Peruvian Community Comes Together to Improve Lives
In the village of Juan Guerra, Peru, community leaders have united to improve the health, education, and overall well-being of their citizens. As of September 2019, they are the site of a Living Waters for the World (LWW) water system installed in partnership with Bayside Presbyterian Church, Virginia Beach, VA.
Iglesia Biblica Evangelica Cristo Viene in Juan Guerra, Peru, is the site of the community’s LWW water purification system.
Juan Guerra is home to about 3,500 people and is located 380 miles north east of Lima. Situated in the center of the village, Iglesia Cristo Viene is the site of their community’s LWW water purification system. Although the church has only 75 members, they have partnered with several other local churches to form this water ministry. Bayside water team member Will Albertolli said, “The pure water will help a lot more people than the church. It will help the larger community.”
Nandy learned about the spread of germs during the health education classes taught by the Bayside water team.
That wider impact will be aided by the construction of a new school building. Multiple churches in Juan Guerra joined together to build a classroom in which they will educate up to 500 students. They intentionally built the classroom near the water system for the benefit of the children and their families. The community also had to tackle another building project to bring clean water to their community. Over the 5 months between Bayside’s first visit with their water partners and the installation visit, Juan Guerra built what Will called a “beautiful facility” for the water system. He continued, “They did a tremendous job. They built a room with tile walls, tile counters, and a porch.” Bayside provided some financial support to bolster the money the community could raise. They saw this as an opportunity to fulfill their mission of helping people to help themselves.
David Ricks demonstrated how to disinfect the pure water jugs for Juan Guerra’s water system operators in their beautiful new water building.
Parishioners from Cristo Vienne and community members form Juan Guerra, Peru, toasted the first drink of water from their newly installed LWW water purification system.
Bayside’s LWW ministry is part of a larger global ministry within the church. Juan Guerra was their second water partnership in Peru, and they will return in early 2020 to visit with their partners and support them in their efforts to improve lives through clean water. These two water partnerships are just the beginning of Bayside’s LWW ministry in Peru.
Water team members (left to right) Karen Hibbard, Bob Orcutt, Will Albertolli, Di Ricks, Connie Ricks, David Ricks, and Thom Sare
Will said, “We think that LWW is an amazing enterprise supplying pure water for folks in the world – especially children. We got involved, and stay involved, because of the children’s need for pure water to get rid of diseases.” Until such day as no child suffers from waterborne diseases, Living Waters for the World teams like the one from Bayside Presbyterian Church will be traveling far and wide to share clean water with God’s children.
