Zealous Love: Unclean Water

Today I am thankful for water.  Clean water.  Water for drinking. Water for cooking. Water for bathing.  Water for laundry.  Water accessible through the ease of a faucet.  I often take for granted one of life's simplest but most important blessings.  Over one billion people do not have access to safe drinking water, the most essential bodily requirement after air.  All of our bodily functions depend on water for healthy living, the digestive system, the urinary tract, the skin, the eyes.


There's more to the story, though, than unclean water.  Over 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation and hygiene.  So even if someone has access to clean water, inadequate sanitation and training in hygiene can contribute to the spread of disease throughout a family or community. "These three injustices --unclean water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene -- have unimaginable broad repercussions.  Every day nearly five thousand children die from water-related illnesses -- that means one child dies every twenty seconds." (p. 53)  Millions suffer from trachoma, a disease contracted by washing with contaminated water, which causes vision impairment.  Still countless others suffer are prohibited from living productive lives due to contamination related illnesses.  "Each year, more than 443 million school days are lost globally because of water related diseases, and untold billions are lost from the world economy." (p. 54)  


There are implications to consider that go beyond the here and now.  If you watched the John Piper video in my last post, you heard him explain that Christians, in the name of Christ, should care about all human suffering, especially the eternal suffering of souls.  The gospel should soften our hearts toward others' earthly suffering as we share our concern about their eternal suffering.  As Mike Yankoski explains,  "...allowing people to die because they lack clean, safe water compromises our testimony that Jesus is the Living Water.  Water is life, and in the truest sense, the opportunity to help bring life -- giving water to those in need is a vital expression of Jesus' command to love one another." (p. 63)

From "Now What?"

1.  Pray for the people in countries that are affected by unclean water, sanitation, and hygiene, for long-term solutions that provide sustainable water and glorify God.


2.  Cultivate thankfulness for the clean water, sanitation and hygiene we enjoy in our country.  Most Americans use between 50 and 150 gallons of water per day.  Most people in third world countries are limited to 2.5 gallons of water per day for everything...cooking, cleaning, drinking, and hygiene.  


3.  Support organizations that are doing water-based development, such as: (linked)

Lifewater International

Blood:Water Mission

Community Development Vozandes

Living Water International

World Vision

~information and quotes taken from Zealous Love:  A Practical Guide to Social Justice