Spring has Sprung continued….

$3, that’s is less than a tall Mocha or Latte at the local coffee shop and this money actually changes a life which impacts a family and in turn a village, instead of just providing temporary satisfaction and warm insides.

We now have an official partner, The Water Project, Inc.

The Water Project primarily focuses its efforts in Africa however they want to join with other small to medium size non profits involved in water and so they have made their funding available to us with certain restrictions. Basically, they will provide funding for water in India where we designate, provided we cover the administrative costs of the project. 100% of the funds they grant us must be used directly on the project, so the cost for the well driller, the pipes, pump mechanism, sand, mortar, etc. – they cover. The other 33% of costs that go towards pulling off a project and insuring its longevity they don’t cover; so we need to come up with that money.

What does this actually mean or better yet what kind of dollars are we talking about to unleash this funding? For every 10 projects that they fund, I need to raise $5,000, for every 20 projects they fund, I need $10,000. Do you see the potential here?

Typically a hand pump project in a village is $1,500 and for that the donor gets their name on a plaque, photos, possibly some video and the assurance that they made a huge impact in rural India. For that same $1500, instead of drilling 1 project, in partnership with The Water Project, we can do 3 projects, 3 for the price of 1 – not a bad investment.

What’s the catch? I don’t think there is one. Sure there is a little more work on my part to administrate this but the benefits outweigh the effort; something to consider when you give.

If you want to give in this way, partnership giving, then on the memo portion of your gift just write Share
and I will use your giving to help unlock more water projects.

 

www.wellsforlife.org

Wells for Life ®

P.O. Box 860064

Shawnee, KS 66286

Betsy Stewart’s article continued…

Yet, this morass of bodies, horns and unintelligible conversations soon fades into awareness of a culture that has done far more than we Americans have done concerning the ability to find basic, uncomplicated appreciation for the central themes of our existence. Faced with poverty unlike any of us Westerners have experienced, India’s people are, quite simply, beautiful from their hearts.

One story that I would like to share, sorry it’s not about water, but it so struck my heart, is our visit with the “people on the hill”, as I call them – a small colony of vagabonds who were kicked out of their make-shift homes which happened to be on some property that some upper caste fellow deemed ideal to have when a famous politician came to town.

A generous woman from Westside Family Church heard of their plight and raised funds ($30,000) for creation of a new, permanent colony on the hill near Light of Love Children’s Home in Tuni.

Of the two pictures shown, one shows a family’s current home on the hill with merely a tarp covering and the other shows the construction in progress toward their new home, one of twenty-one that will actually be built. Each house includes a bedroom, a living area and a bathroom which is a rare blessing in these parts.

I am highlighting this particular family because the husband was bitten by a snake recently and with a $25 gift from the managing organization, NASA, received immediate medical care. He now needs more medical care and as you can see, has lost considerable weight from this injury. Despite his discomfort, he still joined our gathering as he struggles to survive.

Our small group had the wonderful opportunity of delivering 25 kg. bags of rice to the villagers, one bag for each family and I am told each bag lasts just under 2 weeks. (Note that a healthy diet of vegetables, salads and fruits is not on these peoples’ daily menu!)

If any of you wish to donate towards the continued construction and other needs of this place, Wells for Life gives 100% of the gift to take care of this colony. If you do give, mark the memo portion of the check, New Life Village.

This occasion was just one of many granted to us – my daughter and I – during our wonderful but brief trip to Southeastern India. Michael served as our “travel guide” and I do say he served as it’s not totally delightful to drag around a middle-aged woman and her gen-Y daughter through a foreign land. But he did an excellent job and we have many wonderful stories to tell of our experiences in the weeks and months to come.

Thank you Mike!         

Update

The Latest News of Wells for Life ®

 

• Our website is getting a makeover and my goal is to have the new and improved website up and running before summer.
  
• Were getting positive press – Kansas City Star published an article and India Abroad. Follow these links if you would like to read them.
  
