John Ortberg Jr writes: “If you want to do the work of God, pay attention to people. Notice them. Especially the people nobody else notices.”

I have found this statement to be so true in my time in the mission field. Taking time to go to places that the typical person would not want to go to in order to find those people that go unnoticed. Jesus sought after those who went unnoticed. He spent most of his time in ministry with the sick, the lame, the downcast, the uneducated and the poor. People the world would say are not worth anyone’s time. Jesus loved the unlovable. I’ve tried to seek out those who have been pushed aside by this world in order to show them just how much they are truly loved. Today was no exception.

A five-minute drive off the main road near where I live in South Africa leads to a small community of about 70 people. The people who live there could easily go unnoticed. A month after I started Lydia’s Circle: Farm Village we took a week to invite others to our group from the surrounding area. The women piled into my car and began to describe a small community close by. When we arrived I noticed a good number of children who appeared to be under the age of 3, many women, and lots of little houses without running water. The women were excited to hear about God and asked us to come back each week. Their openness and willingness to know more about God perfectly aligned with why I named my different groups Lydia. I knew it was of the Lord that I stood before these women and began a journey with them.

You could see the daily struggle on their faces; their ripped clothes and the panic look of uncertainty about their next meal. They had many worries about how to feed the mouths in each of their homes and how to keep their children healthy. They described the difficult walk down to the river to fetch water, which was roughly a mile, each direction. They explained how because of their water source the different medical issues they were facing and the struggle of trusting God through all of that. I could feel their despair and hopelessness.

Since being back from the States the women in this new village have dug into the scriptures. We have discussed the story of the widow with the two coins and the amount of trust she had. We spent time in prayer for the struggles in our lives and asked God to help in trusting and surrendering those things to Him.

Today God provided. God is faithful to provide for those who trust in Him. One water tank providing 5,000 liters of clean drinking water was installed. This community will receive a delivery each week by the local government for FREE! The community came together with their labor, their skills and their tools they had to offer. I can see many similarities to the widow from Mark 12. They trusted the Lord and the Lord provided. The clean, safe water is critical for the health of the villagers, but more importantly they are experiencing the living water of Christ.

 John 4:13 – 14 states: Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

This only begins the work in this community. God is not anywhere close to being finished here yet. Meeting the physical is only a tool to meeting the spiritual. The end goal is a discipleship process where the people who live in the village become fully devoted followers of God in this and future generations.