LightStream Technology: A Partnership to Spread the Gospel
The mountainous terrain and costal plains of Honduras are home to almost 8 million people with over half of the population living below the poverty line. In the face of poverty, many people are searching for hope.
In Zamora and La Abiscinia, two communities in rural Honduras, water and hope began flowing in 2006 with the installation of water treatment systems.
Water Missions International's safe water solutions last for decades and with appropriate upkeep and repairs, the systems can provide safe water for generations. Successful partnerships between these communities and Water Missions have resulted in nine years of safe water. Not only that, but each community has also amassed as much as $10,000 in savings for operation and ongoing maintenance of the systems.
The physical wellbeing of the people in these two communities has improved dramatically and now, with a parternship between Water Missions, In Touch Ministries, and Renew World Outreach, the transformation of Zamora and La Abiscinia has gone beyond safe water to Living Water.
Renew World Outreach designed and created a device known as The LightStream, a portable media distribution system that can be shared on mobile devices without the need for internet or electricity. The LightStream provides access to files on mobile devices via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and micro SD card copying.
LightStream devices have been loaded with videos, song and documents that promote healthy water and sanitation behaviors. They have also been loaded with content provided by In Touch Ministries, including gospel tracks, the Jesus film, and a collection of sermons by pastors like Reverend Charles Stanley.
The partnership started with Renew and In Touch began looking for a cost-effective way to deliver The LightStream device to the field. With over 500 active projects all around the world, Water Missions has the perfect opportunity to spread the good news to unreached people groups. In February, LightStream devices were installed on the water treatment systems in these two Honduran communities. Now, when people come to receive safe water, they are able to connect to a Wi-Fi network and download content.
Once the files are on phone they can be shared with other devices, making the spread of health and Gospel messages viral. A team from Water Missions, In Touch, and Renew traveled to these communities for The LightStream installation and attended the first cross-denominational Christian event ever held in La Abiscinia. Sitting in the middle of a soccer field, with a simple screen and projector, 300 community members watched the Jesus film and heard the message of Jesus Christ.
Andrew Armstrong, Water Missions Community Development Programs Manager, explained, "These community gatherings are designed to restore relationships between the different bodies of the church. They help to answer the question 'What can water projects do to bring unity to the local body of Christ?'" Armstrong went on to describe that following the community gathering, people were invited up for prayer. As he stood there, two boys approached him.
"I remembered them from earlier because I had seen them filling up their jerry cans at the tap. The two boys came up and asked for prayer for their grandmother. After praying with them I asked them how old they were. The older boy was eleven and the younger one said he was eight. When I heard that, the first thing I thought was 'this young boy has never once known a life without safe water.' My second thought was 'and now he never has to know life without the Living Water either.'"
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