Thoughts on the Water of Life

Jesus told the woman at the well, “Ask me and I will give you living water that you will never thirst again.”  The Bible is full of the water of life images.  Revelation tells us that heaven has a river that flows through it with the water of life.  Psalm 1 speaks of the image of a tree planted by the water that will give its fruit in its season.  The cities of Israel are often defined by the wells that sit at their centers, such as Jacob’s well.

A praise song I learned long ago speaks of this.

“Here’s my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord, come and quench this thirsting of my soul!”

In West Texas where I spent some years growing up, it is often dry, even to the point of being desert.  Because of this, it was one of the last places in Texas to be settled, but then a discovery was made.  If one dug deep enough into the flint-filled, almost concrete colechie ground, one could find water.  This water came from an aquifer that was over a thousand square miles, a deep-ground lake of water that had probably been filled thousands of years ago.  It is almost unlimited.  But there is one problem — if someone pumps too much, too quickly, even a well with abundant water can go dry.  When this happens, the farmer or rancher must wait a day, a week or longer, and the well will eventually be replenished with fresh water from the aquifer.  Even though the water source is almost unlimited, the well’s ability to contain it is not.

The source of life-giving water that is God is unlimited.  But our ability to contain that living water is not.  When we begin to dry up, often having taken for granted the source, we must find time and ways to allow our inner “well” to be replenished.  In this fast-paced culture, we often lose the place that allows this to happen, and we fail to realize that we are trying to survive on dust.  When folks are living on dust, often bad decisions are made, emotions get fractured, souls become lifeless and the plan and purpose of God for abundant living gets lost.

Time, prayer, the Bible, simple Christian friendships, service and worship are where the life that is the water of God seeps into the hearts and souls of us all.

“Here’s my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord, come and quench this thirsting of my soul!”

Thoughts on my trip to Rwanda

A week ago I was still in Rwanda, Africa, spending time with orphans who lived (on a good day) on bananas, beans and peanuts.  Their living conditions were mud brick houses that had no furniture.  Some of the older kids were orphaned by the 1994 genocide and others by the death of their parents through AIDS. Their medicine cabinet was often a window sill with one old toothbrush on it.  Their family was the other orphans in their community.  But they were happy; the ZOE ministry program we help support had given them hope, something that would have been impossible without outside help.

Our flight home took almost 36 hours, from Rwanda to Ethiopia to Washington DC and then back to Dallas.  Even though we had only been gone less than 10 days, it was striking to enter the Dulles Airport in Washington.  To leave a country with almost nothing and then enter the overwhelming affluence represented by the nation’s capital was almost embarrassing; I really did not know how to think.  But still, after I made some emergency phone calls back to the church (I had not had access to a phone during the journey), I paused and had a hamburger with cheese and grilled onions.  It was good to be home.

I am once again used to a soft bed, hot water, abundant food and a comfortable world with almost every convenience possible, yet the Bible says, “The Kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit!”

When the tremendous trappings of our lives are cleared away for a few minutes, whether it is a trip to an area of the world in poverty, an experience with cancer, a broken marriage, a grievous loss or just a week where we figure out we are not really in control, we often see and experience things we haven’t been able to see in the midst of the myriads of unimportant details that seem to dominate our lives.  We discover things like faith, love, friendship, trust, family, the simplicity of a life shared with each other, with Jesus Christ, loving God, serving others, following Jesus, the day-by-day minutes that can be overwhelmed by the details of a complicated life and then set free by the surprises and the crises that may come our way.

I learned some of this by being thankful for the small banana and piece of pineapple I ate most mornings in Africa as I prepared to go out each day to experience the surprises God surely had for me.  I hope God surprises us all today!

Ernest

This little boy is Ernest, the same name as my father.  When I told him this, he put his head on my chest and smiled, the first smile I saw from him.  He is an orphan, has been since he was 10, living on the streets in Butare, now back in a small hut in rural village.  He will soon be moving into a ZOE mud brick house that his new family of orphans is helping him build.  He is one of 1000 orphans we plan to adopt and support through the 3 year move to independence, self respect. community, and faith, our 250,000 dollar commitment over these next three years will change this part of Rwanda and I am convinced, Jesus is pleased with this commitment and Giving Hope program.  The woman in the picture is Epiphany, the Rwandan director of the program.  she received her Masters degree while we were in Rwanda and is a survivor of the Genocide in 1994, as Gaston an assistant director of Zoe said, she is a “Fierce woman of God!”.

Shoyge Primary and Secondary School

This was an amazing moment, as some would say, a big deal.  Some of our group attended the 6 hour Dedication of Shogye Primary and Secondary school.  A family in our Church made a generous donation that built this school in an area of Rwanda in much need of such an institution, one that is and will teach young people how to become teachers themselves.  Besides the some 500 attendees, the Rwanda State Minister of Primary and secondary Schools spoke, as did the Anglican Bishop of the Area, the mayor, many students, and others. We also had a ribbon cutting and were surprised when they unveiled a pillar thanking First United Methodist Church of Mansfield for this school that included a large cafeteria where the dedication service was held, a large kitchen, many classrooms, and multiple dorm rooms.  It was an amazing campus already in operation.  Of course at the dedication it was God that we thanked.   I had the unexpected honor of speaking at the dedication as well as praying the dedication prayer, with interpreter (The pastor standing beside me).  It was quite a day as we celebrated with dancers, drums, and music.  My message was simple, this school was God’s idea and in God’s heart long before it was built with God’s money, money that for a season was in the hands of a Christian family, then in the hands of His Church, and now coming to life in the lives of children.  It was nice to be a small part of such a community transforming institution.  It is honor for me to be a part of a Church family with a heart so generous that it reaches in Jesus’ name to the heart of Rwanda, a generosity that will be experienced by Children for years to come.  Who knows, it might be that one day a graduate of this school will lead the nation of Rwanda.

First year Giving Hope Orphans, Butare, Rwanda

This is Donetta with her 10 year old sister and her invalid aunt.  Her mother died three years ago and she has been caring for the family since. She lives in a small hut on a very small plot of ground, barely surviving.  She grows a garden next to her hut about ten by ten and has a goat that Zoe ministry gave her.  Soon she will move into a new home that the orphans are building with the help of ZOE, a triplex made out of mud bricks, steel roof, concrete stucco, bathroom and kitchen, just a short way from here.  She is a first year Giving Hope Companion, in a previous blog I talked about the third year groups who have made amazing strides in self sufficiency.  We met many other first years, one whose father was killed in the genocide, another family of 9 children who parents had died of aids.  After the larger groups told their story, sang, and gave us some gifts, they had to leave, for these older orphans had to get home to care for the younger children who were getting out of school soon.  The last song they sang ended with these words, “This is good, but heaven is better”.  We hope to go back in three years to see how Giving Hope has impacted Donetta and the other 50 or so like her who we pray gain independence, self sufficiency, and a growing faith and trust in God. Our hope as a Church is to adopt an entire community of orphans and walk with them through the three years.  A community is a thousand Donettas.  God help us do so.

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