Water Missions International

Summary

Water Missions International (WMI) is a nonprofit Christian Engineering Ministry providing sustainable safe water solutions, through a Christian world view perspective, to people in developing countries and disasters. Since 2001, Water Missions International has responded to the world's largest natural disasters and daily tackles the world's single biggest cause of illnes - lack of safe water and adequate sanitation (U.N. Report, 2005) - by providing access to safe water for more than two million people in 49 countries.

Contact Information: [ Back to top ]

Organization Details [ Back to top ]

Purpose [ Back to top ]

Water Missions International (WMI) is a nonprofit, Christian Engineering Ministry providing sustainable safe water solutions, through a Christian world view perspective, to people in developing countries and disasters. Since 2001, Water Missions International has responded to the world's largest natural disasters and daily tackles the world's single biggest cause of illness - lack of safe water and adequate sanitation (U.N. Report, 2005) - by providing access to safe water for more than two million people in 49 countries.

Water Missions International is a nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Mission Statement [ Back to top ]

Water Missions International uses the following to express its global mission:

The mission of Water Missions International is to be a best in class Christian Engineering Ministry that transforms lives through sustainable safe water solutions.

Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]

2011 Program Accomplishments

• 182 safe water projects with the capacity to serve 364,000 people in the following 14 countries:
  • Haiti (68)
  • Honduras (38)
  • Sri Lanka (11)
  • Peru (6)
  • Mexico (13)
  • Belize (3)
  • Malawi (2)
  • Uganda (13)
  • Kenya (2)
  • Indonesia (11)
  • Guatemala (1)
  • St. Lucia (2)
  • Cameroon (1)
  • Pakistan (3)

• Water Missions International has full-time staff in nine countries: Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Belize, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, and Indonesia. The Peru Country Program was initiated in 2011.
• Water Missions International engineered three new solutions in 2011: TradeWater (nonprofit program designed to transform the business of water); eMpower (technology that allows mobile phone charging; and a Stand Alone Chlorinator (a solution designed to disinfect contaminated water which in many situations may not need filtration).
• The staff also made significant advances in water treatment and solar energy technology that have dramatically reduced operating costs, remote sensing technologies that enable daily monitoring of the water treatment equipment and community development models that significantly improve the effectiveness of our interactions with the people in the communities we serve.
• Water Missions International continued to respond to the "unprecedented episode of cholera" outbreaks in Haiti in 2011.
• Water Missions International celebrated 10 years of service.
• Volunteers provided 28,000 hours of invaluable support that touched every area of the ministry.
• Water Missions International initiated a new community development project - called Southeast Asia Clean Water Initiative - to implement safe water projects in 24 communities in Southeast Asia. Six projects were implemented in Indonesia in 2011. This project was funded by the Poul Due Jensen Foundation, named after the founder of Grundfos, one of te world's leading pump manufacturers.
• Water Missions International continued work on SafeWater Colon, comprehensive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) community development project designed to establish baseline statistics and provide sustainable access to safe water and sanitation to the residents of the Department (State) of Colon, Honduras. In 2011, 3,326 families benefited from their own Healthy Latrines ?, and 35 Living Water ? Treatment Systems were installed.
• Water Missions International's 5th Annual Walk for Water raised over $190,000 to help the organization's ongoing effort to fight the global water crisis.
• Water Missions International's 10 Year Anniversay Gala (organized by Possibilities Without Borders and the College of Charleston School of Business Event Management Students) raised $21,000 for a project in Kenya

• Awards and Recognitions:
  • Water Missions International was named on the “Angels” list, an annual list of only ten trustworthy non-profit organizations published by the South Carolina Secretary of State’s Office.
  • WMI achieved Charity Navigator’s top “4-star” rating for sound fiscal management, was named one of the “Top 10 Charities Expanding in a Hurry”, and one of the “Top 10 Highly Rated Charities Relying on Private Contributions”.

Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]

Water Missions International uses the following to express its Statement of Faith:

Water Missions International is an inclusive faith based organization that seeks to meet water needs for people of all nations, ethnic groups and languages.

1. We believe the Bible to be the inspired, authoritative Word of God containing all things necessary for salvation. (II Timothy 3:15-17, Proverbs 30:5, John 1:1 and John 20:31)

2. We believe there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, I Timothy 1:17 and Matthew 28:19)

3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His incarnation in human form, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory. (John 10:30, Colossians 2:9, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 1:23, Hebrews 4:15, Acts 2:22, I Peter 1:18-19 and Acts 1:9-11)

4. We believe repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ results in regeneration by the Holy Spirit and that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation. (Titus 3:4-7, Ephesians 2:8-9, John14:6, Acts 4:12 and Luke 24:46-47)

5. We believe in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whose indwelling enables the Christian to live a godly life. (I John 4:13, I Corinthians 12:1-11 and I Corinthians 6:19)

6. We believe in the resurrection of the saved and the lost, the saved unto the resurrection of eternal life and the lost unto the resurrection of damnation and eternal punishment. (John 5:28-29, Revelation 20:11-15 and I Corinthians 15:51-57)

7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and that all true believers are members of His body, the Church. (Ephesians 1:22-23; and I Corinthians 12:12, 27)

8. We believe that the ministry of evangelism is a responsibility of the Church and each Christian. (Isaiah 6:8, Romans 10:9-15, Acts 1:8, Matthew 28:17-20 and I Peter 3:15)

History [ Back to top ]

In 1981, George and Molly Greene, the founders of Water Missions International, began a small environmental consulting company in Charleston, South Carolina which they called General Engineering Laboratories. Through God's grace this company grew to become one of the top ten environmental testing laboratories in the US, and one of the largest environmental engineering consulting firms in South Carolina.

In 1998, under the direction of George and Molly Greene, General Engineering Laboratories responded to the devastation in Honduras caused by Hurricane Mitch. They designed, constructed and delivered six drinking water treatment units, each capable of producing safe drinking water at the rate of 10 gallons per minute. Within three weeks of the hurricane, sixteen volunteers from the company were in remote locations of Honduras setting up these water treatment units. This initial effort was called "Project Living Water" and the water treatment unit became known as the Living Water Treatment System.

Over the next three years, the design of the Living Water Treatment System was modified to eliminate replaceable components, make it more reliable to operate over extended periods of time, and reduce operating costs. Additional systems were placed in rural communities in Eastern Europe, Africa and Central America, some in response to natural disasters and some in support of ongoing development projects. A project called "the model village" was undertaken with Episcopal Relief and Development (the Episcopal Church USA) to design infrastructure systems for drinking water treatment, wastewater management and storm water control in a rural community near San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

During this time, the Greenes developed a growing awareness of the overwhelming need for safe drinking water throughout the developing countries of the world. In order to better focus their attention on these needs, the Greenes sold General Engineering Laboratories in March 2001 and used a substantial portion of the proceeds of that sale to found Water Missions International.

Ministry Needs [ Back to top ]

This organization has not offered MinistryWatch.com with specific needs to be posted on the profile. At such a time that MinistryWatch.com receives a response from the ministry, it will be posted immediately.

Research Analysis

Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]

MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]

Ranking Category	Rating	Overall Rank	Relief and Development Sector
Overall Efficiency Rating		170 of 348	34 of 52
Fund Acquisition Decision		170 of 348	34 of 52
Resource Allocation Decision		of 348	5 of 52
Asset Utilization Decision		of 348	5 of 52