Maji
“A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty; an optimist sees the glass as being half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.”
– G. Donald Gale
Maji means water in Swahili. I’ll never forget the first time I was in the Turkana desert and saw our rig strike water. I immediately thought of Psalms 107.
Psalms 107:35—“But the Lord can also turn deserts into lakes and scorched land into flowing streams.”
I asked the people witnessing the great event if they knew what kind of God they had. And then I told them that they had a God who could bring water to the desert.
Instantly, they started jumping up and down praising God.
It seemed like they jumped forever.
I wondered when the last time was that I jumped up and down because I had water. Maybe never. We forget the importance of having water. But people who don’t have water don’t forget.
Recently, I was with a group of students near Bungoma, Kenya. They had been the recipients of wells provided by CRF donors. They wrote a poem about the importance of clean water. We too often forget about how much water does for us. But when you have acquired it recently, it is still very
special. The poem was in Swahili, so the translation doesn’t rhyme or have the rhythm it had when they recited it. But I think you will get the point.
