Lucknow: As the country reels under the brunt of heat and water scarcity, Believers Church has decided to set up tube wells and hand pumps to reach out to the worst affected areas and communities. As a part of the drive, they are installing hand pumps to benefit thousands of people in Uttar Pradesh.
“Due to heat and scarcity, villagers are struggling to even procure water for drinking let alone the daily chores. Take the example Dumirya village where members of 35 labourer families were walking many miles every day when water tankers did not arrive. Since they are daily wage labourers, this in turn was affecting their livelihood,” said Father Abhishek Sahai who leads the Lucknow Division.
The hand pumps are being installed in 98 villages across various districts like Allahabad, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Sonbadra, Bareilly, Agra, Pilibhit, Kashganj, Kannauj and Sitapur.
Dr K. P. Yohannan, Metropolitan of Believers Church said: “Our brothers and sisters across the country are facing acute brunt of heat as well as water shortage. There is not much we can do to counter nature’s ways. But we can definitely stand by people and create resources to help people in every way that we can.”
Last month the Mumbai division of the church reached out to the drought victims of Latur by supplying water and food to the 12 most affected villages of the region.
Earlier this month, the church had also built 20 toilets in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swacch Bharat Abhiyan. This will positively impact the lives of scrap sellers settled in the region.
Believers Church is a Christian denomination with congregations and parishes worldwide and over 2.6 million followers in 10 countries. The Church at present has eleven Bishops who give spiritual and administrative leadership to the various activities of the Church. The current head of the Believers Church is Metropolitan Bishop, Dr K. P. Yohannan.
The church also undertakes various charitable programs including women empowerment, educational projects, community development programs, rehabilitation projects and relief works.
The church has conducted eight-month long free literacy programs, to teach the marginalised sections of society how to write and read.
The church has provided water to communities where drinking water is scarce by constructing bore wells and community water tanks.
The church has given sewing machines, livestock, carpentry tools, rickshaws and agricultural equipments to families to generate regular income.
Through the Humanitarian Assistance project the Church has assisted in Nepal earthquake and Odisha Cyclone disaster relief operations through reconstruction of houses, providing food supplies, medicines, water, clothes, mosquito nets, plastic sheets for making tents, hygiene supplies and solar lights. (ANI)