PADUCAH (KY) – Families suffering from life-threatening severe drought conditions in two remote rural areas of Zambia now are experiencing welcome relief. Construction of much-needed freshwater borehole wells in rural Mapoko and Kasumpa (Zambia) is complete and the wells are operational with water now freely available, funded by four congregations of the United Church of God in Kentucky and Missouri.
The remote rural water pumping facilities were constructed about 100 miles from Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia.
“It is difficult for someone in America or a western country to fully appreciate what it is like to have to walk multiple miles for a source of fresh drinking and cooking water,” said Beverly Kubik, President of LifeNets International. “We take fresh and safe running water for granted, but that is certainly not often the case in areas of rural Africa, especially those hit hard by devastating drought.”
The LifeNets President noted that extended drought in Africa has brought starvation and severe hardship to many areas. Catastrophic crop failure from the merciless drought is common in the region. A borehole drilled in a remote area provides “desperately needed water that can literally save lives,” Kubik said.
Major Nawa Talama, a local Christian minister in rural Zambia, reported: “the communities literally had no water nearby as the streams had also dried out due to drought which hit these areas.” Local residents were forced to walk or bicycle many miles with water containers to obtain fresh water to live. The LifeNets boreholes drilled with the Kentucky and Missouri church funds “both greatly shorten the distance families must travel to obtain water and also increase the amount of needed free water available,” Kubik explained.
LifeNets International, a humanitarian organization, has been active in serving needy people in Africa and elsewhere for nearly two decades. LifeNets organized the construction of the fresh water boreholes using the funds donated by the Kentucky and Missouri congregations. Together the four churches raised $3,300.
“Supporting desperately needy people like this represents a humbling privilege for our congregations,” said Pastor Doug Collison. “We are grateful for the opportunity.” Together with his wife Dianne, Collison pastors congregations in Paducah, Henderson, Cape Girardeau and Popular Bluff.
LifeNets also provided funding for food to vulnerable families in the region, providing relief from hunger.
Pastor Doug & Dianne Collison
About LifeNets International – Celebrating two full decades of service beginning with a relief mission for children victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, LifeNets International serves needy people in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and elsewhere. LifeNets is a 501 C 3 non-profit organization which develops programs offering practical assistance that promote the well-being and self-sufficiency of disadvantaged people throughout the world and, where possible, encourages them to pass on the LifeNets benefits to others. For more information, please visit www.lifenets.org
About the United Church of God, An International Association – Active on every inhabited continent, the United Church of God preaches God’s redemptive Word every week in Sabbath services, conducts summer Bible camps for teenagers, host regional educational seminars about God’s coming Kingdom, and sponsors an international media presence on television and the Internet with Beyond Today television, free in-depth Bible study tools and a bi-monthly magazine by the same name. The congregations in Kentucky and Missouri mentioned in the above press release are an active part of this association. For more information, please visit www.ucg.org
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