Water

This time of year, water is an important part of the celebration of Carnival. The people of Riobamba have a city-wide water fight! If I walk along the sidewalk this week, I take the risk of being bombarded with water balloons, shot with a water gun, or having a bucket of water poured on me from a roof or balcony! As I drove down the main street yesterday, someone sprayed the side of the truck with water from a hose. I was glad my windows were up.

In Riobamba, we receive water from the street for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. On our roof is a large tank that fills up when the water comes in. (pictured) An electric pump delivers it to the house when we need water. When the power is off, as it often is, we have to turn a valve to allow the water to flow down by gravity. We have less pressure, but we have water.

The water from the street is not clean enough to drink. Every Thursday morning, a truck delivers 5-gallon jugs of purified water to our house. They take our empty bottles and replace them with full ones. We put the water in a dispenser on the counter. We have a water filter, but it hasn't been connected to the faucet, yet.

Water is essential to life. It is necessary for drinking, cleansing, food preparation, and more. I have been without water, electricity, phone, and internet. By far, the most essential of these is water!

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39 (ESV)

I'm glad I'm a part of the family of God

We attended the service at the mission church near our home this morning. This group of believers has been meeting for less than two years, and rents a storefront that once was a seafood restuarant.

The service was directed by Alex. Alex is our vet. Alex was not a believer when we met him. We have 3 dogs, a cat, 2 birds, and a rabbit. Through various pet illnesses and injuries, including the death of two huskies, we had many chances to talk with Alex about Jesus. In July 2004, in a Bible study in his home, Alex accepted Christ as his Savior. We call this Pet Evangelism. He is now the treasurer of this new church and is beginning a new outreach group in his town.

The man greeting people at the door was Juan. Juan owns our favorite pizzeria. We brought a volunteer prayerwalk team there to eat several years ago. After the pizza, they asked if they could pray for him and his family. This opened the door for my husband to begin studying the Bible with Juan and his wife Susy. After a few months, they became believers. Let's call this Pizzeria Evangelism. As I looked around the room, I saw our former next-door neighbors, who met Christ while we lived beside them. I am thankful that many of our friends have become members of the family of God.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13 (ESV)