Community Church of the Verdes in Rio Verde has once again heeded the call of Water for our World to provide water for those in need in the Phoenix area.

The church, led by its Mission Committee and the board of trustees, provided a check for $5,000 to Water for our World, and this gift was matched, dollar for dollar, by the Legacy Foundation of Phoenix, thus making the gift $10,000.

This donation will provide a truckload of bottled water (38,000 bottles) as well as a large supply of insulated water bottles that can be refilled. These bottles are sweat-proof and have brief instructions on them as to how much water a person should drink per day.

Church members will also help in distributing water and water bottles through the Salvation Army and Phoenix’s Heat Relief Network, a group of 50-70 mainly faith-based organizations which are coordinated by the city of Phoenix, of which Water for our World is a part.

Last year, the church’s outreach through water found as its theme “a cup of cold water” based on Matthew 10:42 and Matthew 25:31-40. This year, the church’s outreach has been suggested by a statement made by Scott Foreman, Executive Director of Water for our World, in a meeting with the church’s pastor, The Reverend Doctor Cathy Northrup. Scott suggested that members might want to include a message in each of the insulated water bottles, and the idea of “message in a bottle” was born.

These messages will be chosen by the members who pass out the bottles, both personal and Biblical. Some of these “messages in a bottle” will be like these: “Dear Friends, You are loved by God. May the water you drink from this bottle refresh you and keep you well. In God’s love, your Friends at Community Church of the Verdes.”

They will also include verses like these: James 3:17, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”; John 4:13, “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’”; John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

The church’s Mission Committee is chaired by Terrie Bunker, and its members are: Ruth Girompiny, Connie Lewis, Bob Skaife, Anne Carrier, Sherri Blixt, Margo Spencer, Pat Hemmer, Pat Muilenburg, and Mary Muilenburg.

The church’s Board of Trustees is chaired by Peter Mattingly, and its members are Dave Bakke, Terrie Bunker, Curt Hage, Todd Korb, Wally Lange, Maggie McMillan, and Joyce Peterson.