A Message From the GA Moderator

Living Waters for the World is about 200 half-glasses of Kool-Aid lined up on the counter in our lunch program in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. When I was a kid growing up in York, Pennsylvania, we never thought about whether we could drink the water. I don’t remember spending much time worrying about getting sick, either. But in a city like Nogales, and in communities like it inhabited by the vast majority of the world’s population, no one can take a simple glass of Kool-Aid for granted.

The Synod of the Living Waters has put together what seems to me to be the quintessential model for mission in our time. Clean water, and the basic standard of health that comes with it, are something that absolutely all of us can agree is a high priority. The relationships that are built as churches and presbyteries partner in the U.S. and in the developing world are the heart of the evangelistic enterprise, and it is a kind of evangelism that offers something for everyone.

Individuals and communities in poverty are transformed as they receive a clear message about the salvation that comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Simultaneously, we in the North American Church of privilege are transformed as we find the living Christ among the church of the poor.

And in the meantime, there is clean water. There are 200 half-glasses of Kool-Aid lined up at the kids’ lunch program at the House of Mercy in Nogales, Sonora, and that water is purified through the system installed by Living Waters for the World.

If your church isn’t yet involved in this marvelous opportunity for mission, please do something about that. Begin by committing to attend one of the hands-on courses offered at Clean Water U, Living Waters for the World’s training facility. Put this project forward in your congregation as a hands-on opportunity to do a new kind of mission.

Jesus calls us to go out into the world and to spread the Good News of who God has been in our lives. I can’t think of a better place to begin than Living Waters for the World.

Mission that means something! Go for it.

Rick Ufford-Chase,
Mission Co-Worker, U.S./Mexico border
Moderator, 216th General Assembly, PC(USA)

2005 Giving Sunday Offering Set for
February 13 — New Grant Program for
Presbyteries and Churches Announced

Living Waters for the World Giving Sunday, the annual offering taken within the synod from which LWW derives the majority of its support, is set for February 13, 2005. The organization has overseen the installation of a record 11 water purification systems in Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala and Honduras this year, as well as home-based units in Viking Mountain, Tennessee. This significant increase in systems is largely due to the success of Clean Water U, the organization’s hand-on training facility which began operation this past March. The Giving Sunday offering has provided the financial support that has made this growth possible.

Due to the significant increase in the number of clean water teams being assembled at presbytery and local church levels, the Living Waters for the World committee has voted to reserve a portion of offering funds taken in 2005 and beyond and use the funds to directly support the financial needs incurred by these teams. A presbytery with active water teams may request a grant of up to 25% of 2005 Giving Sunday offering proceeds received from that presbytery for use in support of their clean water teams. Likewise, a local church with an active water team may request a grant of up to 25% of 2005 Giving Sunday offering proceeds received from that church. The funds may be used to offset travel, equipment or other related expenses. An active water team is defined for this purpose to mean a group assembled to bring clean water to a mission partner, via Living Waters for the World, within two years of the date of application for the funds. It is the committee’s hope that this distribution of offering proceeds will further stimulate the desire and ability of Presbyterians through SLW to bring clean water to the world.

In order for the offering grant program to be successful and ongoing, the support of all churches in the synod is needed. Please make plans to receive the Living Waters for the World Giving Sunday offering at your church on February 13, 2005. For more information, please contact Emily Dunbar at 615–261–4008.