Tales From the Streets: SPU Students Take the Plunge
Bottles of Living Water
By Laura Wright, a junior majoring in sociology
None of it can be forgotten.
I remember the stench of dirt, sweat, and smoke looming over us wherever we went. I remember the sound of a woman wailing out to somebody who was never there.
I remember the feeling of cold. You've never felt cold like this. Cold that circulates through your body; that reminds every inch of you that this is not the way it should be, but the way it always will be.
And the sights. What I saw — you will never see until you step into the shoes of the one who has been abandoned. What I have seen, I will always see. What I became, I will always be.
I met a man named Keith. He was 40 years old and had been homeless off and on for a very long time. He was a Christian man with the gift of evangelism. He preached at me for four hours. I loved every second of it. His hope was real. His faith was true.
He had nothing but four bottles of water in a plastic bag. And do you know what he did? He turned to me and said, "Laura, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to give you this water." And he hands all four of us (my Plunge team) bottles of unopened water.
"God told me to give you this water. Receive this blessing. You know why I gave you this water? I gave you this water because I didn't want to give you this water. This water is the most precious thing I have. But I know God is going to give me more water later. I live to give ... I have been delivered on this day, Laura."
John 7:37 says, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'" Keith was a river of living water, more full of life than anyone I've ever met. And he invited me to come and drink.
This is a love that transforms — nothing but the love of Christ.
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