Living Water for a Dry Land:
Jesus Wells Show the Way to Salvation
Little feet slosh and stir up mud along the shallow edge of the murky pond. Flies buzz around the backs of buffalo submerged in the cool wetness. Laundry slaps the surface of the water as one kind of filth is exchanged for another. And buckets scoop up muddy gallons to be used in kitchens—not only for cleaning but also for cooking.
Until two years ago, this multipurpose pond was the only source of water available in this North Indian village during dry seasons. Local wells produced water, but they ran out during the hot summer months. Others scattered around the landscape were already useless, either dried up long ago or never having produced water at all.
But one creaking hand-pump well is now the hub of village activity, pumping clear, clean water year round. This is Pastor Harish Kumar's "Jesus Well."
In a village where the women spend most of their time and energy just making sure they have water, this well is literally a source of survival. And located in front of Harish's Gospel for Asia-related church in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has made a major impact on his ministry.
The vision of GFA Bible Society is to bring the light of the Gospel to the most unreached people of Asia and provide a copy of God's Word to every family. Learn more: www.gfa.org/bibles
When, through the generosity of GFA friends, God provided the resources for him to drill a Jesus Well, Harish was ready. But though he had the funds and the tools, he knew it would take a miracle to find water. Just a half-mile away, another villager had drilled 900 feet into the ground and still came up dry. Harish knew that God was in control of the water table, so the drilling began.
Then, at just 150 feet, the auger struck water—clear, good water—which God miraculously sent flowing up the pipe and into the lives of the villagers.
When the well was finished, Harish dedicated it to the glory of God before a crowd of villagers.
"Around 300 people gathered and expressed their gratefulness for the well," he says. "They really appreciated the work we had done for them."
Harish began working here ten years ago, but in the two years since he drilled the well, his ministry has grown 400 percent. Day after day, clean water still gushes from the Jesus Well into many buckets. Harish often greets those who stop by, and they never leave without a word that brings them closer to Christ.
For those in his village, the Jesus Well is a step toward freedom—from both the fear of running out of water and the deception of worshipping it.
What Can Wash Away My Sin?
Beyond their physical needs, people in eastern cultures often associate water with something else: a never-ending quest to be pure. As they seek to cleanse their souls through rituals and rites, followers of major Asian religions do not see themselves as grasping for something but rather racing to get rid of sin faster than they accumulate it.
In religious symbolism, water represents the purity that helps wash away reincarnated lifetimes of sin. During ceremonies, drops of water are often sprinkled over corpses, worshippers and brides.
The Kumbh Mela festival in North India is one of the most visible examples of the belief in water's cleansing power. Every few years, on auspicious dates and at sacred locations, hundreds of thousands gather along the banks of the Ganges. This river, believed to have been created by drops of holy nectar from a cup of one of the gods, is so revered that a dying person is considered blessed to receive a cup of its water before death. Devotees at the Kumbh Mela come to dip themselves in the Ganges' holy waters, desperate for what they believe equals spiritual cleansing.
But in addition to salvation and inner purity, water also meets essential, practical needs in daily life. Many spend a lifetime striving to satisfy both needs.
Neelam Aditi, who makes her home in Harish's village, remembers her life before the Jesus Well.
"I used to have to walk miles to get water," she recalls. "We would be exhausted from carrying the water. Sometimes we fell and spilled the water and had to begin the trip again."
Because Neelam was a low-caste woman, others believed her to be a source of impurity and pollution and barred her from taking water from the main village wells. And because her daughters had to walk all that way to bathe in the traditional way—with full clothing in a public place—she worried about them making the trip as men sometimes made obscene comments toward them.
Neelam found it an unbelievable blessing to have a clean supply of water so close to her home. Through hearing the Gospel from Harish, she and her family trusted Christ as Savior. Because Harish made it clear that the well was available to all villagers, regardless of caste, she began to understand and believe that Jesus loved her and valued her, even though she was not a member of the higher castes.
As her faith in Christ has grown, Neelam has come to realize how the Jesus Well has been a double blessing in her life.
