This month we are highlighting the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) mission grant of $80,000 for Water and the Word for Rural Schools in Kenya.

Many children in Kenya do not have water in their schools. Often the children have to miss school to walk to the local water source, which can be miles away from the school and isn’t necessarily clean. Children are not only drinking dirty water and getting sick, but falling behind in school because they spend so much of their day hauling water

In 2008, a man from Nebraska traveling in East Africa saw the need for clean water and sought a way to help. Through contact with a social worker and educator in Nakuru, Kenya, he devised a system of water harvesting equipment (rain gutters and tanks), filters, hand wash stations and clean water storage to be installed in schools in Kenya.

In 2016, LCMS members from Nebraska took over the management of the project. They visit Kenya every year, traveling to schools assessing their water needs. Then teams from the United States install rain gutters and tanks for storage. Hand wash stations and clean water “buckets” are placed in all classrooms. The members teach personal hygiene, hand-washing and the importance of drinking only clean water. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) clubs, made up of students and staff, are formed to be responsible for the clean water program.

This grant will help the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK) extend their ministry by expanding the clean water project to their schools and orphanages, thereby building a relationship with ELCK as they provide sound biblical teachings in their sponsored schools. Every dollar goes to help bring clean water and the Word to children in Kenya.

Lutheran Women's Missionary League (LWML) is the official women’s auxiliary of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Since 1942, the LWML has focused on affirming each woman’s relationship with Christ, encouraging and equipping women to live out their Christian lives in active mission ministries and by supporting global missions. For more information on each month’s mission focus, visit LWML.org. Saint John’s Mission Guild (LWML) meets the first Tuesday of each month at 10:30 AM in Room 301. All ladies of the congregation are invited to attend.