• Despite a downturn in giving in 2008 we did 1 more project than in 2007.
  
• Wells for Life has a hand in the formation and establishment of New Life Children’s Home. Property has been purchased, water has been given and hopefully this year construction will start to move 164 children from a rented facility to our new property of 6 acres.
  
• More and more people are getting involved and learning about our work, proving that 1 person can make a difference.
  
• Schools and churches are getting involved financially with Wells for Life and several VBS programs this summer have committed to raise funds for Wells for Life.
  
• Our Board of Directors is growing; we added a very competent and faithful servant who will act as our CFO, Accountant, Treasurer and anything else I throw at her.
  
• Our current Board does a fantastic job of affirming, guiding and directing and for that I am thankful.
  

   

   

What next?
Spiritually speaking a lot, God is doing something I can’t quite describe in this short of space and I am not the best blogger so I can’t describe it there so you’ll just have to wait and see I guess when it takes place. I can identify the fact that 1 out of every 6 people in this world are Indian, that there are over 200 unreached people groups within India as it pertains to the spreading of the Gospel and this means that God is very concerned about India. God is concerned about India’s spiritual health and her physical health. In turn, I am concerned about her spiritual and physical health and this is the main reason why I am in India and desiring to make an impact for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Millions of Indians are classified as untouchable, millions of Indians have not heard the good news, and millions of Indians don’t have clean water. I, we, have got to do something about all of this.

www.wellsforlife.org

Hope

Hope deferred makes the heart sick but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

What is Hope?

Hope – believing that something good can come out of something bad. This was the quote used in the lesson plan for the Extreme last week and comes at an opportune time.

My friend Gary and his wonderful wife Leesa are battling right now; she has cancer and it appears terminal, in its final stages. Some church elders gathered last week at her house to pray for her and to ask God for her healing. I was there with them, along with Nathan and Amanda and their Leapsters. Thankfully they were out on the front porch and found the rocking chairs and blankets to be quite comfortable. This in and of itself was an interesting picture; 2 kids enjoying life, my kids, out on the front porch of a typical looking Midwestern house, rocking in their chairs, overlooking a large grassy front yard with a pond about 50 yards away, large trees surrounding the house, blue sky; it just had the appearance of picture perfect Midwestern living, in fact this is why I left LA.

Inside the house, a gathering of people who have come together to rally around one person in her struggle for life here on earth, one person, the woman of the house of which my kids were certainly enjoying, a new grandmother to 1 and expecting her 2 grandbaby within the next couple of days, struggling for survival.

Expressing Hope to the group that God would raise her up, literally, heal her of her cancer for which the doctors have declared there is no hope.

The truth of life is that there is a God, He sent His son Jesus, who as scripture says is God in the Flesh. A sermon I have preached on several occasions within India and for which has had tremendous success and for which has solidified within me this concept of God, His love for me, people, mankind; after all He didn’t have to do this, He chose too.

God in the Flesh, God left His throne for earth because He loved us, He had to repair what sin had done, the separation that exists had to be paid for, a life had to be given; His life.

Truth is, scripture tells us that the God of the Universe has the power to overcome ANYTHING- even death. When we get even a glimpse of His power, we can have hope-believing something good can come out of something bad.

“We know that in all things God works for good of those who love him.” Romans 8:28

We see this in the story of Lazarus. We still this hope expressed throughout scripture and in my recent readings in Luke I see this early on and for which I share… life.

The angel Gabriel, who came from the very throne room of God appears before Zechariah in the temple and tells him he is going to have a kid and this kid is going to be the forerunner to Jesus himself; God in the flesh. The wonderment of this statement and the bewilderment it must have produced which led to the dismay and the doubt and cost Zechariah his ability to speak for some time.

God did the impossible, the miraculous even in the face of disbelief and doubt. God had a plan, a purpose, He accomplished it.

