We care and love the people we serve. Many times they are very poor and hungry, so we provide food, blankets, clothing, medical/dental care, and clean water through the construction of clean water wells. Our Igniters also show compassion through healing prayer.
Clean Water Wells
To date, we have 45 Clean Water Wells sponsored in two countries- Cambodia and Myanmar. Our wells in Cambodia cost about $300, and are hand-dug by the local villagers. ITWM provides the cement to make the in-ground, oval rings and above-ground base and cover. The villagers then provide all the labor in digging a 30-foot deep, 6 to 8-foot in circumference hole, as well as all the cement work to construct the well, which is under the supervision of one of our “Igniters”. This way the villagers “take ownership” of the well, and will provide good maintenance of it. This is a simple rope/bucket well that the villagers will use for their drinking water, bathing, and to wash their dishes with. The clean water has greatly reduced the amount of illness associated with poor, diseased water that they would normally drink. The people are very happy and are grateful for the Christians who care for their physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. In one village where we built the first well in 2010, and now have four wells, the Christian population has grown from 2 believers to 30. They also receive regular medical and dental care, and church services each week by one of the local pastors(igniters). So as we pour the “cold cup of water” in Jesus’ Name, we also provide the “Living Water” that they hear and receive through the preaching of the Gospel.
Our latest Clean Water Project is in the Western Highlands of Myanmar near the Indian border. This is a village in a remote area that had only one well for 1000 villagers. Families from each section of the village could only get water once a week from the well, primarily just for drinking. We became aware of this village through Pastor Khai of the city of Kalaymyo who we ministered with in our March 2011 Outreach. Pastor Khai and the Zosiam Medical Ministry have been conducting medical clinics and Gospel services in the village for some time. In 2011, his ministry team treated 1800 sick people, and saw 300 come to Christ. Since Pastor Khai is one of our “Igniters”, we felt that this village was the right place for additional wells where donors could contribute. The cost of these wells are only $250 as the Myanmar ministry has access to the drilling equipment and the villagers provide all the labor. ITWM then provides just the hand-pump and related hardware that goes with it.
One of these wells can provide clean water for 100 people. So with the help from some generous donors, ITWM is in the process of building additional wells that will allow the villagers to get water daily instead of once a week. When the villagers heard that they were going to receive some more wells, they were very happy and acknowledged that they were gifts from “One True God.” The wells, along with medical help, and at times bags of rice, have opened the hearts of the Burmese people to receive the Gospel when preached and shared by Pastor Khai’s ministry team. ITWM is blessed to partner with these igniters who embrace our vision and missionary outreach to the unreached.
Ignite the World Ministries.
Solar Water Bags
We can now provide clean water to our traveling Igniters and and poor families in Asia through the amazing Solar Bag. Thanks to our friends Puralytics, a Beaverton, Oregon-based company, we can now distribute these bags to our Igniters who travel, many times on foot, village to village, as they minister to their fellow, unreached countrymen. They can also instruct the villagers how to use the bag, greatly reducing Cholera and many other water diseases. Here’s how it works:
Fill the back with stream or even land water.
Set bag in sun for 3 hours to allow the internal water purifier destroy harmful microbes and chemicals.
Drink or store clean water.
The sunlight activated bag can be used over and over again, up to 500 times!
What is a WAPI?
WAPI stands for Water Pasteurization Indicator. This is a simple, reusable, low-cost device that contains a special soy wax that helps determine when water has reached pasteurization temperatures, or safe to drink. It was created by Microbiologist, Dr. Bob Metcalf to help the poor of the world have easy access to safe, clean water. Most believe that water must come to a "full boil" before it is safe to drink. However, water only needs to be heated up to 149 degrees F for a short time where it is free from microbes, E Coli, Rota viruses, Giardia and the Hepatitis virus. The WAPI helps save time and fuel as well as was wards off water-related diseases that causes many deaths each year in the third world. This is good news to the people we serve in rural villages in places like Cambodia and the Philippines who boil their water over an open flame and may have limited amounts of wood to burn. It is especially assuring to know that they won't get sick drinking water that is not fully pasteurized. The WAPI is so easy to use as the villagers simply drop the device into a pot of water, put it on an open flame, and watch for the soy wax to dissolve. Once dissolved, they can then take the pot of water off the flame, cover it, and let it cool. After a short period of time, it is cool enough to drink. That's it! A very special "thank you" goes out to our friend Bob Tait who provides ITWM with 50-100 WAPIS for every outreach we go on. The WAPIS are helping us "ignite" villages by saving lives.
Healing Prayer
In many of the countries we go to, sickness and disease is prevalent among the people, whether in the villages or in the cities. Our Igniters apply healing prayer not only to bring relief to those who suffer, but it is an “open door” to salvation. Many times, Jesus healed people before he even preached. The people saw, for the first time, miracles and a person with great love and compassion for them and their suffering. They were drawn to Jesus, followed him, listened to his message of hope, accepted it, and became followers/disciples. At ITWM, we apply the same Jesus model, as our Igniters go village to village, house to house, ask if anyone in the home is sick, pray a prayer of healing in Jesus’ name, and the people get healed. Now the door opens to share how their hearts can be healed through salvation in Christ. People in the home receive Christ, begin reading a Bible or listen to a Solar Audio Bible, are discipled by an Igniter or the Holy Spirit, and soon a church is planted. Then from that missionary church, Igniters are raised up to win their countrymen for Christ. Other times during our church meetings or crusades, we call people forward for healing and the Lord heals them. We’ve seen many miraculous healings through the years. Healing is a big part of the Igniter’s training and ministry as it was for Jesus, the Apostles, Paul, and many other disciples that followed. Some of the healing scriptures that we apply in our Igniting work are: Ex. 15:26, Ps. 103: 2-3, Is. 53:4-5, Mark 16:18, James 5:14-15, Acts 3:6-7, Acts 4:30, and Matt. 10:7-8.
