H₂Oh!

Author © Scott D. Zachary

       You may recall when I looked skyward and declared, “Lord, whatever You want me to do, I’ll do it. All I ask is that You please try to make it perfectly clear to me what You want me to do.” If you make such a pledge to God—and I strongly recommend that you do—then I have two pieces of advice: First, mean it without reservation. Second, buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life!

       I made that commitment to God in August 2011 shortly after I turned 55 years old. It was the best decision I’ve ever made—BY FAR!!! I celebrated my 63^rd birthday last month. Those eight years have been—without a doubt—the best years of my life! During that time, I became a licensed Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) assisting a paramedic in the back of an ambulance, a nurse aide compassionately caring for the disabled and elderly, and an optician providing eyeglasses to the poor here and abroad. I traveled to Central America nine times on ten Christian missions. At my age when most Americans fixate on reaching their glorious retirement, I worked as a dental assistant helping a gorgeous Nicaraguan dentist and as Team Lead for the Optical Clinic giving away eyeglasses to thousands of people in Honduras and Nicaragua who could never afford them. Rather than spending my free time whacking a ball around, I taught myself Spanish and led seven young Nicaraguan men and women to give their hearts to Jesus Christ.

       After seven years of largely devoting my life to Christian missions, I assumed that I had completed the Lord’s bidding. Hardly.

       My missionary work swiveled into providing safe drinking water to the world. How did this new adventure begin? I think it was triggered by a combination of factors; however, I believe the Holy Spirit’s urging was the deciding factor since I had striven to remain sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s pleas. I have no doubt, though, that the pitiful images of children drinking brown, putrid water and the horrifying statistics that I read in Pastor Robison’s (Life Outreach) brochures had tugged my concern for all those children dying unnecessarily from drinking disgusting water. I don’t see how reading the following could not tune one’s empathies:

Nearly 844 million people lack access to safe drinking water, and waterborne diseases are one of the leading causes of death for children under the age of 5.

       I suppose numbers like that are daunting, and most would conjecture that it’s easier to just not think about it. That’s easy for them to say; they probably don’t have a Dr. Wizzle wizzling in the background. Or if they do, they apparently manage to shoo him away. Yeah, I used to be like that. I like the new and improved Scott a whole lot better!

       In a session with my psychiatrist, Dr. Perry, I had shared that Bobbie and I were researching organizations through which we could sponsor the drilling of a water well. I told her that we were going to learn all about drilling water wells and that we planned to go to some third-world country such as Rwanda to assist them in drilling the well. During the subsequent six months since I saw Dr. Perry, one well became five.

       Bobbie and I sponsored the first well through Life Outreach in Africa. I had researched their organization thoroughly in the past, so I knew we could trust that the well would be completed without our oversight. Then I received an email from Alpha Ministries in India in which they described Christian congregations who had to walk or bicycle for many miles to retrieve disease-infested water from a polluted river to give their children to drink. They weren’t allowed to use the community water well because, as Christians, they were labeled unclean people. To show their love, these Christians wanted to share the water from their requested well with their non-Christian neighbors. That was well number two.

       I thought we were done sponsoring water wells. Then I received a message from Life Outreach telling me that someone had put up a large amount of money which would be used to double donors’ contributions. I discussed it with Bobbie, and those were well numbers three and four.

       Again, I thought our water-well-drilling campaign had come to an end. For our second fourth wedding anniversary, Bobbie and I decided to treat ourselves to three days of pampering at the plush West Baden Resort in southern Indiana. On that Saturday evening, I booked four nights at the expensive West Baden Hotel, and we scoured their online brochure, checking off the body scrubs, massages, pedicures, and manicures with which we would indulge ourselves. While sitting in church the following morning, Dr. Wizzle stirred my good sense. As Bobbie and I were walking out to the car afterward, I turned to her and said, “We could sponsor another water well in India for the price of being spoiled for one weekend.”

       “I was hoping you’d bring up that subject,” she said.

       “How about a five-star lunch at West Baden Resort and a water well for our anniversary, instead?”

       “I like that.”

       That was number five.

       A few months later, Bobbie and I received the most delightful surprise: a package of framed pictures from Alpha Ministries showing grateful villagers standing around the two water wells that we had sponsored in separate regions of India. It also included testimonies from the villagers and pastors about the monumental impact the wells are having on their lives. Joy!

