The Maasai gave him a name

The man who brings water from God

During a severe drought in Kenya, evangelist Seth Palmer told the Maasai that God would send rain. On the day he was set to leave, rain fell on the ground where he had preached and nowhere else. The chief gave his life to Christ, and his tribe followed.

“I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs.”

Isaiah 41:18
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Water from God is the ministry of evangelist Seth Palmer,
carrying the gospel and clean water to the Maasai people of East Africa.

The story

It began with a promise of rain.

The rains had failed, and the land was deep in drought. Seth Palmer had come to the region to preach, with his evangelism tent pitched on the plains.

  1. The promise

    A promise made in public

    During the crusade, Seth stood and told the crowd that God would send rain to the region. There was no sign of it in the sky when he said it.

  2. The waiting

    Weeks passed with no clouds

    The drought held on. Week after week the sky stayed clear, and the season for the mission came to an end.

  3. The last day

    The tent came down

    The crusade ended and Seth packed up the tent for the trip home to the United States. He was minutes from leaving.

  4. The rain

    The sky opened

    Clouds gathered and rain came down on the ground where he had preached, while the land around it stayed in drought.

  5. The chief

    A leader believed

    Seth was brought before the chief of the tribe. Standing in that rain, the chief gave his life to Christ.

  6. The tribe

    The people followed

    Some 250,000 members of the tribe followed their chief to Jesus, and they gave Seth the name the ministry still carries: the man who brings water from God.

Seth Palmer sitting on the grass beside a Maasai elder wrapped in a red shuka
Seth with a Maasai elder in the Kenyan highlands

The rain fell only where he said it would; everywhere else the drought went on.

As the Maasai tell it

The impact

members of the Maasai tribe gave their lives to Jesus.

That was the beginning of a church that is still growing, and the work continues today.

The mission today

The gospel and clean water.

The ministry preaches Christ, the living water, and drills wells so villages can make it through the dry seasons.

A village gathered outdoors to hear preaching
Proclaim

Gospel crusades

Open-air tent crusades across the plains, preaching Christ in villages that have never heard His name.

A family digging for water in a dry riverbed
Provide

Clean-water wells

Wells and boreholes that give communities safe water all year, even when the rains fail.

A tin chapel with a wooden cross, children gathered outside
Disciple

Churches & leaders

Planting churches and training the local pastors who will lead them.

Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from within them.

John 7:38
Children laughing together on the dry plain Young women in bright beadwork, smiling Children standing inside a newly built chapel Seth in conversation with elders under an acacia tree

The regions

Where we serve.

Kenya

Where the rain fell and the ministry began. Crusades and well projects continue across the southern plains today.

Tanzania

The Maasai live on both sides of the border, and the ministry follows them across it.

Rwanda

Training pastors and planting churches so that what begins at a crusade grows into a lasting congregation.

Stand with the Maasai

Join the work.

There are three ways to take part: give, pray, or go.

Give

Fund a crusade or help drill the next village well.

$40 brings clean water to a family

Give now

Pray

Join the prayer team that supports the ministry and its pastors.

Monthly prayer updates

Join the team

Go

Serve on a short-term team: crusade support, well projects, and discipleship on the ground.

Trips throughout the year

See upcoming trips