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Geneva grad brings clean drinking water to Myanmar
John Hays '77 has dedicated his life to providing clean drinking water for people everywhere. He is the founder of International Water Management Systems, a faith-based company dedicated to meeting this world-wide need, and inventor of a hand-held chlorine generator. The generator is so small that it can easily be transported to the most remote villages, and John has traveled all over the world providing units to developing nations.
When Cyclone Nargis devastated the country of Myanmar, it left thousands of people without safe drinking water. Although Myanmar’s government had refused any form of outside aid, God opened the door for Hays to bring physical and spiritual water to this nation in need.
Our first information of Myanmar came through my daughter's church, World Revival Church (WRC) in Kansas City. The pastor's parents have been life-long missionaries to the Asian Tribal Ministry in Myanmar. The Myanmar government works with this ministry.
I got a call from WRC asking me if I could make water safe to drink if a dead body was floating in it. I said "yes" right away and I felt the power of our Lord behind my answer. If I had taken the time to think it through I would have been saying “no way.”
In June, I sent a team (Todd and Cole Baldridge) to take 20 units to the Asian Tribal Ministry in Bangkok, Thailand. Our work was done in Bangkok because no United States citizen was allowed into Myanmar. After the delivery was made, our team was asked to stay over for one more day.
The top general from Myanmar—the equivalent of our secretary of state—wanted a dinner with Todd and Cole. During dinner, the general said that he hated the USA people for the bad press he was getting and for sending a war ship as part of USA help.
Todd responded that our authority is from the Bible in Matthew 25:35 and we had come to help those who suffer. The general then said he knew we were godly men and had come to help. He then issued a personal invitation to Todd and to me, as the inventor, to enter the country.
Once we arrived in Myanmar, we met with the general and other government officials and engineers to discuss the country’s water concerns. They gave us complete clearance to work inside their country.
I was a part of a team that took 20 more water purification units into the heart of the Irraddi Delta, the region hardest hit by the cyclone. I saw much destruction. Complete villages were taken off the map; hundreds of thousands perished and many more were left homeless. I saw much grief in their eyes, but a weak smile was painted on each face. Yes, the water was made safe in spite of human body parts still floating in the water.
God's kingdom flourishes as good does come from bad and all things work out for good. We saw a general commit his life to Jesus. He said that in all his life, he had never seen anyone show love in action.
- John Hays '77
