“That was fun. Let’s do it again.” I cannot tell you how many times I have heard these two statements in my life. I remember them most often with my children—when we were enjoying ourselves with some game or activity. Once is never enough when it’s something good. So it goes with Living Waters for the World, as joy at the depths of the human soul supplants “fun.”
One installation and one relationship are not enough. After we completed our check-up and renewed our friendships at Iglesia Presbiteriana El Dios Vivo in Guastatoya, we set out to repeat the process. Twenty-five or so miles from our first installation, in the state of Zacapa, lies the small town of El Jute. In this town there is a Presbyterian Church: Templo Evangelico Presbiteriano “Getsemani.” This congregation had been a part of our initial survey in October, 2007. Getsemani was one of six congregations where we had taken water samples and left a copy of the Water Issues Survey for completion.
Prior to our 2009 trip, we reviewed the completed Water Issues Survey and made contact with Getsemani’s pastor to confirm their congregation’s desire to form a partnership and install a water filtration system. Pastor Romaldo and members of his Consistory (Session) were waiting for us with open arms. They had done their homework—having visited several nearby LWW installations, and given some creative thought to a suitable location on their own property.
We spent the first afternoon getting to know one another—finding out about families, vocations, and other personal information—as well as explaining the workings of both the system and the covenant partnership of the Living Waters for the World program. Both locations they suggested were suitable. One would use an existing classroom at the back of the building, and the other would have required a three-wall and roof addition to the front of the existing building. We departed the first night, leaving them to decide: [a] use the existing classroom at the back of the building, and require filled water bottles to be carried all the way through the building, or; [b] build an additional room onto the front of the building and have a convenient distribution point near the street.
© 2009 Todd Jenkins
One installation and one relationship are not enough. After we completed our check-up and renewed our friendships at Iglesia Presbiteriana El Dios Vivo in Guastatoya, we set out to repeat the process. Twenty-five or so miles from our first installation, in the state of Zacapa, lies the small town of El Jute. In this town there is a Presbyterian Church: Templo Evangelico Presbiteriano “Getsemani.” This congregation had been a part of our initial survey in October, 2007. Getsemani was one of six congregations where we had taken water samples and left a copy of the Water Issues Survey for completion.
Prior to our 2009 trip, we reviewed the completed Water Issues Survey and made contact with Getsemani’s pastor to confirm their congregation’s desire to form a partnership and install a water filtration system. Pastor Romaldo and members of his Consistory (Session) were waiting for us with open arms. They had done their homework—having visited several nearby LWW installations, and given some creative thought to a suitable location on their own property.
We spent the first afternoon getting to know one another—finding out about families, vocations, and other personal information—as well as explaining the workings of both the system and the covenant partnership of the Living Waters for the World program. Both locations they suggested were suitable. One would use an existing classroom at the back of the building, and the other would have required a three-wall and roof addition to the front of the existing building. We departed the first night, leaving them to decide: [a] use the existing classroom at the back of the building, and require filled water bottles to be carried all the way through the building, or; [b] build an additional room onto the front of the building and have a convenient distribution point near the street.
© 2009 Todd Jenkins
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