Hello from Honduras!! Specifically a small town in the northwest corner of the country. My team & I have been here almost a week & are settling into this way of life that will last 7ish weeks. I just wanted to post an update & share something that has been on my mind.
Context : In the area we are staying, access to water is limited & especially access to drinking water. We have a tank-like structure in the backyard of our house & from there we get water for bucket showers, doing laundry, washing dishes & flushing the toilet. So far this week, the water in the house has been turned off for all but one day, so we have been utilizing the tank water for all of our needs. As for water that is safe to drink, there are 5 gallon jugs that were here when we arrived.
Reality : The idea of not having clean water is something that I have never, ever, EVER thought of. Ever. Water is so easy & accessible & safe to drink in every part of the United States. The truth of the matter is that a huge part of our world deals with this problem on a daily basis. It’s eye-opening to say the least.
Realization : This week, the first time we ran out of drinking water, there was the very real question of “Where will we get more water?” Followed by the thought: “If I don’t have water, I will die.” It’s pretty obvious hahaha, but something I haven’t been faced with before this week. (We did figure out that it’s pretty easy to call a truck that will come & fill up our jugs.)
Lesson : Having this new & never-before-encountered problem has really brought to life a known & loved biblical passage.
John 4:1-15
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Only in Christ can we have living water. Without him, we will die. Pretty simple. But, he chose to offer to us this life life-giving, thirst-quenching water that will forever satisfy.
