DAY 2: June 2, 2014

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I finished Think Like A Freak today. I took notes so I’ll publish a blog post in a bit. Met with Water to Thrive staff. I went with them to Ethiopia last month, to visit wells. I debated making that trip part of my sabbatical as well, but was talked out of it. Reflecting on that trip with them is probably crossing the line back into work, but I really wanted to do this while it was still fresh.

My primary reflections on W2T: Now that I’m back in the States it strikes me what a difference Water to Thrive is making. If you consider that W2T has built over 500 wells, and that one well serves at least 400 people, that means 200,000 people now have access to clean water, who didn’t have it before. Dick Moeller envisions reaching 2500 wells in the next few years. If they reach that goal, and I believe they will, they will have provided fresh drinking water for over 1 million people, not to mention the chain reaction of health and social benefits that come from that. Clean water means children live, parents live, life-threatening diseases plummet and people thrive. It’s hard to imagine any better way to make a sustainable, long-lasting difference in the world.

After that I headed back to Houston and met with Pastor Robert Moore to put final touches on our synod trip to Lutherland. My vision for this trip was to take leaders who could then lead groups as we approach the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Lots will want to go in 2017 and I frankly don’t want to be the only one leading groups. I stopped by the synod office to pick up some papers for the trip. Pretty relaxing day all in all. Is this what a sabbatical is supposed to feel like? It’s probably too early to tell.