Water is Live

Order of Worship

Ecumenical Prayer Service on Ash Wednesday,

1 March, 2017, 15.30 Hrs

Holy Saviour Parish of the /Ethiopian orthodox /church, Addis Ababa

Opening service of Lenten Campaign “Seven Weeks for Water”

Theme: Thirst for Justice: A pilgrimage of justice and peace in Africa

https://water.oikoumene.org/…/OrderOfService_7WeeksForWater…

We were born out of the water (Musical notes shown)

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

 1.        We were born out of the waters the waters that give life to all the earth.

            We were made God’s sons and daughters at the font of our rebirth

            Every day, God’s waters bless us! We are nourished and renewed;

            For the waters that surround us give us life and health and food.

2.         Just as rivers join each other, all creation joins in song.

            All nature works together; bold and beautiful and strong.

            Fish that fill a flowing river, springs of water from below

            Daily point us to the Giver from whom blessings overflow.

3          God, we hear the troubling thunder of the shouts of “Profit first!”

            Land and streams are torn asunder till creation cries in thirst.

            God, we thirst for healthy waters and for justice for the land,

            As your faithful sons and daughters, may we rise to take a stand.

4.         God who made the whole creation, with its rivers, fields and streams,

             You have given us a vision of what caring for them means.

            May we care for all your waters, for your land, for sky above;

            May we serve you as protectors of this world that you so love.

Tsega Nesayne

Tse-ga Ne-say-ne we-he-wo-te re-ke-.bne,

 E-he Be-hai-le Mes-qe-lu le

E-ye-sus Kris-tos e Be-hai- le Mes-qe lu.

We have received grace

We have received mercy,

Through the cross of Jesus Christ.

O God of life, your waters flow
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

              1.   O God of life, your waters flow
                    And make all life on earth to grow,
                    Your springs rise up and rains fall down
                    On ffertile field and sandy ground.

                     Refrain

                     May we be wise to know the worth
                     Of clean, clear rivers, sky and earth.
                     May all your children take a stand,
                     Protecting water, tending land.

               2.   Yet greed can rise up to destroy
                     The things you give us to enjoy.
                     This world too often won't respect
                     The things you call us to protect.

               3.   May justice roll like waters down
                     And streams of righteousness abound.
                     May we push on and never cease
                     To stand for justice, truth and peace.

Matt Ferner of the Huffington Post writing under the banner "These are the Most Water-Stressed Countries in the World" opined that "Stable and abundant water supplies are becoming increasingly difficult to come by on a warming planet with a growing population."Forthwith this raised the question in my mind; why are there still so many climate change deniers around the world?

The "World Resources Institute (WRI) states that "providing stable freshwater supplies is a priority for every country in the world. Yet stable supplies are increasingly hard to come by in many countries, as water-related risks increase.

The World Resources Institute's world map above shows the countries in various color schemes throughout the world to be seriously dogged by water woes. 

Low Stress (0-10%)



Low to Medium Stress (10-20%)


Medium to High Stress (20-40%)



High Stress (40-80%)



Extremely High Stress (0-80%)


As shown above, these five different colors as extracted from the world map give the magnitude of water stress each country has to endure. These varying colours provide alarming statistics those countries have to be cognizant of the fact that a serious crisis exists and should take speedy steps to push back for the greater good without further delay. WRI has identified 36 countries with high water-stressed woes as shown in the table below:

Rank	Country Name	Baseline Water Stress Score
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36	Antigua and Barbuda Bahrain Barbados Comoros Cyprus Dominica Jamaica Malta Qatar Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines San Marino Singapore Trinidad and Tobago United Arab Emirates Western Sahara Saudi Arabia Kuwait Oman Libya Israel Kyrgyzstan East timor Iran Yeme Palestine Jordan Lebanon Somaliland Uzbekistan Paistan Turkmenistan Morocco Mongolia Kazakhstan Afghanistan	5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.99 4.96 4.91 4.84 4.83 4.82 4.81 4.78 4.67 4.63 4.59 4.54 4.38 4.32 4.31 4.30 4.24 4.05 4.02 4.01

Look at the position which Barbados holds on the water stress table above. This position 

must be perplexing among folks living in Barbados who must grapple with the fact that

their water-supply is under extremely high stress in this twenty-first century.

In the Bible water is glorified and is mentioned 722 times. However here are examples found in Bible (KJV). How about you finding other examples in the Bible? Use the Comments section on this blog to post your findings.

Genesis 1:2; Genesis 1:20; Genesis 7:17; Genesis 7:21-23

Exodus 17:5,6

Ezekiel 36:25

Job 5:10    

Isaiah 55:10-11; Isaiah 44:3; Isaiah 12:3

Hosea 6:3;

Amos 5:24

Matthew 3:11

John 3:5; John 2;7

Ephesians 5:26;

Hebrews 10:25

Going for Water

by Robert Frost

The well was dry beside the door,
And so we went with pail and can
Across the fields behind the house
To seek the brook if still it ran;

Not loth to have excuse to go,
Because the autumn eve was fair
(Though chill), because the fields were ours,
And by the brook our woods were there.

We ran as if to meet the moon
That slowly dawned behind the trees,
The barren boughs without the leaves,
Without the birds, without the breeze.

But once within the wood, we paused
Like gnomes that hid us from the moon,
Ready to run to hiding new
With laughter when she found us soon.

Each laid on other a staying hand
To listen ere we dared to look,
And in the hush we joined to make
We heard, we knew we heard the brook.

A note as from a single place,
A slender tinkling fall that made
Now drops that floated on the pool
Like pearls, and now a silver blade.

Water is life and love, so we must do our very best to preserve the integrity of our water system. God' gift to all whether Jew, Christian, Agnostic or Atheist.

Be Bless every one