A group of women sit in a circle. Each one is there for a different reason. For one it is encouragement to get through the struggles at home. One seeks inspiration for her career. One simply needs a kindred soul to share a moment with her. These are strong women and they have come together as a source of strength for each other.
These women meet every second Saturday from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the living room of the Antioch Guest house at the John M. Perkins Foundation. They share one another’s struggles, successes, failures and joys. But more than that they share Jesus’ love.
The name, “Meet Me at the Well,” was inspired by the passage of scripture, John 4. In it Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well as he travels through Samaria. He asks the woman for a drink of water. The woman says she cannot give him a drink because he is a Jew. He says to her, “You don’t know what God wants to give you, and you don’t know who is asking you for a drink. If you did you would ask me for the water that gives life.” After she asks where he will get the water he says, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again. But no one who drinks the water I give will ever be thirsty again. The water I give is like a flowing fountain that gives eternal life.” Later in the passage he reveals his knowledge of her sins of infidelity but still shows love and compassion. By the end she recognizes him as the Messiah, the one who can quench her thirst.
These women “Meet at the Well” to get a taste of that eternal life by sharing their lives with each other. The morning starts with a meditation time called, “Breath of Life.” They then move into prayer, worship and a testimony time. Elizabeth Perkins has given the main word each morning.
“We need to ‘Meet at the Well.’ It’s a given that you’re here because you’re thirsty - that you have a thirst that needs to be quenched,” Perkins said. “We come to drink the water that won’t make us thirsty anymore. Quenching our thirst for wholeness - not just to thirst another day.”
The origins of this idea began with the Zechariah 8 Housing program (Z8). Elizabeth recognized the need for more support for the single mothers of Z8 and decided to start this group. Now it has grown to be more than a ministry for Z8 mothers but for women all across Jackson.
“We need time to get our bearings,” Perkins said. “These women constantly pour into their husbands, children, job and friends and are rarely given the chance to stop, breathe and take a drink from that fountain of eternal life.”
Recently, the women surrounded a Zechariah 8 mother who lost her home to a fire this past month. Through this network of support she and her two boys were back on their feet with new clothes, a new apartment and a fresh start - just in time for Christmas.
“These are wonderful women,” Perkins said “This new sisterhood has been so meaningful to me. Its been meaningful for every woman involved.”
