Diesel’s Piggy Bank

Chris and Amber Larkins, from Tennessee, share their story about how they became involved in The Water Project and the inspiration they found in their 3 year old son, Diesel. 

This story was told to us by Chris.

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6 months ago, the Holy Spirit starting putting it on my heart to look into people who were hungry and poor. As I began researching, I found the water crisis was at the root of so many problems: hunger, poverty, education. It all came back to clean water. 

As I began researching organizations, I came across The Water Project (TWP). As I read more about TWP and their mission and focus, I became more enamored and wanted to get involved. As this was happening, my wife, Amber, and I, began talking about water at home with our son, Diesel. At first, he didn’t say much. But as we discussed it, he started to show his interest and wanted to include those without water in our daily prayers.

As we began educating ourselves more about the water crisis, we included Diesel and he really enjoyed all the videos on TWP site. We decided as a family we had to do something and so we decided to help fund a project.

As we decided this, Diesel went upstairs to his piggy bank and brought down some dollars and change. If we were going to support The Water Project, so was he, in his mind. We were so touched by his thoughtfulness and how he understood that there were children in the world that didn’t have what he did.

The following week, clean water hadn’t left Diesel’s mind. He goes back to his bank and hands me more money to donate. This continued for weeks until one day he stopped me.

‘Daddy-o’ he said, ‘today, I want to donate my whole piggy bank.’

Even with all the contributions he had already made, I was still a little shocked.

‘The whole thing?’ I asked. ‘But why?’

‘Well, Dad, my piggy bank is too heavy. It’s too hard to carry. And if I give it all away, it will be lighter. And if I give it away, the children will have water.’

Since then Diesel has been happily giving out of his piggy bank, knowing that children are getting clean water because of what Jesus is doing through him. We keep watching the videos and talking and praying about the community we hope to help. It’s amazing what a 3-year-old can understand. His compassion is so real; he truly wants to help. My wife and I are so grateful for him and the lessons he is teaching us through the Lord. We pray for The Water Project and all the communities and teams in Africa everyday with our son.

As the Lord Jesus says,“Lay not up for yourself treasures on earth.” After all, Diesel reminds me, it’s just money. And we should trust in the Lord.

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Learn more about the water projects Chris and his family have helped below:

Kharanda Primary School
Kitongozi Central Hand Dug Well
New Sand Dam in Kenya – 4446

Thank you Chris, Amber and Diesel for sharing your beautiful story with us. We’re so grateful for your support, compassion and generosity.