After three days of attempting to drill a single borehole near San Vicente, El Salvador, my Living Water Trips team realized that maybe this just wasn’t the location that God intended for a well to be.
Down in spirits, but strong in faith, the Living Water El Salvador staff decided that the location of the well needed to be moved.
Would surveying another location need to be done? How long would that take? How would we guarantee that water would be present in a new location?
Enter a man named Gregorio. Around the age of 85, Gregoria owned the property directly next to the land where the team was currently drilling. We had previously met Gregorio when we noticed him praying next to his crops and thanking God as an afternoon thunderstorm rolled in.
Gregorio, up to date with our current situation and our failed attempts at drilling, waved our head driller over to his property. With bowed heads and serious faces, the two men had a conversation.
It was soon announced that Gregorio would like to donate a portion of his land back to the community and offered for the new well to be drilled there.
There are a number of things that Gregorio could have used this priceless plot of his land for. It could have been an opportunity to extend his home or create a work station, a new area for his animals to be kept, or perhaps most critical, land where he would be able to grow more crops.
Yet in the matter of several minutes, Gregorio decided that none of the reasons above were more vital than the idea of having safe water for his community.
When asked “Why?” Gregorio very simply replied, “It is because this is not my land. It does not belong to me. This land belongs to God alone.”
Gregorio’s story of sacrifice reminds us that we all have something to give—whether it’s our time, our talents, our influence, or our resources.
Ultimately, they all belong to God, and we must hold them loosely until we hear the Holy Spirit urging us to act or to share.
