By Doug Bing, Washington Conference President
3% is not very much.
Yet 3% is the number given when talking about fresh water. 70% of the planet is covered in water, yet only 3% of that water is fresh water. Even more interesting is that of the 3% of fresh water available, nearly two thirds of it is in frozen glaciers and not available for use.
Here in the United States—like most developed countries—we don’t think much about water as we go to the faucet to get a drink. We don’t think much about it when we take a long shower or water our gardens or yards in the summertime. Water seems plentiful, especially for those who live in the PNW where we see more than our share of wet weather.
Yet 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water and 2.7 billion people find that water is very scarce for them at least one month of every year.
Those are sobering statistics that should make us all pause and maybe even conserve just a bit more water than before.
When reading these statistics, I was thinking about what Jesus said in John 7:37
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
While there are certainly concerns about the supply of literal water in our world that we can and should do something about it, there is also a short supply of Jesus in the world. There are so many in our own conference that are thirsty for something more out of life. They may not even know they need Jesus as they fill their lives with all sorts of things to try to fill the God-sized hole in their lives.
They go from one entertainment to the next and from one theory to the next in an attempt to find something to fill the thirst of their soul.
Christians comprise approximately 34% of the world’s population. There is much need for literal water and the living water of Jesus. That’s where we come in. We each have an opportunity to bring someone to the well filled with living water. We can also do something about the lack of living water that seems present in our world. Each of us can be involved in sharing Jesus. Let’s make a difference in our part of the world.