This Mother’s Day, families in Bellanger, Haiti are not only celebrating the lives of women they know, but also a new life-giving well providing clean water to the entire community located north of Port-au-Prince. The Haiti Water Project, a ministry of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, recently visited the town to find that their only source of water, a hand-dug well, had stopped producing water after the earthquake. Since then, residents have been forced to purchase water for drinking — when they can afford it.

It is not hard to understand why one in eight children will not reach his or her fifth birthday in Haiti. Since water is so expensive, children, usually the ones responsible for the task of retrieving water, must find water for activities like bathing in a nearby stream. This stream is also where trash gets washed to and where cattle are watered. Contaminates easily find their way into children’s little bodies which have not yet had the opportunity to build a strong immune system.

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Weeks ago, after news of the earthquake in Haiti reached the New Hope Church of the Nazarene in Fairfield, California, Pastor Scott Walker issued a call for compassion. One church member responded by asking a nearby business for assistance. Convinced to help, the Far West Rice, company in Durham, Calif., offered to donate and ship 40,000 pounds of rice for relief efforts in Haiti. They even packaged it all in 5-pound bags for easier distribution. Through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM), Haitian pastors are now using this rice donation to reach out to those in need in their communities.

With more than 115,000 Nazarenes living in Haiti, though, even 40,000 pounds doesn’t go far enough. But churches are finding that this unexpected generosity from California is being matched with even more generosity from those who receive the bags of rice. Garry and Alourdes Hilaire of the Pont Rouge Church of the Nazarene (map) showed what this generosity looks like on Friday, April 9, after rice and other items were unloaded for distribution.

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