****************************************

From Eliyahu:

Shalom friends,

Water is life. Many of us don't know that. In the modern world many people live in cities where water may be piped in from long distances away. In such places it is easy to not even think about where the water you are drinking comes from, its quality, or if there is enough of it. However, like everything of importance, when it is not there, you notice. Today many cities are living in fear of "Day Zero" - the day water rationing goes into effect and residential taps are turned off [more about that in the news article reprinted below]. In some places water rationing is already in use, and has been for some time. My education about water was enhanced in 2001, when I was visiting a city in Africa and checked into a hotel there. I was surprised when the clerk told me the water pipes to my room would be turned on for only a short time each day! The city was Kisumu, the Kenyan inland port city on Lake Victoria. One would not expect a city on the lake that provides the headwaters of the Nile River to be rationing water, yet, they were. When I suggested that I could look for a different hotel with a more liberal water policy I learned that this was the policy in every place in that city at that time! I would have to adapt. I bought bottled water and I had to get by with very few showers. I also came to understand why that city of over one million people reeked of body odor  - and in the process I gained a new appreciation for the importance of water. If you don't have enough water it can be highly unpleasant. If you don't have any water for about three days, you die. Every living thing needs water to live. Water is life.

Ancient people were much more in touch with the importance of water than many of us are today, so it made a huge impact when Yeshua stood up in the midst of the crowded city of Jerusalem and cried out:

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37-38

Many people have responded to that invitation and found that spiritual water is even more vital to them than the H2O we have been speaking of. While drinking a refreshing glass of cool water is great, the water that satisfies one's spiritual thirst is greater. That "water" of Yeshua keeps reproducing itself from within, refreshing the initial recipient with eternal life AND doing the same for everyone who will receive the same from that person. In the Kingdom there will be a city, the New Jerusalem, for those who drink and share the water of eternal life. In Revelation we are reminded of that city, and we are reminded that the invitation that Yeshua issued to drink of His water still stands and is still being passed on to others.

“Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work. I am the Alef and the Tav, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Yeshua, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star.” The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:12-17

PS - Our next Sabbath will be the last Sabbath of Month 6, followed rapidly by Month 7. Month 7 will include special presentations from Tsiyon. Don't miss our next Newsletter with details to help you plan your Month 7 at Tsiyon. Month 7 presentations will focus on the Tribes of Israel, and will bring forth some exciting new information for the Remnant.

****************************************

Australia prepares for ‘Day Zero’ – the day the water runs out

Reprint: Rawstory, September 19, 2019 By Agence France-Presse, Abridged

It’s not unlike a storyline from a dystopian film about the taps running dry in cities around the world. Except that it may soon be a reality for around a dozen towns in Australia – and scientists say it’s a warning for the rest of the world.

Day Zero, as it’s called, would mark the start of water rationing and the day residential taps are turned off – literally – with large numbers of households and businesses having to go to local collection sites to fetch water.

Day Zero is pending in at least a dozen Australian country towns stretching from the northern state of Queensland – known for its sprawling banana plantations and tropical heatwaves – to the state of New South Wales, whose capital Sydney is the country’s most populous city.

Successive droughts and the extra water needed to fight intense bushfires have caused an unprecedented shortage, with these regions now facing the prospect of the taps running out within a matter of months. Water security remains almost non-existent for many rural communities, with 10 towns at risk of running dry in six months if it doesn’t rain and if water infrastructure isn’t improved. The wider consequences have meant that many shops are on the brink of shutting and the desperation has even led to water theft. Temperatures are 10°C above average and 130 bushfires continue to burn in New South Wales and Queensland, which this year is suffering its worst start to the bushfire season on record.

Australia isn’t the first country to face the prospect of a Day Zero. Brazil’s Sao Paulo teetered on the brink in 2015 as did India’s sixth-largest city, Chennai, in mid-2018. South Africa narrowly averted its Day Zero last year after prolonged low rainfall and a particularly brutal drought gripped the city of Cape Town: The city’s water supply was close to being shut off as its freshwater reservoir hovered just above 13.5 percent of full capacity. Had Day Zero been triggered, it would have been the first instance of a major city in modern times running out of water.

Water is treated as an infinite resource, but it only takes two or three dry seasons to trigger a catastrophic drought – Cape Town is a prime example of that – so there needs to be a huge change in how water is managed. It’s a troubling assessment, given the extreme heat that this year caused devastating bushfires in Spain, Greece and the USA – countries not typically hit by seasonal fires. Heatwaves also set the mercury soaring to record levels in the Netherlands and France, with the latter country’s health ministry releasing statistics this month showing a 1,500 increase in the number of deaths caused by severe heat compared to previous years.

Becoming better prepared was behind the cautionary message from the World Resources Institute (WRI) in July, when the US-based think tank released its report saying a quarter of the world’s people face “extreme high water stress”. “We’re currently facing a global water crisis,” said Betsy Otto, director of WRI’s global water programme.