Well, Well, Well

Well, Well, Well

Telling time. Identifying shapes. Learning how to hold a pencil. That’s what most first graders spend their days mastering. But when Ryan Hreljac was six years old, he discovered how he could provide clean water to strangers halfway around the world.

In 1998, Ryan’s first-grade teacher explained that people were dying because they lacked sanitary drinking water. That didn’t seem fair. So Ryan did odd jobs and extra chores to earn enough cash to build a well in Uganda. And that was just the beginning. Before long, the Ryan’s Well Foundation was raising big bucks for wells and latrine projects in developing countries. Ryan even spoke at international conferences and events, inspiring others to get involved.

“I don’t have a smile that lights up on my face in the morning just because I can have a drink or a shower,” Ryan said ten years and three hundred wells later in a Get Involved! video (www.getinvolved.gov). “And to see other people having this huge celebration because they have clean water, it just helps you put things in perspective.”

Ryan saw a need and met it. His heart was touched, and he made a difference. Sometimes it’s easy to get so overwhelmed by all the problems in the world that we don’t know where to begin. But God wants to use you to make a difference. Are you willing to help with the cause he puts on your heart?

In Isaiah 6, God had a message but needed a mouthpiece. The prophet Isaiah didn’t know what the job was yet, but he eagerly made himself available, saying, “Here I am. Send me” (v. 8). That’s all God wants—a willing partner. He doesn’t expect you to solve every crisis, but he may want you to help him out with one. Which one? Ask him to show you and give you a passion for it. In Ryan’s words, “Whatever you feel strongly about, do your part, or do what you think is your part to make the world a better place in your own way.” He’s right. Then people will see your good works and glorify the God you serve!

Daddy-Daughter Time

Has God fired you up to tackle a particular problem? What concerns you? If the world seems dark and cold, light a candle . . . literally. Some snowy night, stack rings of snowballs around a candle, eventually forming a dome (with small openings between the snowballs so the flame can breathe). Let this wintry luminary symbolize your availability to God.

What’s The Word?

I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”   Isaiah 6:8