Water is a precious commodity. In much of the United States, easy access to clean, affordable water is taken for granted. In other places, getting enough water for cleaning and drinking is hard job.
At one church in Zimbabwe – Highglen UMC in Harare – the Zimbabwe Volunteers in Mission (ZIM VIM) team at Community UMC donated funds for a borehole in 2019, providing safe drinking water for the community surrounding the church.
Sadly, earlier this month, thieves stole the pump and other supplies from the borehole, making it inoperable, according to the church’s former pastor, the Rev. Remember Masamba. He, in turn, communicated the plundering of the borehole to Charlie Moore, leader of Community’s ZIM VIM team for more than 20 years.
“I immediately sent $1,200 from our ZIM VIM account, funded by our 2023 Mission Budget and the church’s April side offering,” Moore said. “These funds enabled the restoration of this project!”
The restoration of the borehole also required additional security measures, including erected a sold brick wall around the pump with a locked metal gate. Four taps outside the enclosure allow residents to fill up their five-gallon buckets.
“Water is life and life is water,” one villager said in a video. “Thank you and God bless you.”
For more than 25 years, Community UMC has nurtured a relationship with United Methodists in Zimbabwe through the ZIM VIM project. In recent years, the church, in partnership with other churches and volunteers around the United States, has focused its efforts on a village called Hanwa. There, ZIM VIM has assisted in building schools, providing electricity and clean water, and improving health clinics. In addition, since late 2020, the project has provided more than $81,000 in financial support and school fees for 29 students at the Primary School through university level.
Learn more about CUMC’s ZIM VIM project at https://cumc.net/zimvim/
