“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:39-42
Back in the day, I heard a message by Pastor Ken Klaus that talked about this passage, and of the important appointment that the woman at the well was to have with Jesus. He spoke of the Samaritan woman not knowing that she even had an appointment with Jesus, but she did. How many appointments are there prepared for the thousands of children attending Christian schools in Haiti? How many different people will be at their well, early in the morning so they too can share the news of their Savior with the lost?
Chapter 4 in John grabs at my mind more than it did before I went to live in Haiti. The woman in the attached photo is walking with a pan on her head, probably with water or produce. The women living in areas of Haiti leave their houses early in the morning to go and draw water from the stream or if they are fortunate from a well; it is much cooler in the morning and when they return home with the water their family can bathe before their day. On many occasions when driving to schools in rural Haiti there were women walking along the side of the rocky road with white plastic buckets on their head with the water that their family would use for the day. I was really thankful for the white buckets as it was easier to see them in the morning darkness before dawn on the narrow road.
I also recall Pastor Luke Schnake tell about this event and added his surprise that in John 4:28 it reads “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town...” The woman left her bucket at the well and went to tell others about the appointment with Jesus. Many of the women in Haiti walk for hours to draw the day’s water and perhaps this Samaritan woman did as well, to leave the bucket must have meant that the meeting with Jesus was quite an appointment. Back to my initial question, how many appointments await the children in Trinity/HOPE feeding programs? How many appointments have been scheduled by our Triune God? Thank you for helping to prepare them for their appointment with another life that needs to hear the message of hope that only comes from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay