Birth of Water Missions International

Water Missions International Belize is a project of Water Missions International.

The birth of Water Missions can be traced to Hurricane Mitch that pummeled Honduras in 1998. Our founders, George and Molly Greene, were operating an environmental engineering company. They heard about the devastation and felt the desire to do something. After receiving an unusually specific request for six water treatment systems, and being frustrated in their search for existing systems that would work, George said to a few of his engineers, ”Water treatment isn’t rocket science. Let’s figure it out.” That’s exactly what they did.

With a plan sketched on a legal pad and a pile of materials purchased at a local hardware store, six water-treatment systems were functioning within the next 48 hours. Through a series of miraculous connections, a military C-5 transported the six units and 16 people to Honduras. George and Molly found themselves trekking through Honduras, where Hurricane Mitch left a trail of overwhelming devastation in its wake. They arrived in the first village that was to receive a water treatment system and began to set things up.

The river that flowed near the village was the color of chocolate milk, swollen with run-off…filthy. The residents of the village had begun referring to the river by a descriptive and heart-breaking name—they called it the “River of Death.” As the water system began to work, clean, clear water came out! Sadly, the residents were still afraid to drink or even touch water that came from the River of Death, whether it was clear or not.

So George and Molly Greene placed their own lips to the hose where water that came from the River of Death had been purified by the powerful flow of creativity, ingenuity and the heart to care. With that action, they bridged the final gap and the villagers swarmed forward to drink the newly cleansed water.

This was the genesis of Water Missions International. After responding to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, George and Molly’s hearts were stirred as they discovered the sad truth about the global water crisis. In a bold and selfless move, George and Molly Greene answered an undeniable calling from the Lord when they sold their environmental engineering company and founded Water Missions International in 2001.

The same creativity and heart that launched that first disaster response is still alive and flowing today. Wherever men, women, mothers, fathers, children, grandmothers, grandfathers, infants and elderly need safe water, Water Missions will be there, treating rivers of death and offering instead the water of life.