Adventists distribute bottled water in Flint, Michigan, amid water crisis

Cars driving over a Flint River bridge in Flint, Michigan. Image by Andrew Jameson/Wikicommons

January 21, 2016 | Flint, Michigan, United States | By Adventist Review staff

Seventh-day Adventist volunteers are distributing bottled water and water filters to residents of Flint, Michigan, after high levels of lead in the local water supply left the city without drinking water.

Flint, a financially strapped city of 100,000 people north of Detroit, is mired in a water crisis following a cost-cutting decision last year to switch its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River.

The river’s corrosive water caused lead to seep from pipes, resulting in elevated levels of lead in drinking water that can cause brain damage and other health problems.

“Seventh-day Adventists church members in Flint are distributing approximately 10 pallets of water a week and will continue to do so for the next five months until the new water-lines are in place,” Adventist Community Services said in a statement.

The Lake Region Conference’s branch of Adventist Community Services has teamed up with the Michigan Conference to provide the bottled water.

In addition to distributing bottled water, Adventist young people are assembling water-testing kits and adults are handing out water filters, the statement said. The American Red Cross has made 80,000 water-testing kits available.

Adventist Community Services appealed for more support from Pathfinders and youth groups in assembling the water-testing kits.

“This is the only job children under 18 are allowed to do,” it said. “11,000 have been made, so they need a lot of help.”

Adventist Community Services asked for prayers for the volunteers in Flint.

“Please pray for the volunteers who are trying to meet the needs of the community who are in need of drinking water,” it said.