A road leading to hope

A story from the Rev. Franklin Ishida, director for Asia and the Pacific, ELCA Global Mission. Find related pictures at http://imageevent.com/elcahunger/chinaluzhou Find other ELCA World Hunger Appeal stories at www.elca.org/hunger/stories Thanks, Franklin!
S.

ELCA World Hunger funds have been provided to Luzhou Church, Luzhou (Sichuan Province), China, to meet the needs of those living in poverty in the area. One of these, the village of Tudiba, had an asset: Lechee fruit that were the favorite of the Tang dynasty imperial court. However, the road leading to the village was not paved. Moreover, many villagers did not have clean water, forcing them to spend many hours hauling water that wasn't even clean. ELCA World Hunger funds were used to help pave a road (70% of which the government funded). And wells were dug for 100 families (the government boring the holes and ELCA World Hunger funds used for the pumps and infrastructure). Now, most of the villagers have access to clean drinking water, improving their health and giving them time for other jobs. And the lechee trade has brought renewed economic rewards. This is all happened as an outreach ministry of Luzhou Church, a companion in the ELCA's global mission.