"Unto Him who can do much more than we can ask or imagine"
Eph 3:16
Living Waters Mission Team forms part of Tabgha Foundation that comprises the Cenacolo Community and Youth Fellowship.
The team is made up of young people from all walks of life having one common aim, that of proclaiming the love of God to the poorest of the poor and loving them in a practical and tangible way.
Our Belief We believe that God has called us to serve with Christian compassion by alleviating suffering and helping the development of people in poor countries. Prayer is central to our life and missionary calling and we constantly seek God’s direction, providence and empowerment. We recognise that God has given us the responsibility to work with diligence, integrity and accountability in cultivating and using the resources He has given us.
Our History Our history dates back to 1998 when a group of friends responded to an appeal for volunteers by a Gozitan missionary in Guatemala . With their luggage loaded with medicines for the poor who could not even afford to visit a doctor, they set off for an unforgettable experience of six weeks. Upon their return, they continued creating awareness about the urgent needs of these people, and in 1999 the group was officially formed and named “Third World Project Group”. In the year 2000 missionary work started focusing on Ethiopia. Eventually in 2002 the name of the group was officially changed to “Living Waters Mission Team”.
Facts About half of the world’s population, nearly three billion people, live in poverty on the equivalent of less than € 0.93 a day. These people do not simply lack financial resources but they struggle each day to keep hunger and disease at bay. Basic opportunities to improve their lives are frequently beyond reach. Many people are poorly fed, poorly educated and usually poorly governed. The factors that keep people living in poverty are complex and often related to one another.
Our Response The team is trying to help lessen the hardships that these people endure; the suffering that we see and experience during our missionary journeys. Volunteers spend a period of six weeks, usually during the summer season, and work alongside the people of the Ethiopian community in the construction of the projects that we coordinate together with the financial help of our Maltese benefactors. We encourage the local people to acquire the independence needed to progress out of poverty. We study the needs of the people with whom we work in order to improve the quality of their lives. Guided by the aspirations of the local communities, we continue to serve with compassion to bring dignity to these people who deserve nothing less.
Our Appeal We are presently working on a housing project in a poor village called Bahir Dar where a “house” is usually one small room built with bamboo sticks covered with cow dung. Such houses do not provide much shelter, moreover, with the excessive heat, the material starts decaying and with each torrential rain this “house” is swept away. Every “house” usually accommodates one family consisting of about 3-8 people.
Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, over thirty families have already moved into the new houses. As we approach the completion of this ambitious project, we hope to raise funds through donations for the last phase which consists of one and a half blocks, making up twelve houses, at an estimated cost of around €45,000.
Child Sponsorship Programmes
The child education sponsorship programme is quite extensive, covering around 300 children over the past years. The group’s programme at present, focuses on Individual Child Sponsoring, were we have approximately 100 children in two different areas, namely Pawe and Bahir Dar. Depending on the needs of the children, the Catholic congregations use these funds to pay for school fees and other related matters, including partial feeding and medicines. Former programmes included the running of a school, namely two Kindergartens catering for some 190 children, one in Modjo (south-east Ethiopia) and the other in Pawe (north-west Ethiopia). The former had been running since 2001, through contributions made by benefactors, whilst the school programme in Pawe started off in 2005. Modjo is a remote village, cut off from all means of transportation – besides mules – where children are now attending kindergarten on a regular basis. Pawe is particularly dear to The Living Waters Mission Team because its communities have been very unfairly treated and forced to settle here from other regions in Ethiopia. These people were moved to Pawe over the last thirty years by the government that promised large tracts of "unused" land (housing opportunities which never materialized), virgin soil, adequate rainfall, sufficient forest and mineral resources and a good climate. In reality, these communities found themselves deceived, and striving to survive in a barren land with high risk of Malaria. As from 2010, the school running programmes in both regions will be completely funded by local religious congregations or authorities. Living Waters Mission Team felt the need to sustain both projects in their initial setting-up stage, however with the intention to make both programmes self-sustained by 2010. The feedback we receive from areas where the Child Sponsoring programmes are running is very encouraging and promising: “We have been able to see beautiful smiles on the faces of thirty children who successfully completed the academic year 2009. On the whole, all our children have done very well in their studies and have been promoted to higher classes. They are very grateful to you for you have enabled them to go to school all these years.” Sr. Kurien, Ethiopia, 16/08/09. In order to continue the good work God has started through our mission, we need the continued support of generous benefactors. We feel that the importance of child education and welfare is crucial for the development of future generations in these poverty-stricken areas. We are hereby appealing to anyone who is willing to contribute to this worthy cause. For a donation of just €40 a year, you can offer a better future to any child within these regions.
For further information on how to sponsor a child, kindly contact Mr Manuel Chetcuti, Coordinator of Living Waters Mission Team on Tel. +356 21241010.
