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Letter from the WCC general secretary to Gordon Brown and other G20 representatives and the United Nations.

Water is a big issue and a question of justice. For some communities there is no water to irrigate land, or clean water to wash and drink. For other communities there may be plenty of water but it comes in unwelcome destructive episodes whether deluge from the sky, floods from rivers or the rising tide of the sea. 

Water is where the meeting in this story takes place. It has great attraction as a place of life and renewal in this dry land. The well where the water can be found is said to be Jacob's - perhaps a reference to the Old Testament patriarch, perhaps a reference to the owner of the plot who has commanded "powerless" slaves and servants to dig the well.

The cholera crisis in Zimbabwe is a chilling illustration of the crucial link between water, sanitation, health and political responsibility.  By the middle of February 2009, the WHO noted that over 70,000 people were infected and 3,524 had died.  

Water is symbolic of our relationship with God, carrying the image of renewal, promise and hope. It is through water that we are baptized into the community of the church. Furthermore, water is essential to all life on Earth, and it links human life to the rest of God's creation. 

The 9th General Assembly held in Maputo, Mozambique in December 2008 gave the African churches a strong mandate to continue their longstanding accompaniment of the Church and people of Zimbabwe. The Assembly declared January 25th an African Day of prayer for Zimbabwe. The call is to join our Zimbabwean sisters and brothers in prayer and in fasting, in words and in deeds, in contemplation and in action.

In November 2008 a WCC ecumenical team visited Haiti as part of the Living Letters' initiative of the Decade to Overcome Violence. In a letter to the WCC general secretary, the team echoes his appeal for constructive and effective dialogue.