lenten journey, day 21 — a prayer for the thirsty

Yesterday, after I posted my prayer for the Taimani Aimaq people, I had a nagging sense of incompleteness. I re-read the post and prayed over it and waited for God to show me what I had missed. What I eventually heard from him was this: “You have interceded for their spiritual thirst. But what about their physical thirst?”

In my sadness that the Taimani had been named the top unreached people group in all the world, I had completely missed the significance of this line: “There is limited access to clean water…”

Yesterday, my heart was truly broken because the Taimani Aimaq people have not experienced the life-changing presence of Christ. But I didn’t offer a single breath in prayer for their desperate need for the life-giving presence of clean water.

Here is what it means to be a Christian: yes, we should long to see every man, woman, and child lift high the name of Jesus…but we should also tend to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of God’s children in practical and compassionate ways.

The love Christ poured into us when he went to the cross is not meant to stay hidden away in our hearts and our holy huddles. It is meant to overflow into the empty, aching lives of those whom Jesus called “the least of these.” The kind of love he modeled for us on the cross was not theoretical, nor was it tidy. In death, Christ’s love was sacrificial, it was tangible, and it was messy. How can we think our own love should be anything less?

So, besides interceding in prayer (which is a powerful first step), what can I do about the physical thirst of the Taimani Aimaq people? Honestly, I don’t yet know. I haven’t identified any organizations that focus on clean water issues in Afghanistan. But I have taken some time to educate myself on the injustice of contaminated water worldwide:

• 20% of the world’s population does not have access to clean water. Here is what this means in practical terms: Over one billion people must drink water that contains animal waste, parasitic worms, and bacteria. The water they drink often resembles mud more than the clean, sparkling stuff we take for granted. Oh, and they sometimes have to walk for miles just to get a drink of this filth.
• 25,000 people die every day from water-borne diseases.
• Among children, contaminated water causes 80% of all diseases and claims the lives of five million kids per year.
• Right now, half the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering from water-borne diseases.
• 1.5 billion people are infected with parasitic worms from contaminated water.
• In China, India and Indonesia, twice as many people die from diarrhea than from AIDS.
• Contaminated water substantially hastens suffering and death among those infected with HIV, due to their compromised immune systems.
• Water-borne diseases are preventable.
• blood:water mission is an outstanding organization that provides clean water wells in Africa.

The world is crying out for water. Even though we do not see the faces of the thirsty or share their plight, will we—will I?—help give them a drink in Christ’s name?

Jesus, when you died, blood and water flowed from your side and mingled together. Cleansing blood and living water, all for us. Amazing. Lord, I long to share the beautiful news of a living water that forever satisfies the thirsty soul. But may I also long to bring a cup of clean drinking water to those who so desperately need it. You would do that. Yes, you definitely would do that. Make me more like you. Yes, and amen.

“Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’
He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’
Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’” — John 21:15

“They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.” — Psalm 107:5-6