Invention pours water on thirsty world
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United Methodist Duvon McGuire demonstrates his water
purification invention as villagers install a system in Ndola, Zambia. A
UMNS photo by Scott Stockton.
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A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
March 19, 2008
A family in southern Indiana is providing safe drinking water mixed
with a generous portion of "living water" to parched people around the
world.
New Life International, a nonprofit Christian ministry started in the
1970s by Byron and Yvonne McGuire in Underwood, Ind., is the birthplace
of the McGuire water purifier, a system that turns unsafe water into
safe drinking water using salt and a 12-volt battery.
Their eldest son, Duvon McGuire, invented the system which produces
chlorinated water and destroys viruses and bacteria. The water purifiers
have provided thousands of gallons of safe drinking water for people in
more than 60 countries.
"What we are trying to do is not just bring safe water on a humanitarian
level, but as Christians to also be the salt that makes people thirsty
for living water," said Duvon McGuire, a member of New Chapel United
Methodist Church, Jeffersonville, Ind.
Life experiences
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The purifier uses salt and a 12-volt
battery to treat unsafe drinking
water. A UMNS photo courtesy
of Duvon McGuire.
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Two major events gave McGuire a thirst to contribute to the world's water need.
As a young boy, he almost died by drinking contaminated water in Ecuador
where his parents worked as missionaries. Later, as a student at Asbury
College in Kentucky, he spent a summer working in a hospital in India
and saw firsthand how unsafe water led to human suffering.
Armed with a chemistry degree, he went to work on an idea for a simple,
cost-effective water purifier designed to withstand harsh environmental
conditions.
Operated on a 12-volt power supply, the system can provide enough water
for 10,000 people and can disinfect up to 50 gallons of water per
minute––all using less electrical power than a normal street light. One
purifier potentially can save an entire village for as little as a penny
per person, per day.
McGuire's invention got its first real-life test in 1998 when Hurricane
Mitch hit Honduras. A family member working as a missionary in Honduras
told him that the hurricane had left behind a severe water crisis.
Packing up 30 of his purifiers, McGuire took them to Honduras for use in
schools, churches and orphanages. Since that time, the Christian
outreach ministry started by his parents has become one of the largest
to provide safe water to the world.
Missionary roots
Byron and Yvonne McGuire served as United Methodist missionaries at
the Navajo Methodist Mission School, Farmington, N.M., in 1961 and went
on to work with an interdenominational radio ministry in Costa Rica and
Ecuador, bringing with them their five children.
“What we are trying to do is not just bring
safe water on a humanitarian level, but as Christians to also be the
salt that makes people thirsty for living water.”–Duvon McGuire
When they returned to the United States, they bought a farm in
southern Indiana, intending to use their "scenic, peaceful" land as a
place to nurture Christians and to teach non-Christians about God and
Jesus Christ. The area was ideal for picnics, games, fishing and
campfires.
"Byron used to do devotional hayrides where he would just stop and point
out God's creation along the way," said Yvonne McGuire of her late
husband, who died in 2007.
She and son Duvon have continued the ministry, which she called "a work
of faith," particularly because of the years her son and his young
family devoted to developing the purifier without paying employment.
"It has been a sacrifice for him but it has been well worth it," she
said. "Countless lives have been saved because of it and will continue
to be."
Evangelism tool
Many United Methodist churches, as well as other denominations, have become part of the ministry over the years.
Two brothers, Edsel and Dallas Richards, head up a volunteer team at
Morton Memorial United Methodist Church, Clarksville, Ind., assembling
the purifiers in the church basement. The purifiers go out as quickly as
they are built due to earthquakes, mudslides, floods and manmade
disasters such as wars that leave much of the world without potable
water.
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Erik Pearson (left) and Dale Ehret of Crestwood (Ky.) United Methodist Church install a McGuire system in Appalachia.
A UMNS photo by Jim Pearson. aaa
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New Life International has become a center for hands-on training in
water purification. Mission teams, medical staff and relief workers come
to the Indiana hub to acquire water purifiers for the needy.
Crestwood (Ky.) United Methodist Church purchased two McGuire water
purifiers. The church's mission team, led by Jim Pearson, have installed
one system in the Dominican Republic and one in Appalachia, close to
the United Methodist Red Bird Mission. Another mission team plans to
install another at Centro Methodista in Costa Rica in early April.
"The source of pure water is a tool of evangelism," Pearson says.
Spiritual dimension
On March 22, the United Nations observes World Water Day to draw
attention to the shortage of safe drinking water around the world.
"With approximately 25,000 people dying each day from waterborne
diseases, this urgent humanitarian crisis is a challenging opportunity
for New Life International and financial supporters to make a difference
in bringing safe water to a thirsty world," said Duvon McGuire.
While some people think it is futile to try to change a world that will
always have poor people, McGuire doesn't believe that is Christ's
intent.
"I think God's people are the right ones for this job," he said of
providing water to impoverished people. "The spiritual dimension cannot
be left out."
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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