As 2025 drew to a close, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) published an article and closed by saying, “For millions …there is only one thing to do in the coming months: pray for rain.”
In December of 2024, an unexpected regime change occurred in the Levant. People endured cruelty from a decade of civil war and conflict on top of violent norms. In addition, the conflict weakened agricultural resources due to fields filled with land mines, damaged or destroyed irrigation systems, and an overall fragile economy. As if this wasn’t enough, the region is now in the grip of the worst drought they’ve experienced in 36 years. Even the great Euphrates River is drying up. Rainfall decreased by 70%, severely impacting 75% of farmland.
Because of this drought, wheat harvests decreased to only produce 40% of the normal crop. Food producing governates (states), like the one our national partner *Alaa calls home, have been hit hard. Last year, a loaf of bread cost about $4. This year, it’s about nine times that cost. Conflict and drought combine to create chronic crop failure. One obvious outcome is the availability of water.
*Alaa’s hometown has had no running water since 2018.
Since 90% of the population already lives in poverty, six out of every ten people now struggle to get enough food. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) expects the food crisis to intensify, saying, “Food insecurity could reach unprecedented levels by late 2025 into mid-2026.” This drought and agricultural crisis impacts life in both urban and rural places. Live Global national partner *Alaa hears this heaviness from families living in his city and in his home village.
“For urban households, it means rising bread prices. For rural families, it means the collapse of their livelihoods.” – Mr. Perri (UNFAO)
*Alaa has a compassionate vision to meet the pressing need in the name of Christ. “God placed a new burden on our hearts — to help the families and children we serve by sharing water with them.”
One month this fall, *Alaa was, “Able to share water with about 60 families by filling their tanks. It was enough for only one week, but through this effort, we had the opportunity to visit the families we minister to — including the parents of the children in our classes — and share the message that ‘Jesus is the Living Water.’”
To begin this endeavor, *Alaa is working to purchase a water truck. His plan is for compassionate use combined with a business model, generating income that will sustain the project. “Just as the Good Samaritan showed mercy and compassion, we desire to do likewise — to serve our neighbors in need and point them to Jesus,” *Alaa says.
Most of the “water visits” happen in the evening, so that *Alaa can meet with the whole family. This is also safer for the families and for *Alaa, as the area is a pressure point in the conflict between a new governing administration and opposition forces.
“After we finish filling their water tanks, it has been a wonderful opportunity to share about Jesus—the true Living Water. Just as we all need physical water, we need His Word and the salvation we have through Him.”
● The cost for the water truck is about $24,000.
● Three days a week, the truck will sell water, funding three days a week to give water.
● $4500 has already been raised towards the cost of the truck.
● A donor offered to match donations up to $10,000 to launch the project fully funded, with some resources to begin.