Conflict over Water in Genesis 26:12-33: Implications for the Church in Sub-Sahara Africain Relation to Support for the Millennium Development Goals.

This paper sees a similarity between the promise to provide a better life to Abraham’s descendants and the promise of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to address the challenges facing the world. Drawing from the patriarchal experiences in Biblical times with water scarcity situations and the attendant conflict potential, this paper surveys welfare issues connected with water scarcity in the Old Testament with parallels in Africa. Although water is the most abundant resource on earth, its diminishing state in usable form poses a continuous challenge to large populations in the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, exposing those affected to certain vulnerabilities. The paper argues that a careful examination of the Millennium Development Goals shows the strategic importance of water in achieving them in varying capacities. Specifically, water is needed to reduce poverty, reduce hunger, achieve food security (Goal 1), and to achieve environmental sustainability (Goal 7). The paper submits that the Church in Africa must contribute to the achievement of the MDGs, failure of which will jeopardize the realization of the goals and by extension affect the ministry of the Church negatively. Keywords: Water Scarcity, Conflict, Church, sub-Sahara Africa, Millennium Development Goals