Streams of Living Water
Updated: Oct 29, 2023
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
- Isaiah 43:19
On Tuesday, we went to visit our friends in La Guajira. It is so beautiful here, but a different kind of beauty. Instead of balloon garlands and eucalyptus and rose wreaths, there are tall cacti with little pink flowers, scrubby trees with twisting trunks. Instead of a shiny hotel floors and lovely makeup, there was a passing thunderstorm, terracotta dust at your feet, dewy faces (and everywhere else). Instead of Powerpoint projection, it was a sunset sky and dinner under the stars.
La Guajira is a peninsula east of Barranquilla, towards Venezuela. It was a 6-hour drive to get there, passing by banana plantations, palm trees skirting the Caribbean Sea, and little shops selling different handicrafts of the region.
One people group of the region are the Wayuu tribe. Even though the desert environment next to the salty sea seems very lifeless, these people have ingeniously figured out how to live, eat, farm, and have community here. They are typically nomadic, moving between Colombia and Venezuela, but because of all the upheaval, they are more settled in Colombia. They create shelters with the trees for open air sleeping in hammocks, or sometimes in their clay houses. One lady shared that she loves that she can walk out and gather fruits that grow naturally on this land, or harvest vegetables that they plant. They showed us the cactus pears at the top of the cacti that they knock off with a long stick. The cacti flesh also has an aloe vera-like quality to moisturize and soothe the skin. They produce salt here with the receding sea and rain water. Another source of beauty and also sustenance are the colourful and densely woven bags, hammocks, and more. And not to be overlooked – there is no running water and latrines are not everywhere, and yet, the people take good care of themselves and their environment so the landscape is clean and there is no smell. One kiddo made a point to fix my mistake when I put the empty juice boxes in the wrong receptacle.
Having said that, in recent years, the regular rhythm of rainy and dry seasons have been disrupted. Places where rain is needed for growing are completely dried up. In other places, they have to create stone barriers to prevent flooding roads, and deluges of rain cause paltry salt harvests.
Please pray for rain. Please pray for creation that is groaning. Consider how our living, getting around, shopping affects our brothers and sisters living in extreme climates. Consider that perhaps places are not “underdeveloped”, but rather over-exploited.
Hernan and Rosa shared with us that they have been visiting Guajira for decades. Initially, Hernan came here as a trained dentist, serving with the Baptist church that had been sowing seeds for many years before them. For a long, long time, they were sharing Jesus with the people, but “failing miserably,” as Rosa initially put it. But this faithful love and care, not giving up when someone does not “convert,” was actually the way to demonstrate that God loves and sees, watering the seeds. Helen, Rosa and Hernan’s daughter in law remembers the year when there was a dire drought in the region. Their church took a team of doctors, caregivers, water to take care of people who were at risk of dying. They didn’t just go once; they went every month for over a year. 6 hours of driving, one way. A lot of work? Maybe. But the glorious and inexpressible joy of seeing the people alive, nourished, dearly loved. Helen said one particular turning point was when because of the extreme lack of water, a bunch of the kids had lice. The team noticed, so they got some treatment and water, came close, and tenderly scrubbed and washed each person’s hair. That was an expression of Jesus that really touched the hearts of the community in Guajira and the hearts of the church in Barranquilla. Do we get that close?
And so now, there is an incredible revival and multiplication in the region. As the person of Jesus has freed people and the Holy Spirit now guides them, they have not abandoned their culture nor their way of life. However, things that were marred have been redeemed. One lady said that the day before we arrived, she had a dream that a bunch of non-Wayuu people were coming to visit. Traditionally, dreams were seen as the force of evil. But as she trusted in Jesus for the dream, she was elated when the next morning she heard that a bunch of people from Canada were coming to visit. Indigenous, tribal people are not well regarded by other Colombians nor well taken care of by the government, not unlike Canada. They have felt put down and ostracized, especially the women of this male-dominated society. So when at the retreat, a bunch of Wayuu ladies stood up in front of everyone and sang a song in their language for the “talent show” – that was a live miracle.
It was such a gift to be able to call these ladies friends and to visit their hometown. Our hearts and lives connected at the retreat through worshipping, dancing, hugging, crying together. We heard their testimonies, played with their kids, learned the songs in Wayuunaike, took fun photos together. Being able to spend time together and build a relationship completely changed everything. They weren’t a project, nor beneficiaries, nor unreached, no less than.
We were so glad to be able to travel there to express that we see them and God loves them. But much more so, we were incredibly awed and humbled by the mountain moving faith of these ladies. Even the kids meeting us for the first time were saying “God bless you.” The 60+ matron of the tribe was “late” to the gathering because she was hauling a water container in a wheelbarrow to the rancheria. She was so welcoming, so apologetic, but saying blessings and encouragement to us. She did ask for one prayer request – that her son would find Jesus again. She is sad having to miss church because she stays home to look after her son who struggles with addiction. She accompanies him so he doesn’t hurt himself and others. We added our prayers to hers, but we also ask the Lord to increase our faith to be like this woman. How might we know Jesus’ love and want to worship him so much, like the women who walk 3-4 hours in the desert to get to church weekly….on time.
Will you join us in prayer that their continued obedience and faith would make this community a light to their whole country? Oh that streams of living water and fresh water would flow through this place and give spiritual and physical life to others.
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
- John 7:37
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