Blessed Are the Children

I am amazed at the ways the need for clean water unites people from widely different backgrounds. I have yet to find anyone who is against clean water for all of God’s children, the mission statement of Living Waters for the World, a project of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Our local church, First Presbyterian, Temple, Texas, has covenanted with the tiny community of Las Lajas, Nicaragua, to help them install a water purification system early next year. We are raising money for that project now.

This particular mission project has caught fire in our congregation like no other in my time at this church. Our choir director’s wife was especially excited. She teaches at a local elementary school and invited us to come and talk to the students about our partnership with Las Lajas. The students were involved in a weeks-long study of the ways human beings affect their environment. Our Pastor’s wife and I spent a wonderful hour with these kids talking about why clean water matters, and our hopes for the people of Las Lajas.

Last night at choir practice, I received a pile of thank you notes from the students that surprised and delighted me.  They had been surprised to learn there are people who lack clean water and sometimes must walk long distances to obtain any water. They were saddened to learn about children who die from drinking contaminated water. These students too have been fired by the vision of clean water for students like themselves in far away Las Lajas, Nicaragua. In spite of their own poverty by this country’s standards, they decided to do something. They began making rubber band bracelets to sell to raise money for our water project. So far they have raised $33, an offering God will use to provide water for the students of Las Lajas. Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Grace and Peace,

Donna