You know how the familiar camp song goes. You may even have seen the light and warmth of its metaphor at work in your own life. Here’s how I’ve witnessed it in Guatemala:
Having already bought-in to the Living Waters for the World (LWW) vision, “to train and equip mission teams to share the gift of clean, sustainable water with communities in need” and completed LWW’s five-day education component (Clean Water U), our team of three spent a week in October, 2007, visiting communities in northeast Guatemala, in search of a partner for our first covenant and system installation. Water samples were collected, and surveys to determine water-related health issues were distributed in six different locations. Each place we visited was in need of a more healthful source of water for food preparation, cooking, and personal hygiene. Our task was to choose one, and to negotiate a covenant with community leaders that spelled out responsibilities and a schedule for site-preparation, material acquisition, human resources, installation, education, and operation/maintenance training.
We settled on Guastatoya, capitol city of El Progresso, a rural town of about 7,000 people. The host organization would be Iglesia Presbiteriana El Dios Vivo, an eager, well-established, and connected Presbyterian congregation. This was not the location with the greatest need. Other more remote towns had less access to clean water. We chose Guastatoya because we envisioned it as a hub from which systems for other nearby towns could radiate, and because it held the greatest potential for success and sustainability—important to us as well as to our Guatemalan brothers and sisters.
We negotiated all the terms of a covenant, each partner accepting varied responsibilities for particular components in the program—everything from supply procurement and building preparation to government regulations and various expenses. Then we celebrated, spending the next day and a half eating and playing together, enjoying warm hospitality and building trustful relationships. By the time we parted ways, each with a schedule and list of tasks to accomplish, we all had new-found family members and a commitment to a “reunion with a purpose”, six months down the road. The spark was glowing.
The next six months kept us busy in preparation for our installation/education trip. We raised congregational and community awareness, recruited additional team members, and secured funding to meet our portion of the covenant. In April, 2008, seven members of a combined Rotary/First Presbyterian team from Fayetteville, TN—fully loaded with filtration system components, high hopes, and overflowing prayers—flew to Guatemala to fan the spark.
Our Guastatoyan partners had been engaged in reciprocal tasks and preparations. Together, inspired and guided by the support of our respective congregations, we were able “to accomplish far more than we could ask or imagine.” Aside from a 36 hour-long water bottle drama and a power outage, silk worms could not have laid a smoother path. Before week’s end, clean water was flowing for another community of God’s children.
Fast-forward to April, 2009. A year had passed, along with numerous translated e-mails, and plans were underway for a first-anniversary check-up on the water system’s operation/operators and its parallel health/hygiene education program. Since our April, 2008 installation, systems had also been installed and were operating in two other spoke locations. One of those installations was undertaken by friends (and relatives) of ours from First Presbyterian in nearby Shelbyville, TN. During their first installation trip, the Shelbyville team also negotiated a covenant for a second installation at Berea Church, San Jose.
Beyond the Guastatoya check-up, we also negotiated a covenant with another spoke-location, and included team members from another of our sister churches, First Presbyterian, Pulaski, TN. Within an hour’s drive of Guastatoya, in the state of Zacapa, lies the small town of El Jute, home to Templo Evangelico Presbiteriano “Getsemani.” Preparations for the April 2009 trip included contact with Getsemani’s pastor, confirming 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 for their system. Prayerful and thorough negotiations were again completed, fanning the flames even higher.
In November, 2009, a team from First Presbyterian of Shelbyville, TN, and a Pulaski-Fayetteville, TN, team will both travel to Guatemala on consecutive weeks for installation/education trips to Berea, San Jose and Getsemani, El Jute, respectively. Through Living Waters for the World we are weaving a missional connection that links PC(USA) congregations and towns, Guatemalan churches and communities, and brings us all together in a web of hands-on empowerment that spreads the gospel one bottle of clean water at a time. Pass it on! http://www.livingwatersfortheworld.org
© 2009 Todd Jenkins
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