I’ve been partnering with Water Mission for 4 or 5 years now. Every time I’ve gone on a trip with this ministry, God has shown me something different.

Last month we took a trip to Haiti to visit with the people and implement a new water project. We went down there with our ears and eyes open, listening, watching, and trying to discern what it was that God wanted us to do while we were there. Whenever you go to any place that is drastically different from your own reality, it can be life changing. In fact, it can really mess with you. It’s during these times when I realize once again just how blessed we are in our country, but also how little faith it takes to live where we are in comparison what these people experience daily. When you see these people living in poverty, your first instinct is to feel bad for them. But if you are a God-fearing person, it’s powerful to understand just how great our God is and how great their faith in Him is as they daily rely on God for every meal and every single drop of water.

I once heard a story about a man who came to America from a third world country. His host family took him to the grocery store, thinking they were going to blow his mind. They assumed he would be so excited to go into the store and see everything that was readily available at anytime, but instead of being filled with joy, when this man walked in the store he started weeping. When his host family asked him what was wrong he responded, “You don’t have to have any faith here.”

When I heard that story and when I go to these places, faith comes alive to me. I realize that we really do have it pretty good in America—what are we going to do because of that?

On our recent trip to Haiti we spent one day out in the middle of nowhere in the place where we will be putting in one of our new water projects. As we sat there on the side of the street, having a good time getting to know the people there, we saw a small stream filtering out of the mountain. This stream ran across the road where cars were driving through it, people and all kinds of animals were walking through it, and people walked by to clean off their sandals in the water, but what was so eye-opening was that people would also come by and fill up their water buckets with it, bringing back this water to their houses so that they could drink from it, bathe with it, and clean with it. All I could think about what how unsafe that water was! It has so many things in it that we should never put inside our bodies.

But about 50-60 feet from that muddy stream was the place where the new water project will be going in. That puddle was the hub of that region—everyone in that area had to go through that puddle to get to wherever they were going. Soon they will be able to pass right by the clean water station, able to drink from that instead of the contaminated water. This water is going to change lives; it’s going to replenish thousands of people multiple times a day for years to come. Our need for water is a relentless one and this water station is a way for them to constantly be refilled and refreshed. I couldn’t help but think, I have to find more hubs just like that where people are in need so that we can care for them.

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” —Galatians 5:13

I don’t want to be the guy who just writes the check, or be part of a charity that just sends the money, I want to be boots on the ground. Being in the dirt makes it all real and tangible. It gives me such a great sense of what is actually going on in the world and gives me motivation to meet these needs. I’ve been blessed to have a crazy cool job, family, house to live in, country and state to be a part of, car to drive, water to drink, and food to eat. In a sense, I live in a bubble and it’s really easy to stay comfortable in that bubble your whole life. We can let ourselves get trapped in our bubble without ever seeing the real world. My little bubble is not the real world. We are made for more than this—what are we going to do about it?

—Adam Wainwright

Adam Wainwright is a regular contributor to The Increase, providing monthly articles and opinions.

Check out Adam’s Increase profile here: http://theincrease.com/author/adamwainwright/

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