Living Water

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life’” (John 4:13-14).

Before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. Everyone had needs. The country was bypassed on the news, another third-world far away from the daily grinds of Americans.

After the January 12, 2010 earthquake, the country changed dramatically. The average life expectancy changed in one day from so much death. Tent cities arrived. Other towns around Port-au-Prince doubled in size overnight from those who had nothing to come home to. People were more verbal than ever about what they needed.

Most of Haiti still looks the same as January 12, 2010. In Port-au-Prince, some of the rubble is left in the roads. No one is getting paid to move it, so drivers learn to take different routes to avoid the buildings in the middle of the road. Tent cities still exist, although now, without deeds and offices to zone, squatting and claiming makes the tent cities volatile. Most didn’t return to Port-au-Prince. There wasn’t much to return to, so those cities who took in extra residents struggle to continue to provide basic utilities for it’s long-time residents and the new population. People still can see the lingering affects of people being verbal about what they need. Take for example, this house seen on a major highway outside St. Marc. The spray paint reads, “Nou bezwen dlo,” which in Haitian Creole means, “We need water.” The earthquake left a visible impact on Haitians.

Jesus has a knack for leaving a visible, long-lasting effect on people. However, his eternal legacy restores, not destroys. Meeting the Samaritan woman and asking for a drink of water, he gives the woman a refreshing do-over. Her actions after speaking with Jesus concludes what our response should be as well. “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’” (John 4:28-29, italics mine.)

The woman at the well heard Jesus’ call for eternal life. Then she left her jar, and invited others to come. Do you see an invisible sign on someone’s house telling you of their need? Does a friend need an invitation from you to “come?” Will you leave your water jug to help another find the living water?

By Mollie