Living WaterSample

Troubled waters

Jesus walks on water — John 6

When water is clean and calm, it can bring life and refreshment. But water in other contexts can kill. 

People in the ancient world looked with wariness upon the waters of the sea. Even the relatively small Sea of Galilee could change without warning from still waters into a churning tempest. 

That’s what happened when the disciples set out in John 6. Rough waters threatened to swamp their vessel, and a strong headwind kept them trapped (Matthew 14:24). When a shadowy figure appeared, walking toward them among the waves, the disciples were understandably terrified. 

The storm died down the minute Jesus climbed aboard (Mark 6:51) and the disciples realized they were in the presence of One with power to calm troubled waters: God in the flesh. 

When we see people overcome by life’s storms, Jesus calls us to embody His presence … to help them safely reach the shore. 

For many people worldwide today, the storms of life are still caused by troubled waters — even in places we don’t expect. In Honduras, for example, nearly one in 10 people don’t have access to clean water. 

Every day, Johanna Hernandez, 23, would walk 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from her small village in the Jamastran Valley of Honduras to get water for her family. Three times each day she’d fill a wheelbarrow with empty soda bottles and take her sons, David and Noe, to the contaminated river. Shivering, she’d wade into the cold, dark water while the boys played on the bank. 

Filling the bottles was tedious — and dangerous. Once, 5-year-old David was caught in the current and swept away until a big rock stopped him. “He almost drowned,” remembers Johanna. 

The dirty water affected children’s health, too. “We found it was contaminated with Hepatitis A and poisons,” says Dr. Zulema Lopez, whose clinic routinely sees children who are malnourished and suffering from diarrhea and cholera. Tragically, some damage — like cognitive impairment — can never be undone. 

But in 2017, World Vision coordinated efforts with the government, a generous U.S.-based company, and the people of Jamastran to install a well. The drillers hit water on the first try! Then 600 enthusiastic community members began four months of work, digging nearly 25 miles of trenches to lay pipe and bring water to their homes.