“The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

John 4:15

“He had the camels kneel down near the well outside the town; it was toward evening, the time the women go out to draw water.”

Genesis 24:11

The Bible tells several remarkable “well stories.”  In the latter one referenced above from Genesis, the servant of Abraham conceives a way to identify the future wife of Abram’s son Isaac. And, lo and behold, if Rebekah is not one of the women who came to fetch water at the appointed evening hour.  Presto … the promise to Abram and Sarai of “descendants as numerous as the stars” is off and running!   In the first Scripture reference above (a more familiar story from John), a Samaritan woman encounters Jesus who asks much the same thing - for a drink of water from a stranger. And, if John is correct, the woman becomes the Bible’s first evangelist, returning to her village to tell others she has met the Messiah.

In both cases, the water is incidental to the stories of God’s plan of salvation unfolding.  But water is by no means incidental to life, as we all know, and that is why I would like to invite you to join me on Saturday, May 21^st at 9 a.m. at Calvary in the parking lot for our third annual “Walk for Water” to support our May mission of the month partner, Compassion International.   Just as it still occurs today, millions of people (many, if not most of whom are women and young children) must walk and gather water from significant distances. Our walk, or stroll as it were, will be 1.4 miles – not quite the average estimated distance of 2.2 miles that aid workers around the world suggest that people have to walk to fetch water from various sources – rivers, lakes, puddles, where ever it can be found.

You can imagine, not all that water is clean, but it is nevertheless heavy to carry – so imagine hauling a bucket for 2.2 miles!

Compassion International involves itself with well drilling where it can be done efficiently and economically, and with small, efficient and economical water filtration systems (like the one on display this month in the Narthex). This system ensures the water gathered will be a water that sustains life, and not introduce illness.

We have been a mission partner for Compassion International and it’s Water of Life project for over 25 years. Our congregation’s support is always generous, and our Walk for Water is becoming an increasingly popular way to enter into this long standing partnership we have with Compassion.

Please join me on Saturday, May 21 at 9:00 a.m. in our church parking lot.  Our Church Life committee makes this a fun event and the funds we ask as a donation ($10/person or $25/family - all goes to Compassion - every last drop (er..penny) of it 😊

You can pay your registration fee to the church office, place in the Offering Basket or drop it off the day of the Walk.

Thank you for making Calvary’s "Walk for Water" a gift of water for others in the world.  Consider this our way of entering into one of God’s many “well stories” in a meaningful way.  At wells, God does some of His best work.

The Lord watch over as you enjoy our wonderfully warm spring weather!

Pastor Ken

-Martin Luther