Scripture goes on to say that in the 6^th month the angel Gabriel appeared again and this time to a virgin named Mary and gave her a greeting that startled even a young girl. How would you like to be addressed by God’s main messenger, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Talk about intimidating but the fact remains this took place and the following announcement to her was how the Holy Spirit would come over her and she would be with Child, his name would be Immanuel, God with us. The angels’ final words to her were “for nothing is impossible with God.”

For nothing is impossible with God.

For nothing is impossible with God, even in death.

For nothing is impossible with God.

This is the declaration of heaven; this is the declaration of Gabriel, the angel that stands at the right hand of God, the angel who is busy about God’s work, is in His presence, who ministers at the throne. If there is anyone in this universe who can pronounce what he sees and hears and knows to be true other than the Trinity, it would be Gabriel.

For nothing is impossible with God.

Even in creation, God created out of nothing. God takes that which is nothing and creates being, life, something, substance. There is no one like Him, He is holy. There is NO one like God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. These 3 make up the 1 God, He is holy and there is no One like Him and there is NOTHING impossible for Him.

This then begs the question, why? Why cancer? Why death? Why don’t we see healing, deliverance? Why are so many bound up? Why even the most deserving die, prayers seemingly unanswered?

I don’t know.

I am not God, I can’t answer this but what I can do is have hope.

I can choose to believe that God can do the impossible, even in death, God can bring about life. It’s easy here to fall back into religious thought and speech and declare that even in death, a person lives, after all they passed from temporal life here on earth to eternal life with their Savior and isn’t that in fact better and life eternal?

True; yet is this in fact God’s will? A question I think only He can answer. We will never know the Why in life, we only know that He is God, we have free will. Freedom to live and choose what we believe, freedom to make choices, good or bad; freedom to express hope or doubt; freedom to serve Jesus or our small kingdom of self.

Somehow or maybe I should say somewhere there is a principle at work; one which entails having hope literally in the face of death that God isn’t done. This is the scariest proposition of them all; even in death God can bring about life. Who would dare to believe this today?

It would be easy to believe this in the 3^rd world where you don’t have much and your life isn’t surrounded by much more than a simple dwelling place or maybe just a mat, a small amount of food which is the last you for the entire day and that’s it. God literally becomes much more to you than a fanciful prayer of thanks for daily bread or protection from bad drivers. God literally becomes your life, your sustenance, and your means for survival. This is the person who can easily believe in the impossible for this is how they have survived for so long already; knowing that God can provide for them even in their desperate poverty.

Desperate poverty; this is what we need; poverty of heart, mind, soul and spirit. In our poverty we can really cry out to and receive from God that which we need. Him.

I think at this point, living in this sense of poverty and dependence on Him, we begin to see God and His promises of life as true, real, and for us.

Having hope and believing in the impossible become real and attainable and is life giving.

Is this possible for us here in America, is this possible for me, for my friend Leesa? Sure, why not?

All of this hangs on LOVE; His love for us. The bible tells us this, let’s begin to believe it.

So what happens should Leesa die? Do we blame God, or say that our faith was weak even in spite of these courageous words of faith that I am typing or the prayers that I and others have prayed. Are we weak? Sure, yes, to all of this yet it shouldn’t take away the fact that we are human, God is God, His word does not lie, He has promised and has given us life.

Going back to the NT and John, Lazarus is sick, he died and Jesus is now with the sisters and we get in on the conversation he is having with Martha and she like us says the inevitable, I know my brother will live again one day, after all he believes in you and you are life, you will raise him up in the last days and yet Jesus says to her, “I am the resurrection, and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whatever lives and believes in me will never die.” Do you believe this? Yes, Lord was her reply followed by a declaration of “You are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world.”

Time passes and ultimately Jesus is at the gravesite where 4 days earlier Lazarus was laid to rest and the scripture says that Lazarus walked out of that grave. A miracle was performed that day. Jesus himself said to the sisters, “that if you believed, you would see the glory of God.”

