FillWaterBottles.com is a ministry of Helping Hands Foreign Missions that launched in March 2017. This project is designed to carry the Gospel to the people of the world through the practical gift of a water bottle filled with 5 Essential Items—hygiene products, personal care items, school supplies, something fun, and $5 to help with international shipping. In less than two years, nearly 5,000 water bottles have been filled and sent to Uganda.
In June 2018, volunteers helped fill a shipping container to be sent to the Village of Eden in Uganda with much needed supplies along with 4,000 water bottles. After three months at sea, several ports, and finally being transported across the plains of Kenya, the container finally arrived. A mission team from Spartanburg, South Carolina, helped unload the container and were among the first to distribute the water bottles while sharing the Gospel. One 13-year-old boy named Moses was a recipient of this practical gift, but more important, he gladly received the message of the Gospel.
Recently, college students from the Word of Life Bible Institute filled over 400 bottles at their annual missions conferences in Florida and New York. These students invested $20 dollars to fill water bottles with supplies. Many students took extra time to write a note on the bottle itself and then prayed for the children who will receive the bottles and hear the Gospel. When they were done, they wrote their names on paper water bottles and stuck them to the wall to signify that they accepted the challenge to #fillonebottle. Hundreds lined the hallway by the end of the conference.
If you want to help us make a real difference, this is one of the most effective ways to meet practical needs and impact lives. Children in the local villages of Uganda often walk an average of 30 minutes to retrieve water for their family. Children and families are overwhelmed with excitement when they receive a water bottle filled with practical items like pencils, a bandanna, bandages, soap, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and candy. The items in the bottle and the bottle itself can be used in everyday life and make a positive impact.
Churches, groups, and individuals are all getting involved in many different ways. Some purchase their own bottles, fill them with 5 Essential Items, and then send them to our office. Some organize and host filling parties and fill dozens of bottles. Others have chosen to purchase a Pre-Filled Bottle for only $20 which includes the bottle and all 5 Essential Items. Volunteers in our office fill these bottles and prepare them to be shipped to Uganda, Bolivia, and Brazil.
For more information, visit fillwaterbottles.com.
