Dungeness Community Church has long supported the efforts of Living Water International to connect communities with access to sustainable access to clean drinking water clean, sanitation and hygiene.
From Living Water International's Website:
"As followers of Jesus, our concern is for the whole person—physical and spiritual. Through ongoing Christian witness, we know that only Jesus can truly transform people, restore relationships, and heal factors that lead to poverty, hunger, and thirst in our world."
Part of these efforts has taken form in Team Living Water, which gathers local runners to raise funds by walking, jogging or running in the North Olympic Discovery Marathon each year.
Click to learn More about Team Living Water
A Letter from Julie Hill
A wonderful update you can forward along to this year’s NODM team…. The well in Peru that they worked so hard to train, run, walk, raise money for has BEEN COMPLETED!!!
Clean Water for Peru
Because of Team Living Water'scollected efforts, a small community/hamlet of 175 men, women and children FINALLY has safe and clean water access that will be sustained for them. The name of the community is called Libertad and it’s located in the region of Ucalayi, in the inland part of Peru, in the Amazon rainforest. This community is made of poor subsistence people, who live off the land, hunting, fishing and farming.
Melita's Story
While in community working, we interviewed a 75 year old woman named Melita about the prior water situation and she told us:
“We have always collected water from the [Amazon] river, the local government never cared to give us drinking water, that is why we always consume water from the river, I thank God for keeping us alive, One of the stories I can tell is that of my neighbor, she always washed her dishes by the river, after washing her utensils she always collected water for her house, but one day she fainted, the heat was unbearable, she began to sink in the water, her little son who was next to her was screaming for help, because his mother was drowning, quickly thanks to God other neighbors nearby ran to help her, managing to save her and bring her to safety. That day was very tense to know that my neighbor could have died, now we are happy that LWI supports us in the issue of drinking water, I thank God for that.”
Thank You For All You Do
Thank you ALL for caring about and serving Melita and her community so that they may know the health and hope and safety that clean water brings!! I will have the completed report to share back in a few months but wanted to share this update along with a few photos from the project in the meantime.
Thank you, thank you ALL! GO TEAM LIVING WATER!!!
In Christ,
Julie
Julie Hill - Senior Director, Major Gifts - LIVING WATER INTERNATIONAL
Click Here to Donate
Dear Church Family,
Team Living Water raised over $15,000 during the 2022 North Olympic Discovery Marathon. 26 participants ran or walked the various events which included a 5k,10k, marathon, full marathon relay, half marathon and kids race.
Team captain, Martin Murray, said the proceeds were enough to provide a brand new well to a village in Guatemala, along with rehabilitating an existing well somewhere else in the world. “We had a great time. It was a lot of fun. Seemed like people enjoyed it.” Said Martin.
Click to Learn about wells that DCC has helped build in Guatemala.
Goals of Team Living Water
Martin Murray explained that Team Living Water maintains three goals:
1. Raise awareness of world water crisis and let folks know what Living Water International is doing about it.
2. Raise funds to build well somewhere.
3. Create community and have fun doing that Martin feels they did well to accomplish all three goals.
Fun, Fellowship, and Running on The Olympic Discovery Trail
Julie Hill and Jordan Griebner arrived in Sequim on Friday afternoon. They joined us on Saturday evening giving a short presentation to over 30 participants and their for a dinner and short presentation. The Saturday night event was attended by 30 folks.
Sunday at 4:30am it was raining hard, but it stopped for the beginning of the race at 7:30am. Our relay team completed the full marathon and crossed the line together. It was a great site. Other participants completed the ½ marathon. Thankfully the rain held off until our relay team had finished the race. Then came the wind and rain!
During the day Team Living Water had a booth set up at the finish line, for folks stopped to inquire about Living Water International. It was a great opportunity to raise awareness and share what we are all about. Contact Martin Murray If you are interested in participating next year.
