This summer I had the opportunity to tell my story and the dream of the Congo Water Project at a number of Presbyterian Churches in central Indiana. The following is an excerpt of a sermon given on August 7th at Grace Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne. You can download the entire sermon with pictures (Download God Given Dreams).
The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph went after his brothers, and found them at Dothan. They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them, they conspired to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. Genesis 37:17-19.
During one of my early trips to the Congo, I was discussing my mission with a Congolese man. Today, this man is unknown to me, I can’t remember his face, and I can’t even remember the village or city where I was. But this unknown man said that I was like Joseph. It was not colorful shirts. It was not my charming looks. It was my dream to help the Congolese people.
This morning for a few minutes I would like to share some of my dreams of Congo with you. I dream of access to safe drinking water to poor rural Congolese. Officially, you will read that less than 50 percent of the Congolese have access to safe drinking water. But in reality, seven out of ten rural Congolese have access to safe drinking water. We will just say that 50 percent do not have access to safe drinking water. No matter which you slice it, millions of Congolese do not have access to safe drinking water. They are the “Other Half”.
Let’s define access to safe drinking water. Get up right now, pour yourself a glass of water and drink it. If you return to your chair in less than 30 minutes, walked less than a kilometer in safety and did not become ill, your water meets most of the definition for safe drinking water, as published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, in 2006.
Congo Helping Hands dreams to purify unsafe drinking water with bio-sand filters and with LifeStraw Family filters. We dream to bring water nearer to the poor by drilling water wells and building water cisterns. We dream to bring basic sanitation systems to the rural poor, too.
I so believe God have sent me to the Congo to help his people, the poor Congolese women and girls who walk miles to get water for their families. I believe God have sent me to the Congo to help his people, the poor baby girls and boys who drink dirty water and get sick. Our God wants us to bring safe and near water to the ‘Other Half’.
Please pray for me and others as we implement these water and sanitation projects. Pray that God opens our heart, eyes, and ears to the needs of millions of poor Congolese. Amen.
