{"id":164,"date":"2016-07-01T16:36:10","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T16:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=164"},"modified":"2016-07-01T16:36:10","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T16:36:10","slug":"garden-well-living-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"A Garden Well of Living Waters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Post by Rev. Sommer Bower<\/h2>\n

The following letter is republished from the First Presbyterian Church of Americus, GA<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

The Samaritan woman asked, \u201cWhy do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?\u201d (Jews and Samaritans didn\u2019t associate with each other.) Jesus responded, \u201cIf you recognized God\u2019s gift and who is saying to you, \u2018Give me some water to drink,\u2019 you would be asking him and he would give you living water.\u201d The woman said to him, \u201cSir, you don\u2019t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water”<\/p>\n

\u2014John 4:9-11<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

Water. Everything that has a heartbeat needs it to live. But not just any water, good<\/strong> <\/em>water. Living water that moves, is clean and free of disease. Water that nourishes, sustains and frees the path for growth. We take for granted the clean water that flows from our sinks at home. We take for granted that our clean drinking water nourishes our bodies. We are blessed. And this Christmas our congregation decided to be a blessing to others.<\/p>\n

Our church mission project for Christmas 2015 helped to point our congregation towards sharing the gift of clean water halfway around the world. The mission committee of First Presbyterian brought the recommendation to session to make a \u201cGarden Well\u201d the Christmas focus through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Giving Catalog. A well provides clean water for drinking, bathing, and irrigation to an entire community. It changes the lives of countless people by giving them a reliable and convenient source of water. Church members were invited to donate whatever they felt called to give towards the gift of a garden well. And we did it! WE RAISED OVER $1,250 TO PURCHASE A GARDEN WELL! (insert shouts of \u201churray\u201d \u201cAMEN\u201d \u201cPraise God\u201d and more!)<\/p>\n

\"Presbyterian<\/a>

Image: A. Boss, FRB<\/p><\/div>\n

The mission committee had tears in their eyes when they counted the donations and realized enough had been raised to buy an entire garden well. The new well will help thousands in an area in Ghana where one in five persons have no access to clean water.<\/p>\n

Praise God. Praise God for deep wells of living water which bring life. Praise God for giving hearts to give to those in need. Praise God for communities of faith who are blessed so they might be a blessing. \u00a0Hurray. Amen. Praise God.<\/p>\n

Pastor Sommer<\/em><\/p>\n

All who are thirsty should come to me! All who believe in me should drink! As the scriptures said\u00a0concerning me, \u201cRivers of living water will flow out from within him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014John 7:37-39 CEB<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Guest Post by Rev. Sommer Bower The following letter is republished from the First Presbyterian Church of Americus, GA: The Samaritan woman asked, \u201cWhy do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?\u201d (Jews and Samaritans didn\u2019t associate with each other.) Jesus responded, \u201cIf you recognized God\u2019s gift and… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,4],"class_list":["post-164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-presbyterian-giving-catalog","tag-guest-post","tag-presbyterian-giving-catalog"],"yoast_head":"\nA Garden Well of Living Waters - Where Your Heart Is...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Garden Well of Living Waters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Where Your Heart Is...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tricia Wainscott\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tricia Wainscott\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/\",\"name\":\"A Garden Well of Living Waters - Where Your Heart Is...\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/3237b1841571429cea4c87470fd0cf87\"},\"description\":\"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Garden Well of Living Waters\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/\",\"name\":\"Where Your Heart Is...\",\"description\":\"A Weekly Offerings Stewardship Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/3237b1841571429cea4c87470fd0cf87\",\"name\":\"Tricia Wainscott\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d05bd8754ba1fc49640a7fac7fb6eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d05bd8754ba1fc49640a7fac7fb6eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tricia Wainscott\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/author\/triciamcreynolds\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Garden Well of Living Waters - Where Your Heart Is...","description":"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Garden Well of Living Waters","og_description":"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.","og_url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/","og_site_name":"Where Your Heart Is...","article_published_time":"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg"}],"author":"Tricia Wainscott","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tricia Wainscott","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/","url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/","name":"A Garden Well of Living Waters - Where Your Heart Is...","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00","dateModified":"2016-07-01T16:36:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/3237b1841571429cea4c87470fd0cf87"},"description":"Learn how a congregation came together to sponsor a garden well from the Presbyterian Giving Catalog. Guest post by Rev. Sommer Bower.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/presbyteriangifts.org\/site_media\/media\/uploads\/specialofferings\/giving_catalog\/2015_pgc_image_update_files\/garden_well_large.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2016\/07\/01\/garden-well-living-waters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Garden Well of Living Waters"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#website","url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/","name":"Where Your Heart Is...","description":"A Weekly Offerings Stewardship Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/3237b1841571429cea4c87470fd0cf87","name":"Tricia Wainscott","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d05bd8754ba1fc49640a7fac7fb6eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9d05bd8754ba1fc49640a7fac7fb6eb9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tricia Wainscott"},"url":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/author\/triciamcreynolds\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":166,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164\/revisions\/166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}