A Letter From Julie & Jordan of Living Water International
"Thank you so much to Martin and the team at DCC for your incredible efforts this past weekend in the North Olympic Discovery Marathon! It was a joy and honor to join together with all of you to provide water, for life, in Jesus’ name and even more fun to watch you exceed your fundraising goal! Thank you for choosing to endure for the thirsty and for all the hard work that went into making this event a success. I witnessed people stepping in to help out all weekend and it was clear this was truly a team effort! You are all a blessing to Living Water and are already looking forward to next year!"- Jordan Griebner - Living Water International - Director of Trips & Affinity Groups"I (and on behalf of Living Water) am so grateful for DCC and each race participant, each person who made a gift, every volunteer and advocate. Each person, gift and step ran/walked matters for the thirsty; sharing in this work and community together is a true gift. Praise God!"- Julie Hill - Living Water International - Director of Philanthropy, West
In December 2021, Dungenesss Community Church came together and donated a substantial amount to local and global charities through their Advent Conspiracy initiative. We have been a long term partner with Living Water International. This years gift was a record amount. Watch this video from Julie Hill of LWI and read her update letter about where these funds are going in the world, to help spread Living Waters to those in need.
A Letter from Julie Hill of Living Water International
Friends at Dungeness, you have supported Living Water International for well over a decade now! And you have learned a lot about what safe water means for communities, for lives, for hope.
You have seen happy children gathered around a completed well, splashing free flowing water. You have seen the pictures of the new water committees, proud local leaders with heads held high. Finally, they have been trained and empowered to manage and maintain their new water sources. You understand the link between clean water and important lessons of handwashing, latrine construction and usage. You know that the gospel can really take root and small churches can grow when their pastor has been empowered to meet physical needs so that the people believe when he tells them that this clean water is The Living Water. They really will never thirst again (John 4).
You have heard and known and today I want to share a new story with you. We know that water changes everything, water affects everything. Lack of water affects everything.
The depths of suffering without safe water are many and complex. To that end, I want to tell you the story about the Namoni Health Center, in our WASH (Water Access Sanitation Hygiene) Program Area (WPA) in Uganda. Namoni is a peninsula extended from Lake Victoria by a long stretch of road and roadside homes. Living Water Uganda began its work in this area in 2019.
For a number of years, Dungeness Community Church has partnered with Living Water International to connect the world with life giving water. Martin Murray has been a key figure in this relationship. Martin is in the process of assembling a team to participate in the North Olympic Discovery Marathon to be held on June 4 & 5, 2022.
All Ages & Skill Levels Welcome
Team members can run or walk the full marathon, the half marathon, a 10K or a 5K event. This can be an individual, a relay team or it can be done "virtually" at any time in 2022. It is preferred, however, that we do the race live rather than a virtual event. 
The kids' race is Saturday, June 4. The adult events are on Sunday, June 5. The full marathon starts East of Sequim at the Seven Cedars Casino in Blyn. It ends at the pier in downtown Port Angeles.
Click for more details of these events.
To join Team Living Water, contact Martin Murray or contact the church office at Dungeness Community Church.
Purpose of the Team
The purpose of Team Living Water is to:
- Raise awareness of the world water crisis and what LWI is doing about it
- Raise funds for water projects
- Create community and have fun in the process.
Living Water International & Dungeness Community Church
Living Water International & Dungeness Commnity Church have teamed up to help the people of Parcelamiento El Socorro in Guatemala. The following is a report provided by Living Water International.
Click here to Donate to Living Water Internation for this years Advent Conspiracy
About The Community
The 350 residents of Parcelamiento El Socorro suffered from the water crisis every day. They relied upon hand-dug wells and the local river for all of their needs. Because most of the men in the community worked during the day, the women and children were the ones primarily responsible for collecting the households' water and using it for chores. The fact that they were constantly worried about the amount of water available made their chores all the more burdensome. The water levels in both the wells and the river dwindled. Sometimes there was not enough.
The community members conserved as much water as they could for drinking and cooking. Sometimes, this meant foregoing hygiene and other household uses. Still, even after rationing their water strictly, they were often overcome with thirst. The thirst was not the residents' only concern, however. Because the water in the springs and river were exposed to the elements, it was full of surface contagions. After drinking or using the water, community members often suffered from water-related illnesses. The water also contained pesticides that had insidious, long- term effects on the community members' bodies. The only way to avoid these maladies was to avoid the water that was essential to life. It was a tragic dilemma. The community members knew that something needed to change.
In July of 2021, David Piper travelled to Guatemala to help distribute wheelchairs with DCC Global Partner, Bethel Ministries International. David sat down for an interview with Britt Hemphill, who is the Family Ministries Pastor for DCC as well as the chair for DCC's Global Outreach Committee. Watch that video here, along with excerpts from David's personal blog about the trip.
