Water is powerful!

Water is needed to sustain life. A human can go without food for about three weeks, but would typically only last three to four days without water. Water is used to create electricity. Hydroelectric energy is a form of energy that harnesses the power of water in motion. Each year enough electricity is created in the United States to power approximately 27 million homes. Water is used to feed us. A bulk of the world’s water is used for growing crops that we eat.

Water is a powerful thing in the Bible. Water is mentioned a total of 722 times, more often than faith, hope, prayer, and worship. In John’s Gospel, the phrase is attributed to Jesus speaking with the Samaritan woman whom he meets at Jacob’s Well in Sychar: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10). The New Testament uses water as an image of the Holy Spirit. ... “Rivers of living water” represent the Holy Spirit’s presence and power poured out on Jesus’ followers. The Spirit’s presence points to his cleansing and sanctifying work in the hearts of God’s children.

Water is also a powerful tool for building relationships. Yes, you read that right, building relationships! Most of us at some point have had a fun filled day at the lake with friends and family, or floated down a river in a canoe or on a raft. More than likely you have some pretty good memories from those types of experiences. In the same way, water at camp is a very powerful thing too. Water activities at camp not only create fun and memorable experiences, they are also a doorway into meaningful, spiritual conversations. They help us break down barriers and allow for us to have conversations that actually lead to us fulfilling our mission of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and equipping believers for ministry.
We view water as not just being a fun and memorable experience at camp, but it’s really mission critical at New Life Ranch!

With the New Life Ranch - Flint Valley water front in mind, we launched the Restore Campaign this year to ensure that we are able to continue to have mission critical water activities at this camp site. 

So, next time you take a drink, turn on your lights, or eat some fresh produce, think about how powerful and important water is; but also think about the relationships that can be built through water activities and pray that those water activities at camp will lead to life changing biblical spiritual conversations.

Tom Graney, Executive Director