       Then like one of those rollercoasters at Holiday World, our water ministry made an abrupt turn, and the scenery blurred past us to the extent that I find it difficult to arrange the events in their true chronological order. Nevertheless, I’ll give you my best recollection.

       As Bobbie and I walked out of the worship service at Owensboro Christian Church (OCC) one Sunday in September 2018, I looked up at a large banner listing the many missions that the church was sending around the world. There were perhaps ten, maybe more. That was precisely what I had been praying for—a mission-oriented church close to home. Until that day, Bobbie and I had attended OCC solely to worship the Lord. We had coordinated all of our mission work through churches in Colorado, South Carolina, and eastern Kentucky. Upon seeing that big scroll-like banner, I knew I’d found my church. Bobbie wholeheartedly agreed.

       I was working in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the following Sunday when Bobbie attended the Reach Night meeting for Christians interested in mission work. During the meeting, Andrew (Missions Coordinator) talked about the M-100 Chlorine Generator manufactured by WaterStep in Louisville and how they envision using it to provide safe drinking water for villages in east Africa. Bobbie knew right then that our clean water mission had just begun. After the meeting, Bobbie asked Pastor Scott about joining the church. He told her that Andrew had just started a membership class that morning, so Bobbie talked with Andrew who said we could attend the second membership meeting and he would fill us in on what we had missed.

       With each step, it was as though the Lord was unfurling His intended path before me. Trusting in the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I stepped forward without hesitation. Here’s where all the rapid-fire events blur together in my mind. Bobbie and I donated seven M-100 Chlorine Generators toward our new church’s water treatment missions. We attended membership classes. I was honored to help with Bobbie’s baptism. I shared my enthusiasm for water missions with Andrew, and he asked me if I would be willing to go to WaterStep in Louisville for training. I said, “I’m all in. Tell me what, where, and when.”

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       A large group of people was going to be training with me at WaterStep in Louisville, but they had to cancel at the last minute, so I received intensive one-on-one training. Claudia Daniels, Director of International Partnerships and Missions, trained me on how to teach people proper hygiene and sanitation. Kurtis Daniels, Director of Field Operations, showed me all about the M-100 Chlorine Generator and how it can chlorinate at least 10,000 gallons of contaminated water per day using only a cup of table salt and a 12-volt battery. Kurtis led me through the various water treatment configurations that could be built at locations around the world to prevent chronic diarrhea, disease, and death. His presentation also covered WaterStep’s Bleach Maker, which is used to sanitize hospitals and their equipment around the globe.

       The dedication and enthusiasm displayed by Claudia and Kurtis ramped up my excitement all the way! As Kurtis described WaterStep’s worldwide missions, he mentioned that they send a mission team to Costa Rica every July to install water treatment systems in areas that have unsafe drinking water. I immediately raised my hand and volunteered, “Count me in.”

       At the end of Kurtis’s training session, I gave him a check to cover the cost of my training. He was delighted when I handed him another check as a donation to WaterStep. He enthused, “We can do so much with this, Scott!”

       When I arrived home and told Bobbie all about my training and my plans to go on a water treatment mission to Costa Rica, she asked, “Can I go?” During the following summer, Bobbie and I attended two more training sessions, one to prepare for our Costa Rica mission in July 2019 and one with OCC church members to prepare us for installing water treatment systems in east Africa. Our preparation for Costa Rica also included training by Claudia on using a focometer to measure eyeglass prescriptions.

       Me at 62 years old and Bobbie at 66 are hopscotching along in the adventure of our lives!

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       Bobbie wrote the following article for the Hancock Clarion newspaper after we returned from our water treatment and optical mission to Costa Rica. I got to be the editor this time!

          My husband, Scott Zachary, and I (Bobbie Hess) were part of a team that went to Costa Rica for 10 days recently to help set up water treatment facilities for three villages in the mountainous Guanacaste province (northwestern part of Costa Rica). WaterStep in Louisville, KY, organized the mission. This company invented and manufactures M-100 Chlorine Generators that can chlorinate 10,000+ gallons of water per day using only a cup of table salt and a 12-volt battery. Please view www.waterstep.org to see what all they do. WaterStep has helped people in more than 50 countries gain access to safe water. They currently have 96 active projects worldwide, with more in the pipeline. Whenever there is a major disaster in the world, WaterStep is usually there.