You may wish to make a donation directly to one of our Bank accounts:
HSBC Bank Malta plc a/c 025028283001
Bank of Valletta plc a/c 40018269330
“Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water” John 7:38
Projects
Over the years, Living Waters Mission Team has greatly supported numerous projects done in collaboration with the Catholic Church in Ethiopia. For three years the group worked in the South-West of the country, in the Kaffa region particularly, in the towns of Jimma, Bonga, and their surrounding villages. Projects included kindergartens, the construction of grinding mills and a small lepers’ village consisting of a few houses (huts).
Since 2003, we shifted our attention to the North-West of the country, mainly Bahir Dar, Pawe and Mandura which are malaria zones. In these regions, the team works with the Comboni Sisters, the Daughters of Charity, the Maids of the Poor and the Capuchin Fathers. In Mandura the project consisted of water pumps costing around €3,000 each. These water pumps, built in the wilderness, are used by hundreds of people and thus reduce water related diseases such as cholera and giardia.
In September 2005 Living Waters Mission Team completed a project in collaboration with the Capuchin Fathers in Pawe where we bought seven hectares of land and built a kindergarten accommodating 120 children; costing approximately €25,600. The parents of the children will cultivate the land and the proceeds will be directed towards the up-keeping of the school itself, as well as the future education of children in the region. This kindergarten is nowadays run by the local community. Further across Ethiopia we started a child education sponsorship programme covering around 300 children, costing around €9,320 per year.
Our largest project is a housing village accommodating 55 homeless families, which started off in November 2006, in collaboration with the Daughters of Charity in Bahir Dar. These families formerly lived in extremely miserable conditions in a highly infectious malaria zone. Due to the drainage passing alongside their living quarters, there was lack of hygiene which led to other diseases. This is an ambitious project for a small missionary group such as ours, however, as we near completion, we thank God for having entrusted us with this mission and blessed us with His strength to persevere. This project is truly a fulfilment of God’s promise: “But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Mat 6:33
Football for a Cause
Why kick a ball? Because it’s there. Also because it’s one of the greatest pleasures known to man; and because it can sometimes help a variety of good causes. And you don’t come across more deserving causes than the provision of decent housing to an abjectly poor community in a high malaria zone in Bah’r Dar, Ethiopia.
On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd July seven teams of football lovers sweated it out at Cospicua football-ground in a 5-a-side football tournament organised by Living Waters Mission Team. The event was a great success and the participants and their supporters very evidently enjoyed themselves.
Most importantly, €600 donations were collected during the event in aid of the current project. Living Waters Mission Team has been active in Ethiopia for the past eight years; it has funded houses, kindergartens, grinding mills and water-projects. In addition, its members have provided teaching and other services to children in various parts of the country.
So far more than half of the project - which envisages the construction of a total of 55 brick houses each costing €4700 – has been completed. The sum needed to complete the project seems astronomical and well beyond the reach of a small group of volunteers, but past experience has shown that God’s providence is limitless.
Living Waters Mission Team would like to thank the players, officials, sponsors, its own team members and other volunteers without whom the event would not have been possible.
Ethiopia Experience 2007
Ethiopia / Utopia, a dictionary at home explains it as the ideally perfect place or state of things.
To me this explanation at the beginning of 2007, was a farce. How could a country which lacks everything, even the basic needs, ever be the ideally perfect place?
But now this is how I can answer this question: I simply found myself in a place in this world where stress has not penetrated yet. This is one of the things which amused me most, how simple and relaxed these people are.
I do have to share with you the breathtaking views I saw in Ethiopia. Unless I came here, I would have never imagined how such a remote place could be altogether so beautifully set up!
I can assure you, that it is the ideal place in the world, at this time of the year, for a real good break from our hectic life. For me this experience was like a long retreat. Most of the people we spoke with though, they all assured me that during their summer, all is very dry and life becomes a real struggle for them.
The first few days till I got over the cultural shock and the emotional imbalance, I was getting the feeling of being part of a film (for the views, the simplicity of the villages, and the love pouring in from the natives, the film wins an Oscar!)
For anyone who considers living this wonderful experience, whatever the situation in your life is, I simply urge you to go for it ... I would definitely wish to go back to Ethiopia. Even if the poverty line hits you a bit bad, and health-wise I had my fair share of issues!!!! But for this experience of life and love it is more than worth every effort, penny or struggle.
Now I can agree with the explanation in the dictionary. Ethiopia is a land blessed by God. It is the country which gave me back to life… ‘and Life in Abundance’.
GBU all Loads of love Josette
Youth Fellowship's mission is to share the love and truth of Jesus with young people by encouraging them to cultivate and nurture a genuine spiritual life, helping them experience His presence and power, and accompanying them in the challenges of living as true disciples. Using the language that youth understand, our meetings, programmes and events seek to be prayerful, relevant, contemporary and dynamic whilst helping the young people foster meaningful relationships amongst themselves and with us as faithful members of His Church. (Mission Statement)
