What’s with the Water? by Jacki Scott
That brings me to water. We can only live three or four days without water. So, after air, water is the most important thing we need to live. The Bible has given us some foreshadowing about water in the future. For example, “…the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” (Revelation 16:12). Usually big events like this are gradual, over decades sometimes and not sudden, so we have time to adapt—if we are tuned in.
The Euphrates is not far from where I am. Recently I read reports of how it’s drying up, and farmers are moving since there’s no longer enough water to make a living. So, for me, this is not something in the distant future, but it’s already knocking on my door.
The fact that a huge river like the Euphrates is vanishing sends up a red flag, even if rivers drying up weren’t predicted in the Bible. I think we can pretty much agree that water issues are becoming a common concern worldwide. In the U.S. at present, over half of the country suffers from drought. A street vendor in Egypt could not afford the rise in the cost of bread to feed his children, so he set himself on fire. The rise in bread prices was due to droughts in the U.S. and Russia, the main global producers of wheat, which caused the price increase of wheat around the world. So already we’ve seen the repercussions of the lack of water, and we’ll be seeing more.
So, what can we do? In Jordan the last three years we’ve had the “Water Tank Project” for families who have no water or whose tanks are rusted or leaking. A new tank helps to ensure that a family has enough water for household use. This stops water leakage, and we can teach them to conserve water and use their gray water. (The tanks are only for water for household use; they do not serve for drinking water, which has to be bought in bottles.)
Here are some interesting facts about water in Jordan:
- Jordan has one of the lowest levels of water availability, making it the country with the second-least amount of water. Water is rationed to each house, coming in only one day a week, and soon it will come in only twice a month.
- Jordan is on schedule to exhaust underground fresh water as early as 2050, if not before.
- Jordan is facing continuous challenges due to the additional refugee population, leading to more than a 22% increase in water demand.
- Water per person in Jordan is 88% less than the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic meters annually.
- Jordan can expect up to a 60% decrease in rain and a one-to-four-degrees-Celsius increase in temperatures as a result of climate change.
- The cost of electricity used in water pumping has increased 220%.
- Jordan, one of the world’s driest countries, is losing water due to aging infrastructure. The amount of water lost nationwide every year could satisfy the basic needs of 2.6 million people.
Our water tank project is an investment in survival and a solution for Jordan’s thirsty. Here is Hezeron’s story:
She is 36 years old, a single mom, and she lives in a village with her four children. She received a water tank for her family, which is essential because the water is salty in this area. Before that, she had no water tank! The water truck charges her for 4,000 liters of water even though she only has a 2,000-liter tank!—Either she pays for 4,000 liters or she doesn’t get any water at all!
She needs another tank as she doesn’t have water for her goats. Her goats are her livelihood. To find water for the goats, Hezeron has to take her goats at least one kilometer out into the desert in hopes of finding a small amount of water. Sometimes there is no water at all there, and she has to walk them back again without water.
Although a water tank is relatively cheap, she can’t afford it. She works the fields picking vegetables from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., then she works cleaning houses, and doing any available jobs to support her children (just to buy them school uniforms and the basics). She has doubled her goat herd, because she is very industrious. She built a room for them with her own hands.
If Hezeron had a water tank she could save money, water her goats, and increase her business. Hezeron is one of hundreds of families with a similar story!
(Good news: Hezeron now has a water tank for the goats!)
“For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty.”— Isaiah 44:3 NKJV
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and that it has been insightful for you. Perhaps you need to invest in water storage where you are. Or if you feel led to help with a water tank in Jordan, donations can be received at my PayPal address here: jkiscott@gmail.com
Thank you so much! God bless you and keep you hydrated!!
1 Comments:
In Zechariah 14:4 we read that when the Lord will return, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." What do you think will be flowing from the mount in that newly created valley? In verse 8 we read, "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea (towards the west and the Palestinian territories which have very little water), and half of them toward the hinder sea (the Jordan River towards the east and Jordam itself): in summer and in winter shall it be." The Lord himself will solve the water problem of these poor peoples, many of whom may very well reject the Mark of the Beast and be anti-Antichrists who live on into the millenium.
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