Herein I believe lies the answer to many of life’s difficult problems; wherein lies the glory? Belief in God and in his power, even in death is essential. Glory where it is due is paramount.

Why miracles? The why is wrapped up in bringing evidence to who God is; to bringing glory to Him and serving as an example to others that in fact there is a God, He does love us, He was present on earth in Jesus and there is no other.

He alone is the answer to all of life and without faith in Him, life, life on earth and life eternal can’t really happen.

Wherein is our hope?

Our hope must rest alone in Him. Jesus is our hope and our faith must rest only in Him.

God be glorified in and through us, our lives, existence, and circumstances and even in our death.

I believe Heaven is coming down. Jesus will reign on the earth and the 2 shall become 1, rather united in the Son, I believe Heaven is coming down. Jesus will reign on the earth and the 2 shall become 1, rather united in the Son. This is reality, You are coming to Reign on the earth, and the increase of your government will know no end.

India – Day 3 on Mission

Good evening to all who read this as I hope it get’s posted sometime this morning here in India thus making it evening or nighttime in the US.

For those who don’t know me or have met me, I’m Mike or on the paper work, Michael Viser, leader of Team India or as we like to be called Cult India. Choosing to be here and experience what we experience almost qualifies you as a cult follower because it is really quite out of the ordinary, comforts are lost, things happen here which just don’t happen back home. Things are raw, pure, and simple here in India. The work of God and that of Satan is evident, strong, and fierce. This isn’t a place for the faint of heart and yet it is a place for those who want to join God on mission.

As I write this it is 5:30am on Monday and I am alone in Dr. Premdas’ office listening to a worship album that I was able to download for free of all things from Frontrunner music I believe.

The album is comprised of those who lead worship at International House of Prayer in Kansas City and what an album/CD/Download, whatever you want to call it, it is incredible.

The song as I type goes something like this – O Lord bless me and keep me, cause your face to shine on me, Lord be gracious, let the light of your countenance give me peace, for I live only to see your face, so shine on me. For I live only to see your face to shine on me, Oh Lord bless me, and keep me, cause your face to shine on me, Lord be gracious, with the light of your countenance give me peace. For I live only to see your face, so shine on me, for I live only to see your face, so shine on me……..

……. awesome song and this is just the first, mix the music with the lyrics and you have an incredible worship experience that provides a glimpse what will be one day when we are face to face with Jesus in the presence of God falling down and worshiping and crying out Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty, who Was, and Is, and Is to come.

Our team is working through a wonderful devotion which is specifically prepared for those who have left their place of comfort and have decided to join God on mission. In all truth, this devotion could be marketed and sold as a devotion book for everyone in daily life and activity if someone or a collective group of someone’s who recognize that for the church globally to begin to be effective in reaching the lost and see the return of Christ then a shift in focus needs to take place. To eliminate a lengthy blog post I think I will do a separate one with just these thoughts and will call this post which I have yet to write but is swirling around within me, Being on Mission.

In any event, today’s reading was 1 Peter 5:6-11 and it was verses 7-11 which really hit me hard and it is only because of my experiences here in India the last 3 days which have enabled these words to take on a whole new meaning. I won’t elaborate on the context for which I have been living other to say on one side the work and activity of God is strong here and He is using me and my team members in extra ordinary ways. Our team makeup was divinely orchestrated for which I am eternally grateful and within this group God is revealing Himself and much ministry is taking place. We are being exposed to countless numbers of people who need a touch from God as they are bound up spiritually, physically, emotionally and the reality is, we aren’t the answer to their problem. These people literally need a divine intervention as it truly is only God who can reach down inside of them and correct that which is broken. All we can do is be people who come alongside, offer and invitation of hope, lift their head and allow them to see the love on our face and the hope in our eyes as it is God who has put these things within us. All we can do is point these people to Jesus and allow Him to work the change, bring the healing, deliverance, the forgiveness of sins. We are not their hope, God is their hope and all we can do is make ourselves available to His activity as vessels or instruments. In and of ourselves, we have nothing to offer these people but like the apostles, we can say in the name of Jesus rise up and walk.

