Water Filter Distribution...A Story Not Quite Finished!

 

Once upon a time, in September 2012, a missionary spoke at a church in western Pennsylvania. The missionary was nervous, as this was her home church and people have heard her speak before. Will the message she had this day be heard?

 

 

The message was spoken. Prayers were prayed. Then, a time for questions. A man, I'll call him Russ, seemed to be really touched and concerned for the lack of clean drinking water in the village in which the missionary would be working. So, Russ took it upon himself to raise funds for 25 water filters. He spoke to his Sunday School class. They were in Unity. Yes, they would support the project! Next, Russ went to the entire church. Would people be willing to provide water filters for people half way across the world? They were in one accord - Concord! (Please pardon my puns!) Not only did Russ raise the money for 25 water filters, he raised enough money for 150 water filters! All in a matter of three weeks!

 

Fast forward to February/March 2013. The water filters were purchased. A date in June 2013 was set to deliver the filters to communities in Kasalgri, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Next, the missionary began to meet with the chief of the village. The local Methodist church was revived. And, now it was time to figure out which communities would receive the filters and how many would be given to each community. How will they be distributed? The missionary, the pastor, and a Ghanaian friend visited with the chief. He called the sub chiefs together. A task was given to them...how many family units were in their community? It was decided to go by the head of the household for now...by the husband. But, how will the sub chiefs count? They didn't know how. So, it was decided that a list of all the heads of the households would be made, with the number of wives listed next to the husbands name. Someone in each sub village, who could write, was found. The lists were made. They were "fixed" so the number of people to receive filters did not exceed 150. The distribution day was quickly approaching...excitement was brewing.

 

Finally, the day arrived - the filters were at my house. But, wait, there were only 100! Due to circumstances beyond the missionary's control, the filters needed to be delivered in two parts. That worked out fine. The lists were re-worked. Only two communities, instead of three, would receive filters the next day. The others would be delivered at a later date.
 

 

The missionary and friend drove their motos to the villages while the pastor went with the driver of the truck that carried the filters. The chief's community was first. How fun! What a blessing! The Word of God was preached, lessons on filter use and cleaning were given and filters were distributed.

 

Next, a new community. Since we did this once, putting all the needed pieces together was much easier and a LOT faster! At this community, along with the preaching, a prayer focused on asking God for rain was prayed. There were plenty of Traditional believers there. The filter "lessons" were given and the filters distributed. All went home happy and feeling quite blessed.

 

 

That night, it rained. Oh! An old, blind man was heard to say, "I now believe in the God of the pastor. For, the pastor prayed for rain, and his God answered!" Many people of his community felt he same way.

 

The missionary continues to pray that God will continue to water and grow the spiritual seeds planted during this water filter distribution. For, it is because of Him that we live and breath and have our being.