Water Filters and Storytelling

Because of your help many much-needed water filters are being provided to families in Burundi. This is a tool being used by church planters to not only provide a way to give clean water to people, but also entry into the lives of people. Recently I heard a story of one family impacted in such a huge way, by such a simple act of care and love.

Before going out, the disiciple who has a water filter to give away prays asking the Holy Spirit to lead him and show him the person of peace in the region he is entering. So, one such church planter went out. He found an old man who had some wealth. He had a house, cows, goats and chickens, and, of course, a family. The man welcomed the disciple into his home and was very, very happy to receive him and also to receive the gift of the water filter. After some time, the old man who had heard the gospel before but many years earlier had become very disillusioned with the god he was taught about. Because of the gift of love and because of the way of doing simple church within his own home with his family, this old man became very excited about God and how much God had reached out to prove His love to him.

However, on his own, this man discovered through the Discovery Bible Study with the group, that there was a problem. “The problem is now I have two wives.” Rapidly transformations were happening in this man’s life. He no longer cared about going to the bar every night. Now, he was staying home and helping his children with their homework at night. But now he had discovered he had a big problem.

The church planter advised the old man, “Ask God to help you. Just pray. Talk to God. Ask Him what to do with this problem.” So, the old man prayed. The second wife also had two children with this old man. After sometime on her own, shockingly the wife went to the old man and told him, “I am leaving you.” He wanted to give her a house and a cow, but the lady told him, “No, I have decided to go and don’t want anything. You keep them.”

The story doesn’t end there…it continues…

This old man started a church in his home. Simon, the original church planter, discipled him and from that one house church the people started reaching out. Within three months they reached 38 new believers, who they then baptized. One of those new believers was the son of the old man. The son had such a desire to share what God had done in his life that he went very far from his home up to the area of the pygmy tribes. Because the water filter had helped his family so much, he thought, “Maybe I can learn to make a filter like that one and take it there.” So, he went there and started with telling the story of the woman with the 12 years of bleeding who was healed by Jesus. There was a woman among the pygmy’s who told the son, “I need prayer for such a healing.” When the son prayed for her, she “jumped up and there was a demon that started speaking things.” That woman was healed. He said, “I believe the story in Matthew 17 where I am told those who follow Him will do even greater things.”

Even though this man had only been baptized for ONE week, this is what God is doing through one willing to go and share God’s love with their neighbor…near or far.