The Living Water Evangelical Free church is known as a 501-C3 non-profit organization, which started on May 12, 2007; and was incorporated on September 17, 2009 (under chapter/Section 504.401 of the code of IOWA).
The present Membership of the Living Water Evangelical Free Church is primarily composed of new refugees who were recently resettled in Des Moines. These refugees are from Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and a few from Sudan and Liberia. These individuals are innocent survivors of massacres, and different armed conflicts opposed between the government army and rebels in their respective countries. Some of these refugees were badly injured, faced different kinds of violation, rapes, tortures, and arbitrary imprisonments. In addition to these difficulties, they lost their belongings and their family members were killed and slain in their presence.
Living Water Evangelical Church was founded by our Pastor, Wilondja Msiando, as the Lord lead him. The inspiration for the creation of the church occurred after Pastor Wilondja Msiando and his family moved to the United States in the September 2005 to escape the war in their native country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. During his immigration process he was able to witness firsthand how difficult the immigration and assimilation process can be. It was at this time that God put a desire and vision in Wilondja’s heart to expand God’s Kingdom by planting a church in which people would worship God, through Jesus Christ, in a multi-cultural setting. Wilondja desired to start a congregation that would provide Christian services in common native languages, Swahili and Kirundi, for many of the African immigrants and help these fellow immigrants to address and overcome the issues they face while becoming a part of their new communities and a new and very different culture.
The church has grown from a congregation of 20 individuals meeting in a basement (May 2007) to over 150 members (January 2011). This growth has occurred in a few short years and we anticipate the rate of growth to continue over the upcoming years. From May 12, 2007 to July 2007: We started meeting in the basement of Sister Rose Kurgat’s home. Kurgat is a Kenyan lady who loves the Lord and is very dedicated to prayer. This basement became too small for the group of Christians very quickly. Thus finding a larger place to worship became a necessity.
Then, From July 2007 to November 2007: we transferred our services to the basement of Pastor Msiando’s home. This space was not adequate either so praying and searching began to find a bigger space in a more suitable location closer to where the refugees that attended lived at that time.
From November 2007 to January 2008, we were blessed by God, to be able to move to the Lutheran Refugees Services Center of Iowa. However transportation was an issue at this location for many of the members. We decided to look for a place where people could walk to church and which could accommodate the size of our growing church.
Then, Brother Mark Nelson, Director of the Freedom for Youth Ministries, helped us to utilize their facility without charge from January 2008 to August 2010. We praise God for Brother Mark and each staff member at the Freedom for Youth. At this site, our congregation continued to grow tremendously and it was decided to move to a bigger premise.
Beginning in September 2010, Living Water relocated to our current meeting place, renting some of Midwest Christian Ministries Inc. building at 6000 Douglas Ave. in Des Moines, Iowa to hold our weekly services and other outreach programs.
From September 2010 to November 2015: we moved to the rental place at 6000 Douglas Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50322
From December 1st, 2015, we went back to the Freedom for Youth, where we are currently meeting.
Note that the Des Moines area is rapidly growing with multi-ethnic groups, especially refugees and immigrants from various countries. There is a great need to reach out to them with the Gospel of our Lord and establish a church in which these specific groups can worship the Lord in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural setting.
As our congregation continues to grow, our prayer is for a permanent church building of our own. Our dream is to acquire a more permanent and long term facility to house our many ministries and programs. Having our own building would greatly enable us to enjoy needed flexibility in operating the church. We would be able to develop the multiple ministries and programs needed by those who come to us for assistance. For this reason, we would ask whoever is looking for an opportunity to assist this congregation, to collaborate with us in our effort to build our own church worship center.
As you are learning about us on this site, you should know that the work of God on earth is always ongoing, challenging, and rewarding, all at once, as we seek and do His will. This is how you can help us.
Will you join us in building our new church? Your support, no matter how great or small, will greatly assist and encourage us in not only advancing God’s kingdom, but also in helping us achieve this work.
Your assistance is needed! Please consider helping us as you give to God and His work here on earth. We thank you for considering assisting our church in helping us to expand our ministry and ability to share the gospel more effectively. We indefinitely thank God for your assistance in helping us to bring His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.