As I am traveling through Nairobi, water is on my mind. Perhaps because at an elevation of almost 5,500 feet I find myself quite thirsty! Although this is certainly true, I am witnessing something different. I see dozens of people lining up at the communal water pumps to fill what may be their only jugs with water with which they will cook, wash and bathe. I see dirty basins of water filled with soap and the remnants of a hard days work. I see bright pink flowers glisten with the morning dew and a promise of a beautiful sun.
I see muddy rivers that have turned a deep brown from two afternoons of a much needed rain. I see cars splashing up water as they speed through puddles soaking those passing by. I see empty plastic water bottles littering the roads of the informal settlements- a sure sign that water has quenched someone's thirst. I see water pouring from the sky as the dry earth soaks it up, ravenous for more to nourish its crops.

Water brings both joy in the growth of flowers and the promise of clean clothes as well as hardship for it can mean flooded paths of open sewage running through your front 'yard.' Yet one image of water most present is the one we all share- the water of Baptism. Using this very element, we were brought in to relationship with God, cleansed in the Spirit and called to begin our journey as missionaries. This water of Baptism connects us with our sisters and brothers in Kenya and all parts of the world. It calls us not only to spread the Good News but to live in solidarity with all of God's creation.

Water, so simple, one of our most precious resources- it sustains us, it keeps us alive, it calls us to be a light to the world.

Elizabeth Howayeck, February 2011

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