Rice and Clothing Distribution
Much of the compassion work we do is to feed the poor and clothed those without. Just like Jesus and the Apostles did. He had compassion on the poor, the destitute, sheep without a shepherd. He fed the 5000, and the Apostles followed by setting a food/needs program in Jerusalem. These acts of compassion opened the door to salvation. People saw hope and followers of Jesus who genuinely cared for them. This model continues today, and our Igniters follow in Jesus’ steps of applying compassion ministry to those in need. Whether it is bags of rice, flour, cooking oil, winter blankets for the elderly, or simple items of clothing, the people appreciate it and are open to hearing the Gospel that comes with it. Our Igniters always share the salvation message with every compassion ministry outreach. In some remote villages, children only have one or two sets of clothing for the whole year! Many have no shoes. Sometimes the monsoon rains destroy the rice fields and the people are hungry, so we give out bags of rice. We follow Jesus’ commands in Matthew 25. It’s part of “igniting” a life, giving them hope, and opening their hearts to Jesus.
Medical and Dental Clinics
While ITWM doesn’t bring doctors, nurses and dentists with them on our outreaches, we do partner with local medical ministries in the countries we go to. Sometimes that partnership is supplying the medicines as they might be in short supply in those countries. When a clinic is announced in a village, the whole town shuts down, so people can receive free medical and dental care. In most Asian countries, especially in remote areas, there is no medical care available. People just suffer. Much is easily treatable, but it is not available. We use these medical partnerships to bring the people to the clinics. Sometimes malaria medicine is given out, or a prenatal clinic is conducted, or abscessed teeth are pulled, or a wound is bandaged. Our first outreach was a dental clinic in remote Cambodia. People came, they were treated, our team also prayed for their healing and they were healed, many received Christ, we trained some pastors, and conducted a children’s crusade, all at the clinic that day. It changed the village! Soon a church was planted. In Myanmar we work a large medical ministry. When they do their clinics, sometimes we provide medicines. Sometimes, clean water wells. The pastor who heads that up, always conducts a crusade that night, and many people come to Christ. Our Igniters also do this on a smaller scale, village to village. But the impact is the same, souls coming into the kingdom! We train all our Igniters to be Good Samaritans and show mercy as Jesus told us to do (Luke 10:25-37).
Orphanage Outreaches
The word of God tells us to look after the orphans in their distress (James 1:27). They are helpless, all alone without parents, need someone to speak up for them and help them (Prov. 31:8-9). So, our Igniters follow the word, follow the model, and serve the orphans. Most of the orphanages in Asia have very little to give to the orphans, so that is why ITWM partners with them. We have conducts children’s crusades to bring them salvation, food, clothing, children’s Bibles and Bibles gifts, and Wildlife Storytellers (stuffed animals + solar audio Bible). We always share with the orphans that they too can grow up and be like Samuel and be a spiritual leader of their country (1 Sam. 1-2:11). We put a lot of stock in reaching the children who are the next generation of Igniters. This is why we conduct Women’s Igniter Conferences to reach not only the women, but also the children. We find that the mothers and women in general are the best ones to reach the children for Christ.
THE IGNITER EVANGELIST “SELF-SUPPORT” PROJECTS
In September 2019, ITMW embarked on a new business venture to help our Igniters to become more self-supported in conducting their evangelism ministry. In essence, “to teach them to fish rather than just giving them fish”. The idea here was to find some interested investor-donors to provide seed money to launch three different types of livestock businesses that were sustainable. We came up with projects involving the raising and sale of cows (milk), pigs and chickens. We started with chickens as it was the easiest to initiate and the least costly. We chose the developing nation of Bangladesh where the greatest financial needs were among all our Asian Igniters, and where we also had the strongest management and leadership. We raised enough initial support to start (3) chicken projects and (1) duck project. Two of the chicken projects would raise and sell the chickens in the marketplace as a main food item, and the other chicken project would focus just on the production and selling of eggs. The duck project would also be designed for the sale of duck eggs. All four of these projects would be able to re-invest in themselves as the income would purchase more baby chickens and ducks and keep the business sustainable and growing. In addition, the Igniter’s family would benefit from having an ongoing food source of meat and eggs. But best of all, the Igniter Evangelist could now use some of the income to travel, conduct Igniter Training Conferences in recruiting new evangelists, and to plant missionary churches. In this way he could fulfill his Great Commission calling, and have it not become a financial hardship to his family with no income coming in. He would be free to go, and his wife, children and other family members could run the business.
The projects kicked-off well until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020. Here major adjustments had to be made in order to keep these businesses going. Even one chicken project was almost wiped-out due to disastrous flooding. Fortunately, enough chickens were spared to re-start the business. It was decided in January of 2020 that we would switch a chicken project to a duck project as that was the best livestock to raise in the area. Again, because of COVID, that project barely got off the ground. However, it is now moving in the right direction to become productive. Many of these projects have their challenges in developing nations like Bangladesh that we would not have to deal with in America or a first-world nation, but this is where the needs are, the most unreached people groups, and where we have resilient and committed Igniters to make these “self-support” businesses successful.
