Dear ElijahStreams Family,
Do you remember being seven?
Maybe you remember riding your bike until the streetlights came on, or begging for one more scoop of ice cream, or crying over something that felt enormous in the moment but you can't quite recall now.
I have been around a lot of seven-year-olds in my life, and I say this with all the love in the world: they are not usually known for putting others first.
But then we met Elisha, standing at the edge of a drilling site in
Uganda, and everything I thought I knew about seven-year-olds, well, it went out the window.
He had been there every single day from the moment the drilling rig arrived, watching every detail, every movement, with a focus and seriousness that made our team stop and take notice.
The drillers kept shooing him away for safety reasons, and every single time, he found his way back, quietly, patiently, like a child who had decided this was simply too important to miss.
One of our team members finally pulled him aside and asked him why he kept coming back.
He looked up and said, "I want to know how they get water from the ground so I can help other kids have water someday."
Seven years old. Never spent a single day in a classroom. While other children his age were learning to read and write, Elisha spent his days helping care for his baby brother while his mother fought to keep their family afloat after his father left.
And yet here he was, not asking for anything for himself, just standing at that drilling site with a dream in his heart about helping other children someday.
One of the drillers, moved by what he heard, reached into his bag and handed Elisha a bottle of juice.
Elisha received it like it was something precious.
But he didn't open it.
Our team member watched him for a moment and asked, "Why aren't you drinking it?"
He lowered his eyes and said softly,
"I'm taking it to my baby brother.
He doesn't have anything to eat."
I have no words for that. I really don't. A hungry little boy, holding a bottle of juice he was given as a gift, walking it all the way home to someone he loved
more than his own thirst.
That is Elisha. And I'll tell you... Elisha is not the exception.
He's what we keep finding every single time we go into a new village, and I don't want you to miss for even one second what your generosity is doing.
When we first started drilling water wells in Uganda in 2021, we knew lives would change.
What we didn't fully anticipate was what the wells would help us see.
It feels like there is an entire field of children hiding in plain sight in these villages... children surviving just outside the edges of what most people notice.
And every time we drill a new well and our team begins building relationships with community leaders and elders, it feels like the Holy Spirit lifts a veil and suddenly we can see them.
They were always there. We just couldn't reach them yet.
Today, because of you, ElijahStreams is helping 918 children every single month in Uganda.
Not long ago, that number was just over 300. But because of your faithfulness, we stepped out in faith and nearly tripled it.
Children just like Elisha, who had quietly stopped believing school would ever be their story, are in class today because you didn't stop giving.
And we found Elisha because you helped us drill that well.
I can't stop thinking about his name.
Elisha.
A little boy watching water come from the ground for the very first time... already dreaming about how he might help someone else one day.
And I can't help but wonder how many more Elishas are out there waiting for their Elijah... (Streams).
Because of you, we found one.
Will you help us find the next one?
Thank you for being part of our
ElijahStreams family. We are praying for you.
On behalf of Steve and Derene Shultz,