Oops, I went chasing a rabbit, back to the devotion and scripture, casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Talk about anxiety. You lead a team of people, you are responsible for leading them in the pits of hell so to speak and stuff is happening all around you, you are spending your energies rescuing those caught in darkness and bam you get hit out of nowhere and become burdened and anxious because a team member begins to suffer. You hear a story from a partner which burdens you, on a walk you come face to face with one on eternity’s door if help doesn’t come quickly, you share with those who have a limb disappearing and it is oozing flesh. Everywhere you look you see the darkness and the desperation of a people and you realize Oh my God if you don’t do something these people are going to die without knowing you and the freedom that you have for them.

You assume the burden of the people and you become heavy and tired, your strength wanes, your appetite falls, you can’t get rest and then you read the scriptures….

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you and you realize that this is His deal and not yours. He calls us to get involved, to get dirty, too suffer but He doesn’t call us to bear the burden for Him. He is not weak, He is not tired, He doesn’t need a break, the load is not too heavy for Him to carry.

Then you go on to read about how the devil is prowling around looking for prey and that he is going to strike you and yet you are to stand against him, resist his attach, for it will come and that you are to realize as you are getting prowled upon that God has equipped you with weapons to stand against Satan himself and to fight. He has also reminded you that you are not alone in this struggle, this fight, this war, but that there are many who are struggling and fighting. In fact, the scripture says to remember that your brothers THROUGHOUT the world are undergoing the same kind of suffering.

There it is, I am part of something bigger than myself. I am part of a war, battle, struggle, which has at its core a struggle but more aptly put, it IS suffering. We are called to suffering.

If you don’t want this then I suggest you find another faith because the Christian faith requires this. WE are engaged in this and it is something that is to be avoided, it is something that we need to accept as part of the deal and to count ourselves blessed.

Why?

Because that is what happened to Jesus and why should we expect anything else or better. Do you think Jesus suffered so that we would not have too? Sure, he paid a price, he suffered the ultimate penalty for our sin, and he did this willingly. He gave up his body so that we could have life.

Yet within this, we all know what the cross means. We all know that we are called to take up our cross and follow him. We are called to lay down our lives, too lose it, so that in its loss we would find the life that God offers us.

There is though a suffering that we all like to avoid. That suffering which is because we are engaged with God in His mission and for that involvement there is a price to pay. I am reminded continually that the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and if it suffers violence then how are we to see it come? We are to engage and be violent; to enter into fight, to engage the evil, to fight, to overcome by the weapons granted to us, exercising the authority bestowed upon us by the one who overcame and gave us this ministry to the world, which incidentally includes everyone around you and is not just a place across the water or a border.

The scripture ends with a promise, that the God of all glory, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, AFTER you have SUFFERED a little while, will himself restore you and make you STRONG, FIRM and STEADFAST. To Him be the power forever and ever, amen. Sounds like my IHOP music which is still playing in my ears.

God has called us to join Him in mission, mission which involves each and every one of us in our place of residence and in places travelled too; and as we engage His mission, which coincidentally is not just a 10 day or 2 week short term experience but a lifetime, we will suffer, we are called to this, we are to embrace it and in fact welcome it. Suffering is a wonderful thing because it is something God ordains in order to make us STRONG, pure, steadfast, firm in our faith. WE need a strong faith, a vibrant one, one that recognizes the strength and ability of God. One that sees the lost and recognizes them as wonderful opportunities for God, and one that acts.

I end by inviting you to join me.

Join me in suffering because it is in suffering that we see Jesus. It is in suffering that we will know Him.

 

…I believe that heaven is coming down, Jesus will reign on the earth, and the two shall become one, forever united in the Son, and this is reality, You are coming to reign on the earth and the increase of your government will know no end.

