When Nancy and Grover Sherlin traveled to Sierra Leone in January 2024, they expected to see the results of years of fundraising through Running for Clean Water Plus (R4CW+). But they did not expect the profound emotion they felt as, deep in the countryside, they saw a school they had helped build standing before them.
“We were going through the jungle in a small vehicle, and we came around the corner from the road and suddenly there was the school in front of us,” Grover Sherlin recalled. “It was really moving. We really had no idea what it was going to be like.”
The school, located in a remote community where children could not make the journey to larger schools, was dedicated during the Sherlins’ visit. Some of the youngest children eagerly shared how excited they were to begin attending classes close to home.
That school is one of many projects made possible through R4CW+, an annual Garland-area ministry that has connected North Texas churches with communities in Sierra Leone for more than 15 years, with roots hundreds of miles from Garland.
A simple question
In the spring of 2010, New World UMC Pastor Wally Williams, First UMC Garland Associate Pastor Clay Womack and church member Paul Cherry were on a fishing trip in Arkansas when they found themselves reflecting on something most Americans rarely think about: access to clean drinking water. Surrounded by pristine streams and enjoying cold, clear water at a local café, they began discussing how local churches might help provide clean water for communities in need.
In 2011, New World UMC and First UMC Garland launched Running for Clean Water, and in 2013, organizers partnered with Seven Hills Global Outreach, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit already working in Sierra Leone. Buckingham UMC joined the effort in 2014, helping expand what would become a long-running collaboration among Garland-area congregations and community partners.
The ministry traces much of its inspiration to Willie Kamara, a Sierra Leone native and member of First UMC Garland, who shared stories about the challenges facing villages in his homeland and initially asked fellow church members to help raise funds for a well.
Kamara’s request resonated with church members who wondered how many other villages faced the same challenges.
“What started as helping one village has blossomed into something much larger,” said Joey Fisher, a First UMC Garland member who has volunteered with the race for more than a decade. “Well, we got a well in Willie’s village. How many other villages need the same thing?”
James Welker of New World UMC, who serves on the race’s steering committee, has watched the ministry wrestle with that question and evolve from a simple fundraiser into a long-term commitment.
What began as providing clean water has raised more than $220,000 and expanded to include schools, health care, food assistance and solar-powered lighting, creating opportunities that did not previously exist in many rural communities.
From clean water to community transformation
Sierra Leone, located on the coast of West Africa, continues to face significant challenges stemming from years of civil war, including limited access to clean water, health care and education in many rural communities. Through partnerships with local village leaders, churches and volunteers, R4CW+ has helped address those needs village by village.
For Dr. David A. Jordan, president emeritus of Seven Hills Foundation and founder of Seven Hills Global Outreach, the partnership demonstrates what can happen when churches commit to a single mission and remain faithful to it.
The work also reflects longstanding United Methodist commitments to improving health, expanding educational opportunities and supporting the well-being and dignity of all people, particularly those living in poverty.
The impact has been measurable.
“Sierra Leone had one of the highest levels of infant mortality under age 5 in the world,” Jordan said. “Together with the work of the Garland churches, we’ve reduced child mortality under 5 by 85% simply by providing clean water, sanitation facilities and education.”
As conditions improved, new opportunities emerged.
“We realized water and sanitation facilities were not enough,” Jordan said. “Children, particularly in rural areas, were illiterate. So, we began looking at schools and medical clinics.”
Today, schools supported through the partnership provide education, uniforms and daily meals for students in remote communities, many of whom are the first in their families to receive formal schooling. Libraries and other educational resources associated with the schools have also created benefits that extend beyond students to families and entire communities.
Recent fundraising has also helped establish a secondary school serving approximately 250 students. Solar-powered lights installed in villages provide some communities with their first reliable source of electricity, creating safe gathering spaces where children can read and families can work after sunset.
Seeing the impact firsthand
During their visit, the Sherlins saw firsthand the wells, latrines and solar-powered lights that have become fixtures in villages throughout the region.
“It was very impressive,” Nancy Sherlin said. “Seeing the water wells, some of the solar lights, the bathrooms, the latrines.”
“The latrines did a lot to cut down on health problems,” added her husband, Grover.
The couple also attended worship at a local church during their visit.
“It was just joyous,” Nancy Sherlin said. “There was a lot of singing. We got to experience communion with them. It was just a joyous Sunday service, with a very meaningful message.”
For volunteers who have supported the race over many years, the impact became increasingly tangible as stories, photographs and reports began returning from Sierra Leone.
“When you would hear them ask, ‘Who are these people in Garland? Why are they helping us?’ that’s when I really began to realize this is more than just putting on the logistics of a race,” Welker said. “It has a lot more meaning than that.”
That same question is one Jordan said he hears repeatedly during visits to Sierra Leone.
“Why do these people in Texas care about us?” villagers ask.
His answer is simple.
“Because they love you,” Jordan said. “They’ve never met you and probably never will meet you, but there’s something that connects us. It’s called humanity.”
For many of the volunteers involved in the race, that connection reflects Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), even when that neighbor lives on the other side of the world.
Looking ahead
The impact in Sierra Leone begins with dedicated volunteers—those people in Garland.
Fisher said organizing the annual race takes months of preparation, with the most intensive work occurring in the final weeks before race day. Volunteers arrive before sunrise to set up registration tables, prepare the course and welcome runners.
“It all comes together at once,” Fisher said. “The two weeks prior to the run become very intense, and then it’s there for an hour and it’s all over.”
The ministry has endured through pastoral transitions and changing race locations because of committed volunteers from multiple congregations. Welker noted that although the pastors who helped launch the race have since retired, lay volunteers have continued carrying the ministry forward.
“It’s the laity that is continuing to keep this going,” he said.
The 2025 R4CW+ event raised $19,987, funds now being used to help complete classrooms, equip a science lab and install solar power at a new secondary school in Sierra Leone.
This year’s R4CW+ race will take place Oct. 17 at Audubon Park in Garland. Organizers are seeking runners, volunteers, sponsors and community partners to help continue the ministry’s work.
“We have to keep focusing on the things that are meaningful,” Fisher said. “To provide healthy water, medical help and schools for people. That’s meaningful.”
For the Sherlins, the experience left a lasting impression.
“It’s made me much more aware of how wasteful we are with water,” Nancy Sherlin said. “It made me realize water is a precious commodity.”
For more than 15 years, R4CW+ has transformed that realization into action, connecting churches in Garland with families thousands of miles away and proving that a simple act of generosity can ripple across the world.