If you would like to learn more about the Global Outreach Committee at DCC, reach out to Britt Hemphill. He can include you in our DCC on Mission newsletter.
Recently a team of 9 people from Dungeness Community Church -- equipped with chainsaws, gardening tools and cleaning supplies -- visited Shohrat and Maya of Gospel Wave Media near Gig Harbor for a day of clean up and relationship building. We cut down a dead tree, hauled away the wood, cleaned out flower beds, scrubbed windows and then sat down to a traditional lunch of delicious grilled meats, fresh salads, yogurts and lentil soup. Everyone had a good time, including the children and the dogs!
Pastor Britt Hemphill interviews Mark & Susan Pfeiffer from REACH | TEACH | LOVE International. The Pfeiffers will be joining us in October to speak at DCC. The Global Outreach Committee at Dungeness Community Church is dedicated to reaching beyond Sequim and Clallam County to reach the world with the Love of Christ. Click here to learn more about the work of the DCC Global Outreach Committee.
Click Here to Watch Past Episodes of Deep Dive on YouTube
In the midst of all that occured in 2020, Dungeness Community Church's Youth Director Darren Sweeney flew to California to help his friend Rob DeCou compete what may very well be the toughest triathalon in the world, the Uberman. What's interesting about Darren teaming up with Rob down to why Rob chose to run the race in the first place. In this article Rob DeCou describes how he and Darren first met, how that changed his life, and how Darren's future work as missionary/global work for Dungeness Community Church led to Rob competing in what is known as "the worlds hardest endurance race."
On March 18 2021, the Sequim Gazette published an article on Rosalie DiMaggio and her team at Dungeness Community Church. Their efforts are providing wheelchairs, walkers and other mobility equipment to families in Chimaltenango, Guatemala. We are thankful for the opportunity we've had to collaborate with Bethel Ministries International and Mission Mobility in this way!
An Active Community Response
Amazingly, within a day of this article being published, a local gentleman called from out of the blue to offer a wheelchair he had recently acquired. He had no use for it, but saw the opportunity to salvage it -- in hopes an opportunity would show itself -- and it did! Terry Sage, our custodian, got to quick work cleaning the wheelchair. 
The following Monday, the Penninsula Daily News published the same article. We were flooded with phone calls, pick up requests, and drop offs of equipment!
On behalf of the DCC Global Outreach Committee, I wanted to share a super important development about our short term mission trips to Nicaragua and Guatemala planned for 2021.
DCC has partnered with Living Water International for over a decade now. In that time our partnership has reached more than 20 communities across 4 continents. We recently interacted with Julie Hill from LWI as part of our 2020 Advent Conspiracy. Here she explains the work of LWI and how Dungeness Community Church has contributed to their work over the years.
"It is not by man but God alone that we can continue to find water, Living Water, HIS water, His life, country by country, well by well and gift by gift."
- Julie Hill
In a 2012 message shared at Bethlehem Baptist Church, pastor John Piper said;
"Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Missions is our way of saying: the joy of knowing Christ is not a private, or tribal, or national or ethnic privilege. It is for all. And that’s why we go. Because we have tasted the joy of worshiping Jesus, and we want all the families of the earth included."
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.” - (Psalm 22:27)
"Seeking the worship of the nations is fueled by the joy of our own worship. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. You can’t proclaim what you don’t prize. Worship is the fuel and the goal of missions."
Here are some of the things DCC is doing to partner with God in the grand task of missions for the sake of worship among the nations this coming year…
As you are all aware, our short-term mission to Guatemala earlier this year was canceled because of coronavirus. A decision was subsequently made by the DCC team leaders, supported by church leadership, to allow the $15,000 sent to Bethel Ministries International from DCC for the team to be used for projects the DCC team was going to be involved in. Here is how that money has been utilized;
In 1990 a group of Christians from Houston, Texas went on a medical mission to Kenya, Africa. While there, they learned that what these Kenyans needed more than medical assistance is clean, safe water. Dirty water is mainly what was making them ill. This group returned to Houston and formed the nonprofit Living Water International and since that date they have completed 21,058 water projects that provides safe water to over 6 million thirsty people (as of 7/27/20).
JOIN THE JOURNEY
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Address: 45 Eberle Ln, Sequim, WA 98382
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