Relevance

The passage of time; how quickly it goes especially when engaged in some activity that has relevance and yet the opposite can be also true, time can seem to crawl when engaged in the mundane. How to move from the mundane to the relevant is probably the question many of us should be asking, unless of course the mundane and an uneventful or productive life is what you are seeking after.

Why would anyone want to live an insignificant life? Isn’t significance something we all search for? If not, educate me on why.

If my premise of significance is true then paralleled with this is the desire for value; not only intrinsic value for us as human beings, unique individuals, but value in what we can offer to others. Here I may deviate from others but I believe that based upon who we are as individuals, we are that, humans, not animals as the humanists or evolutionists would have us to believe, but people from the very beginning created by a simple word of God, “let there be Life.”

Out of the dust of the ground did He form man and breathed into him, life happened.

This creative work of God is the foundation of all human existence, the creation of man for the delight of God. Companionship, Relationship. All things God desired for His newly created.

Then came sin. Destruction, judgment, with an end result of separation.

Modern day man finds himself in this place today.

Redemption, reconciliation, relationship words which describe the heart and passion of God for His creation thus the act of God to come down in the form of a created being, the man, Jesus.

Birth, life, death, resurrection of Jesus have made possible a way for us to return to our place with God in relationship.

Significance and relevance along with the value of life can only be truly discovered within the context of the purposes of God for us as people. Our value is found in Him and in His creative work within us, after all we are created in His image.

Understanding His investment can yield great dividends. It enables us to change our perspective, to take on a new paradigm for life. A life lived no longer for ourselves or based upon our wants or desires but one aimed at discovering more of Him and joining Him in His activity.

The search for significance and value can be discovered in God and His activity in the world, and the end result can and will be a changed life. A life which now takes on new meaning and hopefully new activity. Activity with purpose, activity aimed at mission.

Mission, something we should be engaged in as a lifestyle. After all, God’s work here on earth for all of time past, present and future is mission.

Amazed

I am continually amazed at how God works in people’s lives. Last week I had the opportunity of speaking to a group in Costa Mesa CA and after that I met with a host of other folks and at each juncture I was keenly aware that God was at work.

With the group, school age kids, God wanted to rally them to Him and the call that they heard was that God wanted to start a Revolution in their lives. Not based upon a political ideology but one based upon Spiritual transformation and an impartation. He wanted to intersect their lives in such a point that the course of their life was altered altogether. My prayer is that He will do that as each recognize His love and passion for them as unique individuals and in turn their response will be one of surrender.

I also had a chance to visit a couple of people who were very sick and are faced with some decisions that will affect their well being and longevity here on earth. What impressed me was that even in the face of their sickness, there was recognition that God was working and that the most important thing they could attend too was their health, their spiritual health. The reality that life is temporary and eternity is eternity was very real to them as well as the reality that eternity is shaped by actions and decisions made here on earth. Without Christ, eternity will literally be hell.

With each opportunity I have to speak and share about God, water, India and moving to Kansas, I come away with an appreciation and a greater awareness at how big God really is. The fact of the matter is He is huge and I(we) have really no idea how big He really is. The formation of creation is just a small facet of who He is and what He can accomplish with just a spoken word.

Just a spoken word is all we need from Him, because His words bring life and isn’t that what this whole thing is all about anyway? Life, and life more abundantly!

Until next time….keep the faith and revel in God being God and in His infinite love for You.

So What Happened?

If you are like me, you often wonder whatever happened especially if you didn’t stick around for the final result. Even if you did stick around, the end result may not have been what you anticipated.

