A New York Times report this week reminded me of what an Indian academic colleague said – almost 20 years ago.
The NYT report which came less than two weeks after World Water Day was observed – on March 22 – said that the southern city of Bengaluru, in India, is facing a particular crisis.
Bengaluru is considered the Silicon Valley of South Asia.
Silicon Valley, located south of San Francisco Bay in the United States, is a global center for high technology and innovation.
Right in the early part, the NYT article presented what appears to be a parody about the South Asian technology hub – that it is facing a water crisis, which it described as “a problem that all the software (and Artificial Intelligence for that matter) cannot solve.”
The city, the article said, is “desperately in need of water. Schools lack water to flush toilets.”
And it continued: “Washing machines have gone quiet. Showers are being postponed, and children with only dirty water to drink are being hospitalized with typhoid fever.”
So graphic the situation has been described as the publication also pointed out that in the generation of a lively technological ecosystem, the management of water resources has been left behind, causing the current dire situation. Apparently, the water crisis is triggered by weak environmental stewardship in response to the impact of global climate change.
On a similar plane, the climate phenomenon is causing disruptions to people’s lives around the world, among these, the suspension lately of classes in the province and other parts of the country due to extreme heat index that loses grave threat to human, plant and animal life.
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Going back to the statement of Dr. Spurgeon, who incidentally is from India, too – in the southern city of Chennai…
Dr. Spurgeon was the president of our organization, now defunct, the Asian Christian Faculty Fellowship Federation, which I served as vice president. He is currently a consultant and program director for South Asia if the Hong Kong-based United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia.
In a continental conference, which was focused then on ethical considerations in adopting new technologies in higher education, Dr. Spurgeon struck a sensitive chord when he said: We are all excited on the new heights we can scale through technology, but let us remain grounded, too, on the realities in community.
“If we search www.water.com in the internet, will it lead us to solutions of communities where wells and rivers have dried up or where pollution has caused non-potability?” he asked, as he reiterated the shortage of potable water in his country and the rest of South Asia and many parts of the world, including Africa.
The question raised by Dr. Spurgeon two decades ago sadly resonates until today – in a world where 2.2 billion still live without safely managed drinking water, and that includes, according to the United Nations, 115 million people who drink surface water.
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I attended the Resurrection Sunday early morning service at the Bacolod City Gospel Church.
Pastor Manuel Tanjusay’s sermon focused on the theme, “Powerful Revelations of the Resurrection of Jesus”.
The 3 Ts reflecting the Powerful Revelations of the Resurrection of Jesus Chris, he said, are:
1. The TRANSFORMING Power of God
2. THE TRUSTWORTHINESS of the Lord Jesus as words about His Resurrection are true
3. The TRIUMPH of the Lord Jesus over death.
Underscoring what believers can do to spread these Powerful Revelations, Pastor Manuel cited I Corinthians 15:58, in his 3Fs call for believers to:
1. Stand FIRM in their faith and in the message of the Resurrection
2. Be FUITFUL in the work of the Lord by giving ourselves fully to Him
3. Be FAITHFUL in serving the Lord.
I felt blessed with His words during the worship and the ensuing fellowship inspired by the faith and conviction that Christ died for our sins on the Cross and has risen from the grave.
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Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (I Corinthians 15:58) | NWI
