On Padres Faith Day in 2013, the San Diego Padres heard a word of encouragement from Moses Muwanguzi, who had started a small nonprofit in his hometown of Kizigo, Uganda. Amazed by Muwanguzi’s faith, Padres chaplain Geoff Horn and catcher Nick Hundley felt God calling them to be a part of His work in Uganda.

From left: Water Mission Project Manager Nick Mason, Water Mission Uganda Country Director Paul Murphy, Water Mission Engineer Andrew Kadaali, Omuto Uganda Founder Moses Muwanguzi, Padres Chaplain Geoff Horn, and Water Mission Engineer Peter Mutale. (Photo courtesy of Water Mission)

“For me personally, there was no way of denying the fact that I was seeing God at work in [Moses’] life and what they were trying to do with the work God had put in front of them to do,” Horn said.

Hundley — a former catcher who played for the San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics before retiring in 2020 — knew his success on the baseball field was a stepping stone to helping people around the world.

“Me and my wife, Amy, we had some thoughts of: What do we want to get involved in as we continue our marriage and continue our baseball career?” said Hundley, who now works as the special assistant to the general manager for the Texas Rangers. “Things that made us mad, sad, and glad, we were going to get involved in.”

Horn and Hundley began to partner with Omuto Uganda, visiting the community and providing support. In 2016, the organization finished building the Emmaus School, which focuses on empowering children through Christ-centered and quality education.

The Emmaus School in Kizigo, Uganda, was built in 2016. Now, 1,200 students attend, from elementary to high school. (Photo courtesy of Water Mission)

But soon, the Omuto team realized they could do little without access to safe water.

Initially, all water at the school was sourced from hand-dug wells on the property. But as the school grew from 50 to 1,200 students, the shallow wells became insufficient to serve all the students, teachers and staff, especially when the area experienced drought.

“We [had] no filtration system for that water, so they [had] to boil it and cook it in order to utilize it for consumption,” Horn explained. “And we have a lot of kids who have had different sicknesses.”

According to the school nurse, many of the students’ illnesses were related to consuming contaminated water. When children constantly got sick, they missed school, losing out on valuable social and educational opportunities.

Through God’s providence, Horn heard about Water Mission, a Christian engineering nonprofit that builds safe water, sanitation, and hygiene solutions in developing communities like Kizigo. To date, the organization has served more than 8 million people around the world, while also sharing the Living Water message of Jesus.

“[The Emmaus School] is an amazing discipleship program,” Horn said. “On every level, they are able to share the love of the Lord with these kids and that God has a plan for them and a purpose for them.” (Photo courtesy of Water Mission)

In 2023, Water Mission began working alongside Omuto to engineer a safe water treatment system at the Emmaus School. The recently completed project will provide reliable access to safe water for more than 1,600 people, giving all the students, teachers, and staff at the school the opportunity for good health.

“We’re going to give them water, but I cannot tell you what we receive. It’s like abundantly beyond whatever we’ve given,” said Horn, expressing his joy over being a part of this mission. “That blessing is poured out, not only on them, [but] it’s poured out on me.”

What started as a word of encouragement to an MLB team has become an initiative to nourish and empower children in a community that is both spiritually and physically thirsty.

Hundley believes that his career has provided him with unique opportunities to impact lives around the world, citing the Bible verse Luke 12:48 (ESV): “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”

Water Mission finished drilling a borehole for the Emmaus School in early 2025, as one phase of the safe water project. (Photo courtesy of Water Mission)

“I used to think that [verse] had to do with my physical abilities — the capability to play baseball at a high level,” Hundley said. “I used to think that was kind of what I’d been given. And the more I know Jesus, the more I think that what we’ve been entrusted with is access to Him and access to the Gospel. … I think it’s our job to spread the Word and to spread the Gospel with our money and with our time and with our vocation. And just because I was able to play a sport that’s televised and people care about, I think that’s a great segue into working with places like [Emmaus School].”

Providing access to safe water at the Emmaus School will help children thrive and will open doors for the Gospel message to spread. To learn how you can become a part of this life-changing work around the world, visit watermission.org.

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