Living Water

As someone who lived in a 1st world nation I didn’t realize how much of my life revolves around water, until I moved to a third world nation. And even then I didn’t realize how precious water is until our water tank went dry!!!  We are living in an old hostel/children’s home so we have a nice big rain water collection tank, (because the house is big there is lots of roof area to feed the gutters which direct the water into the tank).

So with such a big holding tank, no need to worry that it hasn’t rained significantly for a couple weeks, right???  WRONG.  For some unknown reason we ran out of water several weeks ago.  Not sure if there is a small leak in the tank due to some recent earthquakes or what, but we had no water.  So we had to switch to RAM water, which is really muddy river water.  And this water isn’t treated at ALL.  It is used by nationals for washing dishes, clothes and themselves and there is no EPA to decide what gets dumped into the water or the ground. So yes the water is nasty to say the least. 

Don’t panic, we have a water filtration bucket system in our kitchen that we had sent from the states when we first arrived in PNG. This system cleans out the water we drink, and cook from.  And the bleach is always within hand reach at all times.  One doesn’t realize how the stress level goes up when you are always watching the sky wandering is this the day when the rain will come and at least start the process of filling up the tank and so we can figure out if we have a hole or a leak in the tank.  And with a big tank like we have, it has taken a LOT of rain to bring the water level up just a little. 

Lots of other families were concerned about the levels of their water tanks because of the lack of rain.  The talk around town was the low level of water in the tanks.  The stress level is up while you are on RAM water making sure you have filtered water at ALL times available, praying that no one gets the tummy bug from the water and also trying to figure out why in our case, such a big tank could have run out of water in the first place.  And every time it looked like rain or started to sprinkle, we would run out and see if the rain was going in the direction of gutters and ultimately the tank so we could see if the tank had a hole in it. Also, during the dry times, we were trying to patch the gutters that have some giant rust holes in them. So the water is running down to the ground instead of into the tank.   

The good news! We have had rain EVERY day now for at least 2 weeks and for the most part it hasn’t been the Seattle drizzle, it has been the pouring, gushing rain.  So God heard our prayers J  We never have found the cause of our water shortage even though we gave Meliah a hard time about it since she took a very long shower one day and we ran out of water soon after that… The tank is full, now to overflowing (wishing we had a 2nd tank for the overflow).  But it is always in the back of our minds to be checking on water and to make sure all faucets are closed tightly and that long showers are not permitted. 

So maybe you could remember to pray for us when you turn on the tap to brush your teeth and let the water run while doing it or when you take a nice long hot bath (which I personally miss the most).  Pray for us and that we would continue being strong support personal for those who are translating the word of God to people’s heart languages.  Pray also that people who receive God’s word either by voice or by reading it, that they would come to understand that God is the living water. 

John 4:13-14 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.  But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again-ever!  In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing within him for eternal life.”