A Water Celebration!

Today was a day of celebration. Our team members had the privilege of witnessing a water well dedication for another four villages.  It is clear God has gone before Villages of Hope Africa and prepared in advance the good works He previously planned in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). 

In order to dedicate the well, many local officials and media were present.  Martin Mapenduzi, the District Chairman for the district of Gulu, (a District Chairman is the equivalent to a U.S. governor and acts as a direct liaison with national government), helped officiate the ceremony.  A representative from each of the four parishes present were also there to thank Martin and Villages of Hope Africa for their generosity.  It was something unique to witness such a public event open with prayer and thanksgiving to God.

 What really hit home was when Martin explained a single water well often serves at least three hundred and fifty people.  God has allowed Villages of Hope Africa to create over thirty-five wells which means over 12, 250 people receive clean water every single day.  Praise be to God!

 A second celebration was held as over fifty trees were purchased by Villages of Hope Africa and dedicated to the surrounding villages.  Almost fifty thousand trees have been purchased in total to address deforestation.  Hundreds of villages and areas in and around Gulu are receiving these trees each day.  United, we planted the trees with the villagers and officials.  Even more exciting was returning to the new well and pumping clean water to wash the dirt off our hands.  For some of us, this simple and repetitive act took on an entirely new meaning. 

 To address sanitation issues many of the villages face each and every day, Martin has created an incentive for each village.  Over the next several months the villages will implement sanitary practices in order to improve health standards and reduce the incidences of preventable and communicable diseases. Each parish will be judged by a local official and one lucky family from each parish will win a bike and wheel barrow. 

 The smiles, cheers and applause was overwhelming.  Not one American in the crowd could imagine being motivated by such an incentive.  We would require so much more before we’d even consider adhering to rules, regulations and someone else’s standards.  What’s more is how Dana explained there will be no jealousy or resentment when one family wins over the others.  Instead they will rejoice as a village that there is a wheelbarrow and bike to be used by all.  These will then be used for transporting anything from coal, to fertilizer, crops and anything else a village might need for daily survival.

 Our day ended with more hugs, kisses, high fives and even a few tears from the children as we loaded the bus.  Filthy, hot, tired, but joyful, we made our way back to town.  Tony taught us songs in Gulu and we sang most of the way home.  Showering has never felt so good and we look forward to it at the end of each day.  We couldn’t help but pause as cool, clean water rushed forth from our faucets with a simple turn of a handle.  So easy.  So effortless.  So expected. 

This is the water that will clean our bodies and wash the dirt from our skin.  One has never felt so temporarily refreshed after a good shower.  But this is the type of water that we will need to use again and again.  Jesus speaks to the Samaritan woman in John chapter four when he asks her for a drink.  Jesus a Jew and she a Samaritan would not normally have kept company in those days so she was surprised by his request.  “Will you give me a drink?” Jesus asked.   Still puzzled, she inquired further.  Jesus could see she did not understand and responded, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water... Everyone who drinks this water (at the well) will be thirsty again.  But who ever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.  Indeed the water I give him will come in him a spring of water welling to eternal life.”

And so it is with us.  We can wash our bodies clean but only Jesus Christ has the water that can restore our filthy souls.  When clean water is given to these people and the love of Christ is explained there is a powerful connection to be made.  They see the water they drink is dirty and how it can make them sick and even die.  Then they see the new water spring forth and how it brings life to their fields, their animals and most importantly their families.  It makes all things new.  It is with this understanding these people begin to experience and receive the living water that is Jesus Christ. 

Have you received Jesus Christ?  The water we consume and even waste on a daily basis in America comes with a small cost in comparison to the living water Jesus came to give the world (eternal life).  He suffered and died that we may live.  He came to give us water that we may never thirst again.  We pray that if you have never received Christ in to your life that you ask Him today to be your Lord and Savior.  Just like the woman at the well in John chapter four and just like the people here in Gulu, Jesus is simply saying, “Come to me…”