Living Water

EL SALVADOR – Los Vertientes

Safety. It is a cherished part of our American culture. We want to live in the safest neighborhoods, drive the safest cars, put our kids in the safest schools, and stay away from “unsafe” parts of town. As a mother of two small children, I am constantly thinking about their safety. I want to protect their bodies, their minds, and their hearts as much as I possibly can.

For several years, my husband and I talked about going on a trip with Living Water International. As we started to plan for a trip to El Salvador, my fears began to surface. Would we be safe in this unfamiliar place? Would our children be safe while we were gone? What if something tragically happened to us? What would happen to our children if they lost their parents?

I began to pray for wisdom and reassurance about my fears. I absolutely wanted to go to El Salvador, but my fear was overwhelming me and threatening to hold me back. Early one Sunday morning, however, I found my answer in a passage from the Bible:

“Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. Do not say to your neighbor, ‘Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it’ —when you have it with you.” (Proverbs 3:25-28)

In that moment, God spoke clearly to me about my fear. I needed to go to El Salvador.

We went to drill a well in the schoolyard of a village called Los Vertientes. The village was in desperate need of a clean, safe water source. Just a few weeks prior to our arrival, a two-year-old boy named Christopher Perez drowned in a river near his home. My own little girl was the same age as Christopher, and I couldn’t imagine the pain his mother was experiencing.

For four challenging days, we struggled to get water for the kids in Los Vertientes. I missed my children, but I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Christopher’s death reminded me about the concerns I had for my own children’s safety. Here, parents seemed more concerned about whether or not their children would survive.

We finally hit water on the fourth day. Christopher’s mother, Marlene, fought back tears as she pumped clean water from the well dedicated to her son. The water in the river had taken her child; the water from the well would give other children life.

Even though I struggled with my own issues of being separated from my children to go to El Salvador, I now see the world through a different lens. On this trip, I was able to be a small part of bringing comfort to a grieving mother. I was able to help provide the children of an entire school with clean drinking water. In the small village of Los Vertientes, I experienced a world much bigger than mine—a world where, often, survival trumps safety.
 
 
Christopher’s well, Marlene Perez, and the people of Los Vertienes were featured in a recent edition of Pipeline. Read it here.