parasitic water and toothless smiles

Last night I got back from Mexico.

I went with a bud of mine named Josh. Josh is on staff at the same church I work at and oversees the middle school ministry. Josh will be bringing a group of soon-to-be-ninth-graders there this summer. Yikes. Please pray for him.

We went there and scoped things out. Since I have spent some time in Latin America, I also went with to make sure Josh was not left to be feasted on by the Chupacabra. I also had the opportunity to visit some missionaries that our church supports and to see the ministry they are a part of. It is called Esperanza Viva, it is located in Puebla, Mexico and it is quite amazing.

Puebla is about a two hour bus ride away from Mexico City and is surrounded by mountains, there is even an active volcano right close by... the journey there is amazing as long as you can avoid whatever movie is contaminating the environment. We were treated to "peaceful warrior" ... Kind of like the karate kid meets gymnastics.. which starred Nick Nolte as Mr. Miagi.

While Puebla is very beautiful... there is one underlying piece of it that complicates things... nobody drinks the water in Puebla. Not even the Chupacabra. Seriously... nobody can drink the water in Puebla. It is far too contaminated. It is not a matter of adjusting to be able to drink the water... Nobody drinks the water in Puebla.

In Puebla, bottled water is more expensive than Coca cola. When this is the case you can start to see how people are changed because of their surroundings. Given enough Coke and enough time your teeth will rot out of your mouth.

Did you know that you can use a Coke soaked cloth in order to loosen a rusty bolt?

It's also good for cleaning toilets.

So.. we've got a bunch of people pouring a tasty and wretched concoction into their mouths instead of something pure, clean, and rejuvenating. This troubles me.

I know I don't drink enough water. I have access to it, and maybe after writing this, I'll start drinking it more often.. but I am free to partake in something that is a basic human need, and although I have access to it, I don't really care about it, or think about it often, or drink it with the thanks that I should. I can get it for free and it is all around me, so why should I care?

When we remember what it is like to be without water... we begin to appreciate it.

After we have been out in the sun and our mouths are dried out... we care.

When we visit a mission and are allotted our 5 gallons to bathe with for the day... we care

when we are dehydrated from vomiting all day and slowly going insane in our concrete prison of a hostel, as we desperately search for just one little drop of water from the bone dry bottles on the floor... we care.. and we are willing to do nearly anything to get the water we need. We flip into survival mode... and we run out into the night looking for water. (some of you know it as the "both ends" story)

Most people reading this are in the same situation that I am right now. We have water and we often take it for granted. I am actually getting thirsty as I write this, so i am going to get some water right now.

refreshing.

I see some serious crossover with this concept though. I think we can take many things fro granted if we forget what it is like to be without them. This has spiritual implications as well. Maybe this is part of why it is so important for us to share our faith with others and invite them into the salvation that Christ offers. Not only is that something that is life giving for others, but it can remind us of what it is like to be "thirsty".

Now, I am not talking about "making christians" I am talking about living out what we believe. When we operate in the identity of Sons and Daughters of God we drink deep from the salvation that has been given to us. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control... these things are life giving and when we live these out we are sharing our faith.

We are given a choice in all of this. We can drink deep from the life giving water and share this with others.. or we can allow the acidic sweetness to stain our teeth and destroy our bodies.

We need to be intentional.

We need to remember what it means to be "thirsty", to be separated from God... and we need to live out our salvation by bringing water to those who thirst. In doing this we are reminded of what it means to thirst and we will desire to drink deep.