Water for Life...Saving Spiritual And Physical Lives In Asia

“Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

Last year my wife Jan took part in Gospel for Asia's Bridge Of Hope Marathon, in Brisbane, Australia.

She thoroughly enjoyed this, despite the toll it took on her sore, blistered feet!

Although this was her first time, the other two girls from our fellowship in the 'Keep Calm And Kiwi On' team had participated in this event before. 

The one drawback for teams going over from New Zealand to participate, was the large airfare and accommodation cost (around NZ$800pp).

And so, the girls pitched the idea that a similar event could take place in NZ. And with the help of our local church fellowship, 'The River: Walk For Water' was born.

Scenes of Kolkata - Hope Amid The Havoc

In 2002 my wife and I were blessed to travel through Kolkata while on a Mission Trip.

After seeing the poverty, smelling the horrible stench, and feeling claustrophobic with the overcrowding, I became angry and bitter towards God.

But rather than God changing Kolkata, He changed my heart instead...

Waiting...waiting...waiting

One of the most frustrating things we came across in our Missions trip to India was the time it took to move anywhere.
And if anything involved state or government officials, you could guarantee that would make it all that much worse, and the whole process would grind to a snail's pace. It was obvious that speed and efficiency was not their forte.

For example; there were six of us in the Mission party. We needed to cross the border from Bangladesh to India, near Brahambaria, on foot. Apart from a couple of men in an old blue truck, we were the only people making a crossing at that time.
There were 2 huts on the side of the dusty road in both countries, with two big barrier arms blocking the road and a no-mans land in between - much like you saw in those old Cold War spy movies (but without the barbed wire and machine guns!).
The Bangladesh side took about an hour to process the group - not bad, given the poor resources at their disposal.
But when we passed through the barrier into India, well, that's another story...

They would look over every page of our passports and visas, ask questions, then write the answers manually in a book. Then the book would be passed to another, who would copy details from that book into another book. This happened about four times. Then finally the last person would stamp the visa.

Three and a half hours later in the exhausting heat we finally left the border area and collapsed into the waiting vans.

After many ordeals like this one, I penned my frustrations...

The Charlatans of Chandpur

In 2002 during a missions trip to Bangladesh, I passed through a town named Chandpur.

Like all towns we visited in Bangladesh, our party was the biggest thing around, with everyone crowding around us to stare at the 'rich' white people.

The opportunity to peddle their wares inevitably arose, and you felt like their lives depended on it...