          WaterStep put together a great team for this year’s ministry to install the M-100 Chlorine Generator in three villages of Costa Rica—El Dos, La Cruz, and Don Camilo Lodge. Our team underwent training at the WaterStep location in Louisville, KY, spending six intensive hours training on installation of the M-100 Chlorine Generator, how to train the villagers in proper sanitation and personal hygiene, and the use of WaterStep’s Bleach Maker to create bleach. WaterStep also taught us how to use a focometer to prescribe eyeglasses.

          Our team worked two days each in the villages of El Dos and La Cruz installing M-100 Chlorine Generators. Both towns had the most beautiful, clear spring water you would ever want to see; however, the water was not being treated to kill worms and dangerous bacteria originating from human and farm animal waste. After setting up each community’s treatment facilities, we taught the villagers that proper sanitation and personal hygiene are equally as important to overall health as having safe drinking water.

          WaterStep donated Bleach Makers to El Dos and La Cruz as well. We showed the villagers how to make bleach with an electrolysis element applied to water and two cups of table salt. Bleach is very expensive in Costa Rica, so the people were happy that they could have bleach at a much cheaper cost. (A gallon of bleach in Costa Rica costs $30.00 to $35.00 per gallon.)

          Our mission team of 16, consisting of WaterStep staff, Costa Rican translators, and volunteers from Louisville and Lewisport, also gave away several hundred prescription eyeglasses and readers to the people in these communities. We could never tire of watching someone see clearly for the first time. Such grand smiles!

          The manager of the local coffee processing plant in El Dos gave us a tour of the plant. The process of sorting coffee beans is complex. The plant only operates a few months out of the year when the beans are ripe and being brought in after harvesting.

          All the villagers were extremely grateful for our efforts to improve their quality of life. The Mayor and Vice Mayor of the region thanked each of us profoundly. Before leaving La Cruz, many folks from the area gathered us in a circle and sang “Ode to Joy” (Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee) in Spanish as a tribute to what God made possible through WaterStep’s generosity and our team members’ sacrifice.

          WaterStep also donated an M-100 Chlorine Generator and a Bleach Maker to the Don Camilo Lodge where we were staying throughout the week. Although many of us were novices in water treatment technology, Kurtis Daniels, Director of WaterStep Operations, orchestrated our entire team like precision clockwork in setting up all three water treatment sites.

          What an adventure! Our minds are still swimming in all the fresh input: the carnival celebrating Guanacaste’s annexation into Costa Rica, spider monkeys, scorpions, and the huge sloth racing along the powerlines at a blistering mile-a-week pace. After successfully completing our mission, the team enjoyed swimming and shopping at Isla Tortuga (Turtle Island) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Our guides grilled chicken and yellowfin tuna for our lunch. The only mishap during our journey occurred when a 12-foot banana repeatedly slam-dunked seven of us missionaries in the bay. We had fun, though.

          The week of July 22^nd through 29^th, 2019, was my sixth mission trip to Central America and Scott’s tenth trip. Our water treatment mission to Costa Rica was very different from our medical missions to Honduras and Nicaragua, but equally as rewarding. We are so grateful that God has appealed to us to be missionaries. Do you have a clear sense of where you want to go in life? Are you headed toward or moving away from a destination, or simply standing idle? Check out WaterStep’s website or google mission work for any particular area you wish to help and move forward toward your destination. Blessings and safe journeys to all!

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I was extremely proud to see Bobbie totally immersed in helping to set up all three water treatment systems in Costa Rica. She even took the initiative to cut into a live water line on one of the systems. While I was giving out eyeglasses, I saw a movement up in the rafters. It was Bobbie reworking the town’s water lines! I ran for my camera. I am thrilled to the bone that she has become such a wonderful mission partner and partner in life.

Years ago, as a self-centered non-Christian, I trekked to Mount Everest, canoed the Orange River between South Africa and Namibia, Eurailed the continent of Europe, traveled throughout Scandinavia, toured Israel and Saudi Arabia, and went on Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Alaskan cruises. Those excursions were all about fulfilling my selfish desires. If I had it to do over again—knowing what I know now as a Christian—I would gladly trade all those travels for one more WaterStep mission trip serving the gracious people of Costa Rica.

          This great big adventure we call “life” sure gets exciting, interesting, challenging, and fun when one doesn’t put any conditions on his or her service to the Lord. However, you might question the degree of my generosity. My heart is filled with joy and contentment. How much is that worth?

          Where will our water treatment missions take us next? Ethiopia? India? Back to Central America? God only knows. Stay tuned.