I remember going to the Sun Bowl a long time ago, Texas was playing North Carolina and they were on the downswing while the football program at UNC was gaining new traction. I flew to El Paso from Los Angeles and met my parents at the airport as they drove down earlier that day from Santa Fe. The next day we drove to the stadium and here we were in the alumni section for UNC, my dad graduated there back in the 50’s, anyway it was a good game. My mom isn’t a huge football fan and many times I found myself explaining the game to her. By the 3^rd quarter she caught on and about that time UNC had built a lead. The 4^th quarter came and like most games the real game is played out in the last couple of minutes of regulation and sure enough that is what happened here. Before you knew it UNC lost the lead, there defense just ran out of gas and so Texas won.

This change of events, UNC squandering a lead due to a tired defense and Texas roaring back was much more than my mom could handle. She sat there on that cold December day looking deflated and verbalized what many in the alumni section were probably thinking “what just happened?”

Isn’t this the case in so many things?

I share all of this for no other reason than to share a football memory that includes my mom; an after all it’s her birthday so I thought I would recognize her in my own special way.

So whatever happened to my Christmas wish? Well, I didn’t receive a check for $25,000 like I hoped but I did get some donations which helped confirm the decision to go ahead and fund 21 new projects. Doing this brought our total of villages impacted this year with clean, safe drinking water to 54 which is 1 more than last year! By writing these checks our bank balance is very low, not on fumes but definitely an 1/8 of a tank but the reality is that we exist for no other purpose than to provide water so what use is the money in an account when it can be put to immediate use in India?

Think of it, I can keep this cash and earn 1% in interest or I can spend as much as possible so that hundreds of villagers in 21 different places won’t have to suffer from sickness or disease all because they don’t have water suitable for drinking. A no brainer in my mind.

What does 2009 hold for Wells for Life®?

Stick around and find out.

And don’t forget to send in your donation.

www.wellsforlife.org

All I want for Christmas is $25K

Don’t we all especially a couple of days before Christmas? Really, $25,000 is, was and I guess continues to be, my prayer. For me? Of course not, for Wells for Life®.

$25k is the cost to bring safe water to 15 rural villages in India. 15 villages made up of low caste laborers, agriculture workers, school children and those considered untouchable. These 15 villages represent 7500 men, women and children all of whom right now are suffering because they lack safe water in their village.

I received this proposal in November and after examining our financial situation again, (giving is down 52%) I thought there is no way I can fund these projects. Several weeks passed and then something stirred within me. I got in touch with my board and shared with them the need and explained our options and told them to pray. In the interim, this stirring stirred some more and a little voice said, “Why haven’t you asked me specifically for these villages and for this money?”

Some of you may be familiar with this voice and others may not. I attribute this voice to the whisper of God. This stirring brought boldness and so every day I have been praying that God would grant me the $25k so that I can bring water to 15 new places and thus positively change the course of 7500 people. While waiting for the check do you know what I am going to do? With the blessing and encouragement from my board, I am going to send a check to India and tell them to start drilling. After all, I have to visit in February and I want 15 new places to visit and gain the opportunity to tell all of these folks why I am doing this and who is responsible for bringing them water.

Is it me? No, it’s God. I am just the vessel, just an instrument doing His work and believing in faith that He is going to meet me along the path and supply the funds. Do I actually have the money in the bank for which the check can be cashed? In reserves and some may think I am foolish and some may say this isn’t faith because faith would do it even if there wasn’t money.

Regardless, it’s faith in my book when you do something crazy knowing that the security isn’t there and the action is in response to a prompting from God. That’s faith; doing what God said to go and do even if it looks crazy, dumb, short sided or not very professional.

Well I say, screw that. It’s high time we stopped looking at the obstacles and started looking at God and the opportunities. After all the Greek word ex nihilo implies out of nothing God can create; so I give Him my nothing and look forward to seeing His creation!

Will you join me?

 

Michael

www.wellsforlife.org

Water … by Jen Decker

I asked my friend Jennifer to give me an article for my Wells for Life newsletter and here it is, in its entirety. If you are coming into this entry from the newsletter then scroll down to the paragraph with the big N.

