Mission Makers
When most Americans reach retirement age, they look forward to traveling, visiting family, and taking a break. Not so for the men who launched The Word and Water Project. In 2017, God laid upon the heart of several businessmen in the Birmingham community a desire to finish strong for the Gospel as they approached their retirement from corporate America. From those conversations, God inspired Jeff Middleton to establish The Word and Water Project, a non-profit organization that reaches people for Christ by sharing His Word and other life-sustaining elements, such as clean water. “Several of us were in a weekly Bible study together. We were studying the book of James and were challenged to put feet to our faith,” says Middleton. “Around the same time, we became aware of the clean water crisis around the world. We thought that by ministering to people’s physical needs we could also have the opportunity to share the Good News of Christ.”
Middleton and his team believed that the most effective ministry model would come from partnering with like-minded, local ministries who best understand the culture, language, and needs of their community. The Word and Water Project empowers indigenous believers to reach their own neighbors with Bibles, clean water, and supporting technologies. Since its launch in 2019, The Word and Water Project has partnered with ministries in Alabama, Uganda, Thailand, and India to provide for projects such as:
- A solar well system that provides clean water for more than 5,000 people for villages in Western Uganda
- Supplies and volunteers for Grace Klein Ministries in Birmingham
- Seed for local Ugandan churches to distribute to over 1,500 people impacted by the global pandemic
- Ministry support for CrossTies Asia, who saw 1,400 new believers baptized in one day
- Bibles and other training materials for pastors and new believers in India
In the coming year, The Word and Water Project has partnered with a local church in Kumi, Uganda, to dig three wells and install a hand pump and basin. This will provide easy access to clean water for more than 7,000 people on the remote Tsai Island- where many die from preventable diseases due to poor water quality. “You really don’t have to look far to find people in need,” says Middleton. “Many are looking for someone to simply come alongside them- to provide a ‘hand up,’ not a ‘hand-out.’”
You can help satisfy the deepest thirst of people in the Birmingham area and around the world by joining the faithful supporters who give prayerfully and financially to The Word and Water Project. All donations directly support work in the field, helping sow the Gospel, and The Word and Water Project’s Board of Directors covers all administrative and marketing expenses. For more information on how you can be a part of the ministry, visit www.wordandwater.org and follow along on Facebook and Instagram @wordandwaterproject.
-The Word and Water Project
205-492-1068
