Bringing living water to Eloheh: ABHMS helps ministry partners build well
VALLEY FORGE, PA (08/08/2025)—Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds in Yamhill, Oregon, ministry partners of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, grow food, welcome students, host tours, and teach earth-honoring ways of living. Indigenous spiritual frameworks define Eloheh’s mission, focusing on right relationship with the land, animals, water, and people; non-extractive, regenerative practices in farming and teaching; decolonization of theology; and healing and restoration through community and earth-centered justice.
For several years, they struggled with a dwindling water supply; their well produced only two gallons per minute, not enough for a thriving and complex ministry that relies on agriculture. At one time, they had to pay $400 for water delivery to meet all their needs. “The only hope is to drill another well and supply it with reserve tanks,” said Randy Woodley, co-sustainer of Eloheh, in 2023. “We can’t afford to keep paying for water.”
The Scripture tells us: “The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail” (Isaiah 58:11). In the spirit of this promise, ABHMS supported Eloheh with a grant towards building a new well, which now sustains the farm and quenches the thirst of those who live and visit the ministry each year.
“We are extremely water-wise, which is a main tenet of Eloheh,” shared Woodley. “But our wells were going dry in the summer, and we had to spend precious funds on buying water. The new well changed everything.”
Each year, 300 people spend time at Eloheh. Visitors and volunteers have the chance to develop their relationships with other people, animals, and the land, a sacred site for learning and experiencing the Spirit. Eloheh invites its guests to learn how to build fulfilling relationships with others and the land itself. The new well, which produces 7.5 gallons of water per minute, makes this experience sustainable. And the story of growth and resilience of Eloheh does not end there; thanks to a second installment of the grant, Eloheh was able to purchase two large water tanks.
In a world increasingly marked by climate crisis—seen in rising temperatures, droughts, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and pollution—Eloheh remains a faithful steward of the land and sustainer of people living on the land. Through Indigenous leadership, spiritual commitment, and strategic partnership with ABHMS, they are showing what it means to embody justice, one drop at a time.
When you give to ABHMS, you are not just funding a project. You are sowing into healing, justice, and Indigenous leadership for generations to come. Give today at our online portal and be part of what God is doing.
By Rev. Dr. Anna Piela, ABHMS senior writer and associate editor of The Christian Citizen
