 2,000 patients every day and trains hundreds of medical students.
The Rwanda-based hospital complex will train medical professionals from across Africa, as well as help set up a network of permanent health clinics.
Plans are underway for new projects in Liberia, mirroring the work in Rwanda — including educational opportunities for children, clean water projects known as “Jesus Wells,” and medical camps where the most at risk families can get free healthcare.
“One-third of the world’s communities are still waiting to experience Christ’s love for the first time,” said Timotheos Yohannan. “No one should die without knowing the love of Christ.”
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 freshwater wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX — Millions across Africa and Asia brace for the annual drought season that could result in catastrophic loss of life in coming months as millions turn to filthy, disease-ridden ponds as a last resort to find drinking water. A heartfelt call to arms comes from the global mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) as World Water Day on March 22 spotlights the pervasive water crisis.
GFA World warns before World Water Day millions drink dirty ponds. | Image courtesy of Gregg Wooding.
“About 2.2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, and 829,000 of them will die this year from waterborne diseases, most of which could be prevented,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, the organization’s president. “This is something we should all care about.”
Since 2007, the Texas-based organization has drilled 40,000 freshwater wells — known as “Jesus Wells” — and has supplied some 39 million people with safe drinking water in some of the world’s poorest and thirstiest regions.
They’re called “Jesus Wells” because they’re inscribed with Christ’s words recorded in John’s Gospel: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” The wells are much-frequented community gathering spots — like a town square — giving local Christians opportunities to “share God’s love,” Bishop Daniel said.
This year, GFA World aims to drill thousands more in drought-prone places across Africa and Asia. Each well reliably supplies clean drinking water to hundreds of people for 20 years or more, even during severe drought, the organization said.
Teams typically drill 600 feet to reach fresh water — and the end-result transforms local communities, saving countless lives at risk of cholera, typhoid and other often-fatal waterborne diseases.
In Vimal’s village in Asia, women had to line up for two hours every day to fill their water jugs from the nearest safe water source, with trips to the well adding up to ten miles a day. When the water dried up during periods of drought, fights broke out over water at the muddy village pond, their only other option.
All that changed when the mission organization partnered with a local pastor and his congregation to drill a new well, maintained by the local church.
“The women don’t have to spend half their days hauling water,” Bishop Daniel added, “the children no longer miss school searching for water, people don’t get sick from drinking polluted water, and the attitude of the villagers toward Christians has changed.”
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
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