"She left her water jar."
For a number of years our church has had an ongoing friendship and ministry with a small impoverished village in Honduras. Since I speak Spanish I usually do the women's and children's ministry. After learning a number of Bible stories to tell from memory in Salt & Light it has been fun to share those in Spanish with our friends in Cebú.
You know the story of the Samaritan Woman who met Jesus at the well that is found in John 4. A few years ago, a team from our church installed a pure water system for the village of Cebú, Honduras. It is near San Pedro Sula. Only about 200 people live there. The children are much healthier, as are the adults, since their bacteria infested water is now truly drinkable and not toxic for cooking, washing, etc. Most of us when we read or listen to the story of Jesus talking to the woman who came to draw water from the well focus on the Living Water Jesus offered her. Or, maybe, on the fact that he told her about her five husbands. To us, the small fact that she was so amazed by the Messiah that she left her one and only jar to go tell everyone in her village about Jesus, misses us. When we share a Bible story from the Salt & Light meetings, we usually ask, "What stands out to you in this story"? When I asked that of our friends in Honduras, without a seconds hesitation, someone replied, "She left her water jar!". Who would do that? It is her most priceless possession. And for the residents of Cebú, clean water, carried in a 5 gallon bottle, is just as precious.
"God’s word is alive and working. It is sharper than a sword sharpened on both sides. It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined. It cuts to the center of our joints and our bones. And God’s word judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts." Hebrews 4:12 (The International Children's Bible).
When you share a Bible story from memory, you never know what the listener hears.
