Note from Marilyn Laszlo, December 2006

I remember lying in my bed at night in the village. The jungle is a noisy place after the sun sets, but over it all, a haunting sound would pierce the darkness. It was a bitter wailing sound ... a soul lost in the depths of agony. Remembering it still sends cold chills up my spine. It was the cry of a young mother, discovering her sick child had died.

In my early years in Papua New Guinea, I heard that sound too often.

The wailing would echo around our small village. Other women would hear it and join in. They all shared the pain. Most had lost children, too. They wailed for their friend's loss, and they wailed for the losses they'd had and probably would have again.

A child's life had ended too soon. A child's future had stopped short, and the wailing across our village always seemed too little to fully express such a loss.

I cried every time...

These mothers and fathers blamed the spirits, or they blamed themselves for doing something to accidentally anger a spirit. They buried the child and tried to go back to life as normal. But sadly, this was normal.

I knew why most of the children's lives ended. They were suffering and dying because they had no clean water. The water from the river was crawling with disease-carrying bacteria. It was a Petri dish of death, used for bathing, drinking, and whatever.

Many of you know that when I came back home from my first few years in Papua New Guinea I shared what I'd experienced. These precious people needed God, and I wanted to see them have His Words of Life in their language. But, they needed something even more quickly. Without it, many of them would never have even one chance to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

They needed clean water ...water that would save their lives.

Friends like you made it possible for me to return to Papua New Guinea, and many also asked what they could do for the people there that I loved and wanted to help. I said, "You know, if we had water tanks, we could catch the rain water, and they wouldn't have to drink from the river."

That's exactly what happened. On the day we dedicated their New Testament in Hauna Village, I looked out and saw hundreds of young men and women worshipping God. I wondered how many would have died years before without the clean water from their water tanks, but they lived to see God's Word in their language!

I've heard it said that people need to know how much you care before they can care how much you know. It's true! Clean water brought Jesus' love down to earth for the people of Hauna Village.

It's as true today as it was years ago...

This year many of you helped make it possible for water tanks to be sent to two isolated villages in Papua New Guinea. They are located in the Black Water Region of the Sepik River, not that far from where I spent 24 years serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Laszlo Mission League's Executive Director, Topher Philgreen, sent me the following note after he received photos from Pacific Island Ministries who works in the area.

The tanks are installed in the two villages Mino and Brukanaw, and as you can see, kids are drinking clean water for the very first time in their own village. Wow! To God be the glory!

Thank you for praying and giving so this could be a reality.

When Topher met with the village leaders last year, there were more requests than we could respond to immediately, and now we'd like to finish the job we feel God called us to do. We want to give the gift of water, a genuine gift of life, to people in four additional villages.

As Christmas approaches, many people are looking for that special gift that expresses the love of God who sent Jesus - the ultimate Gift of Life. Here is a gift that will truly make a difference. This gift sends a wonderful message..."God loves you; He loves your children!"

Perhaps you can help send this message of love. It may be that God has blessed you this year, and you've been waiting for a way to bless others, too. Telling these seemingly forgotten people, "God loves you," could be what you've been waiting for.

Would you do this? Simply pray and ask God how He could use you to send His love to the people in the Black Water Region, and then be faithful in responding.

A 2,000 gallon water holding tank, floated up-river, installed and ready to catch and supply clean rainwater for an entire village will cost only $10,000. In this area, it rains more than 300 inches of rain a year. A tank this size will supply all the water the people of a small village would need.

Your gift of $50 would pay for 10 gallons of water storage for years to come. A gift of $100 would provide the means to store 20 gallons, and $200 would supply 40 gallons of life-giving water. Or, maybe you can give much more. A gift of any size will mean so much!

When I think of the mothers in the villages losing their children, I'm reminded of what a friend of mine told me once ... "A mother holds a child's hand for a little while, and a child's heart forever."

That's why the women of Hauna Village wail when a child dies.

And here's a way to mend the broken hearts of women who are often forgotten. Clean water means hope. It's not often we have the opportunity to give such a wonderful gift.

Thank you for giving. Thank you for faithfully standing with me. Your gift is significant. It really counts. It's amazing what God does when we say, "Lord, use me."

With special thoughts of you on Christmas and a prayer for God's richest blessing,
Marilyn

P.S. - Mothers and fathers and their children in the Black Water Region are waiting for life-saving water. You can help bring them life today. Anything you can do will be a tremendous blessing! Our partner ministry, Pacific Island Ministries, is ready to install more water tanks, opening doors for them to minister to these villages in the future.