Clean Water​

Water is a fundamental human need and connects profoundly with God's work. 

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748 million people lack even an improved water source within walking distance. ​​

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Millions of women and children spend several hours a day collecting water from distant, often contaminated sources.

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Hospital beds in developing countries are filled with people suffering from diseases caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene

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About 500,000 children die every year from water transmitted disease, caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation.
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With the provision of clean water people are enabled to imagine receiving the water of life
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In the Bible, water is a symbol for God’s generosity and blessing, for healing and liberation

God is praised as the good shepherd who leads one to quiet waters (Ps. 23:2)​

God sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous, just as God makes the sun rise on the evil
​and the good ones (Matt. 5:45)

When Hagar and her son Ishmael ran out of water in the desert, God opened her eyes to see
​the saving well (Gen. 21:15ff)

 When the people complained to Moses in the desert, because they had no water to drink, 
​Moses was told by God to strike the rock and water came out (Ex. 17:1ff)

God’s generosity is to be reflected in the relationships in human community

To offer water to one who is thirsty, even to the enemy, is a basic criterion of right relationships
(Gen. 24:15ff; Prov. 25:21; Matt. 25:42; Rom 12:20)

Only a villain or a fool will deprive the thirsty of drink (Isaiah 32:6; Job 22:7) 

​Having to pay for water is considered as a mark of oppression and unjust treatment (Num. 20:19; Lam. 5:4)

Water is a free gift from God to be shared without restriction on the community

The promise of salvation, is expressed in the invitation to everyone who thirsts to come
to the water and drink without having to pay for it (Isaiah 55:1)

Water is a symbol for the outpouring of God’s spirit and blessing (Isaiah 44:3) ​

To be thirsty for water is part of the human condition. It isthe bodily expression of the longing for the fullness of life.

In the dialogue with the Samaritan women Jesus points to the source that will quench
the thirst for life: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again; but those who drink
of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them
​a spring of water gushing up to eternal life” (John 4, 13f) 

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with thanks to Ecumenical Water Network