Just One Drop

In Rwanda and elsewhere in the Third World, children die for lack of clean water. On Pentecost Sunday, this text reminds us that living water is a metaphor for the reviving, transformative power of the Holy Spirit.

The water looked clean, but the children kept getting sicker and sicker.

No one knew what to do.

"One time, I had four children all in the hospital at once," says a pastor named Justin in the African nation of Rwanda. He didn't understand about germs and disease transmission in the local water.

Then Larry and Carolyn McBride showed up on a mission trip from Saddleback Church in California. After seeing children carry dirty river water over long distances, they returned home with a deep desire to do something for thirsty African children.

The McBrides gathered friends for prayer and planning. They began to craft clean-water systems for Rwandan hospitals, clinics, orphanages and pastors' homes. Their project, called the Clean Water Initiative, also created teams to equip hundreds of Rwandan church volunteers to improve health and sanitation in 116 communities.

The Clean Water Initiative provided a water filter for Pastor Justin's home and funded a well in the community. "We have people...