 

Each day I mindlessly flush my toilet, wash my hands, wash dishes, and take my shower all while thinking about other stuff.  Perhaps I think about my to-do list that day or a person I need to call or the blessings in my life.  I don’t HAVE to think about water…it is a constant…it is always there for the taking.  Can you imagine for 1 minute if you had to plan your day around water?  Instead of mindlessly going about your life…each moment is now consumed by thoughts like…

• Which nearby town has well?
  
• I need to get Water for cooking and washing for the next 3 days which means I need to walk 10 miles and I have no shoes and that spot on my foot really hurts.
  
• The baby is sick, its 100 degrees and I know she needs water and I can’t carry her all that way and carry enough water back. So I’ll just get water here in the canal.  Not knowing that this water is the very thing that is making her sick.
  

 

Water is life.  I’ve heard this phrase many times but I now know that sometimes water is death.  Death to a mother, who sacrifices her own well being by walking dangerous roads and paths to get water for her family, risking injury, attack or even rape.  Death to a village when the water supply is full of disease.  Death to the future of a child who has no access to education because his village lacks even have the infrastructure to provide water for its people. 

These aren’t just dark-skinned people in a far off land who worship strange gods, eat strange foods and dress differently.  These are moms and dads who want the best for their kids, just like us.  These are children who dream of being doctors, nurses and teachers.  These are call center workers who ride a bike into the city and work crazy hours talking to ungrateful Americans who can’t get their computer working, just so they can buy enough rice to feed their family.  In fact, given some time, we might find that we that we are more alike than we were different.

Now imagine that one day a crew arrives with the priest or pastor (our ministry partner) and they talk to your village leader about putting in a well at no cost to you.  The news spreads like wild fire.  Everyone is talking.  A few weeks later the crew is back and drilling the well getting it all ready.  People gather around and watch with wide smiles in eager anticipation.  That night as you are eating dinner on the dirt floor of your home your children ask questions about the well, how it works, and wonder if water will really come out of the ground.  You, as parents smile at one another cautiously embracing the hope that you can provide a better life for your children.   You finally get the news that the team will arrive to start the well on Tuesday sometime between 8 a.m. and Noon.  You begin planning this historical day in your village keeping in mind that your children will remember this day for the rest of their lives.

The day is almost here, you and the kids could hardly sleep and you lie awake in your one room hut wondering what it will be like.  Will they be white?  Will they be kind?  Will they be like the government who shows up, does their duty, and leaves?  Will they appreciate our town?  Will the children mind their manners?   You can’t lie there any longer so you arise before the sun and begin putting out the best outfits you have for the children, though without water you haven’t been able to wash them properly.  Your neighbors are also up; they too could not sleep due to the same excitement.  Slowly the whole village makes their way to the “main” road (which is not likely to be found on any map).  Never mind the fact that it is 7 a.m. and you were told that the team wouldn’t arrive until sometime between 8 a.m. and Noon, you want to be ready because it would be terrible for them to arrive and have no one there to welcome them.

It is now ten after noon, and you have waited all morning.  You have answered the “Are they here yet?” question from the children at least 50 times. Then you hear a car, and shortly after you see it approaching.  The men start beating their drums in celebration, the women prepare the spices for the blessing and the team is finally here.  They get out of their cars and they are excited to see you too.  They smile and greet each person with a wave and a kind touch or embrace.  Together you walk through the village towards the well.  There are drums, dancing and fireworks.  This is an amazing day.  They begin to pump, and finally gushing out of the spout is water.  Pure, clean water.  The children splash and you can’t stop smiling.  You present the each person with the best you have, a coconut and a straw for milk, and a scarf for each person.  Then the team shares a message of hope, salvation and love like you have never heard before.  They speak of a living God and you listen knowing that it is THIS LOVE that sent water to your village and that with hope like this anything is possible.

I think Jen captured nicely the impact our water projects have from the perspective of a village mom. Thanks Jen!