"We have really benefited from this water," she says gratefully. "Jesus not only blesses spiritually, but this well is a great blessing for us as well."
Subhaga Devi is also thankful for the well, but her story is different. Before she found Christ, she would have considered herself defiled if she used the same water source as Neelam Aditi. Subhaga and her family belonged to a high caste. She found, through the Jesus Well, that her purity in life came from Jesus' cleansing—and that He welcomed all, regardless of social status, to receive His righteousness.
"After coming to Christ," Subhaga remembers, "I understood that there is no barrier, there is no high caste, no low caste—we are one in Christ."
Neelam and Subhaga are among the thousands who use this well water for drinking, cooking, watering their livestock and gardens, washing and bathing. The well is located along a main road, so many passersby stop to drink and read the words of Jesus inscribed on its plaque. And if Harish is present, his voice telling the story of salvation will soon follow.
This very real gesture of kindness has swung open the gates of many previously hesitant hearts.
"The people became friendly and let me preach the Gospel," Harish says. "Through my well, 100 people have heard the Gospel." And recently, 27 people chose to publicly profess their new faith in Christ through water baptism.
Water for the Future
After seeing the fruit his Jesus Well brought, Harish started looking ahead to where else he could have this kind of impact, and the Lord showed him a neighboring village.
It was only a three-mile walk from his main mission station, but going there was like stepping into another world. The villagers, numbering about 300, belong to a tribal group that once lived in the hills. Their life was so difficult that several years ago, they moved to the plains to seek a better situation.
Unfortunately, little changed. The villagers received a plot of land to live on, but little else. The police harassed them. Uneducated and poor, their only source of income was sending their children to beg.
When Harish entered their village, he learned that 18 children had starved to death in the previous year. His heart broke for these people as he realized their children were dying in front of their eyes.
Harish has now made this village a stop on his regular outreach circuit. Desperate for some kind of help and hope, the people cling to everything Harish tells them or gives them. They consider Harish's trips to be a visit from the only person who cares for them.
Already, many are open to the Gospel. But the villagers can't read or write; Gospel literature won't work. Harish believes that a Jesus Well would have tremendous impact.
"In the near future, I want to put a Jesus Well there so they will be greatly benefited," Harish says. "I want to plant a church among them. I have a great burden for these people."
When the Lord provides a way and the resources to drill a Jesus Well in this village, Harish expects that it will bring a great harvest and show the people that Jesus loves them, even if no one else in this world seems to. And when it happens, their Jesus Well will join hundreds of others across India.
Never Thirst Again
Since the first Jesus Well was drilled in Central India, these wells have broken social barriers and opened doors to share the Gospel in villages across Asia.
When people view a newly arrived missionary with suspicion or treat him with animosity, he may need a way to convince them that his ministry comes from his heart, not for pay or out of obligation.
Providing such an essential need as water, as in these cases, often breaks down barriers. It also tangibly demonstrates the love of Jesus to low-caste groups that the system of social purity has rejected.
In addition, Christians are among those considered "unclean," and villagers may bar new believers from drawing water from central locations. In times like this, a Jesus Well gives believers a way to provide for themselves and demonstrates that God is providing for the needs of His children.
Jagadeep Namdev, who supervises Harish and other missionaries like him in this region of Uttar Pradesh, believes Jesus Wells have the potential to greatly expand a pastor's ministry.
"Ever since we have drilled these Jesus Wells, it has really blessed the people," he says. "They have accepted our pastors more than before. Our pastors have an open door to reach them and share the Gospel."
As villagers take water from the well and read the inscribed verse about Jesus' offer of eternal life, God is freeing them one by one from the bondage of scavenging water, the bondage of caste, and bondage to the hopeless religion of self-cleansing.
Harish and many other pastors praise God each time they see the light beginning to shine in the eyes of thirsty villagers. They are no longer dependent on spiritual cleansing from rivers. They are learning of Jesus' offer to cleanse them forever in His blood shed at the cross.
