“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:40, ESV)
Early this week I got back from a trip to Zambia with Golf Fore Africa. For those of you not familiar with Golf Fore Africa, it is a non-profit organization run by Hall of Famer and sister in Christ, Betsy King. It focuses on bringing clean water to rural communities in Zambia and other African countries. To date, they have built, with the help of World Vision, nearly 300 wells that run at $15,000 for a hand pump system and $50,000 for a mechanized system. For $15,000, a community of 300 people gets access to clean water for life; that’s $50 for one person to have clean water for life. The mechanized systems serve large communities or schools of 1,000 people in size.
We spent time visiting communities and schools without clean water and then seeing communities and schools with clean water. Time and time again, my system was shocked at the various communities that don’t have access to clean water. The number one killer in the developing world for children under five is not having access to clean water. Next to air, water is the most essential need; you can’t survive without it.
They welcomed us with songs of joy and dancing about water and Jesus.Without wells, women and children spend up to eight hours a day walking to and from outlying sources to get water that is not even clean. Placing a hand pump well or mechanized system in the village, depending on the size of the community, is truly life-giving. No longer do the women and children have to risk their lives to get water or children miss school because of water borne diseases. Children can now stay in school and young, adolescent females don’t have to fear the changes taking place in their body because they will be able to shower and clean themselves with clean water.
Clean water changes everything. Think of how often you use it—to drink, brush your teeth, do laundry, shower, cook, wash your hands, etc. Now tell me how far you walk to get that water? I doubt more than a few steps. It hardly eats into time in your day. I encourage you to give thanks to God for this precious gift, daily, and pray for those who do not yet have it!
This past spring, our Florida Atlantic University Women’s Golf Team took time to raise funds for a hand pump system. On this trip, I was able to meet the people of the Shinjela village and take part in the dedication of the well. They welcomed us with songs of joy and dancing about water and Jesus. They were extremely grateful and only encouraged us to continue helping neighboring communities.
Knowing that one in 10 people don’t have access to clean water is heartbreaking. It is an essential need to life and while we know that from Jesus flows the wellsprings of eternal life, physical water is of importance, too. If you have the means, please consider donating to help end the global water crises. The work that World Vision and Golf Fore Africa is doing is exceptional. Every good and perfect gift is from above. May many more Zambians have the gift of clean water.
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Aimee Neff
December 19, 2019
Copyright 2019 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.
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