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.

Staggering Statistics

I recently read a book, AIDS Is Real and it's in our CHURCH by Jean Garland and Dr. Mike Blyth. (First published in 2003.) It is an excellent book, especially if you are working anyplace in Africa. I especially liked the true life stories and the cultural facts. It opened my eyes to a lot of things...

~ 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide and 29.4 million live in sub-Saharan Africa.
~ In 16 countries in Africa, more than 1 in 10 adults is living with HIV.
~ In seven countries in the south of Africa, one in five adults are living with HIV.
~ 13 million children worldwide are orphans due to AIDS.
~ 2/3 of all people living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa, although only 10% of the world's population lives there.
~ Many, if not most, African women living with HIV/AIDS were infected by their husbands.
~ 800,000 African children were newly infected in 2001.
3.5 million Africans were newly infected in 2002.
~ 9 out of ten people infected with HIV are unaware that they have it.
~ HIV test can read positive for the first three months the person is infected.
~ 80% - 90% HIV infections in Africa occur through sexual intercourse.
~ 10% of all HIV infections are passed on from mother to child.
~ You cannot know if a baby is HIV positive until 18 months after birth.
~ 5% - 10% HIV infections in Africa are from blood transfusions.
~ About 5% of HIV infections are from sharing needles, blades & other sharp objects.
~There are some cases of the HIV virus surviving in water for up to 2 weeks and up to 7 days in a dry, dusty climate.
~ Half the sex workers in Ghana are HIV positive.
~ Most people who are HIV positive in Africa are in the 20 - 40 year old age bracket.
~ Condoms are only 80% effective in preventing HIV.
~ AIDS is the leading cause of death in Africa.
~ In Sub-Saharan Africa, life expectancy has dropped from 62 years to 47 years because of HIV.
~ In Zambia, teacher deaths from AIDS is equal to half the total of new teachers trained annually in the country.
~ Ghana has a relatively low HIV rate, 1.5%. In the Upper West Region, it is 6%.
~ In the last 20 years, AIDS has killed ten times more people than all of the wars in Africa in the last 100 years.

These statistics show that, as Christians, we have a job to do. If we believe as John Wesley did, "The world is my parish", what are we doing to be Christ to those who desperately need Him? I have read that HIV has another meaning, one that is so very important to those who are HIV positive...

HIV...HOPE IS VITAL!