Soweto Freedom Song; A Story of Poverty, Faith & Hope

In June of 2006, my husband, John W. Fountain, accompanied Rev. Jesse Jackson to South Africa. This short film documents their trip. At a squatters' camp in Soweto, there was only one source of water for thousands of people. The group saw poverty and violence, but they also saw hope and faith in the faces of the people of South Africa.

Shout It Out: Testimonies of Faith

Video also available at YouTube. Click Here: SHOUT IT OUT

Welcome to At the Well

Water. We all need water to survive. Water is necessary and essential. It is elemental. Most of our bodies are made of water. Plants and animals need water. Water is life giving. Just as our physical bodies need water to survive and thrive, our spirits need God's living water.

When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well in the fourth chapter of John, he offered her living water. But just what is this living water?

In the Old Testament, many verses such as Psalm 42: 1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." talk about thirsting after God as one thirsts for water. God is called the fountain of life (Psalm 36:9) and the spring of living water (Jeremiah 17:13).

Jesus offers living water. He is God. But he became a man and walked this earth in a human body so that he could know our needs, our pains, our fears and frustrations. And he is able to help us because he has overcome death and is at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us. Through God's Word, the gift of salvation through his son, Jesus Christ, and the help of his Holy Spirit, our advocate, we can have God's living water.

We need this water every day to encourage, enlighten and edify us.

That is what At the Well is. A place where you can come and draw from the well of God's word and receive encouragement, enlightenment and edification to make it through this journey called life.
On At the Well, you will find regular devotionals that include application to help you not only be a hearer of the Word but also a doer. Our regular feature, "Turning Point" features testimonies of men and women who, like the Samaritan woman, have had life-changing encounters with the Savior. The "News and Views" section features information and articles on subjects from politics and finances to health and relationships. It also includes essays, opinion pieces and thought-provoking questions.

In the Bible days, the well was also a place where the community gathered. It is my prayer that At the Well is a place of community where we can share our trials, testimonies and triumphs. I pray that At The Well is a place of education and enlightenment where we explore God's truth and learn about our world. I pray that it is a place of encouragement to help you when times are tough or you need a gentle reminder of what's important, who you are and whose you are. That it will edify or build you up and be a resource that strengthens you.

Welcome to At the Well.

Monica Fountain

Monica Fountain

Wife, mother, writer, teacher and scholar. These are a few of the roles that describe Monica Fountain. A 1986 graduate of Kankakee High School, Fountain earned her bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in news-editorial journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Fountain also studied Spanish at the University of Seville in Spain. In 1992, she was awarded a British Marshall Scholarship and studied politics and economics at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England where she earned a bachelor’s degree in politics.

As a writer, Fountain has interviewed prisoners and presidents. She has written for some of the top newspapers in the country including The Washington Post, The Chicago-Sun-Times and The Chicago Tribune. As a staff writer at the Tribune, she covered a variety of issues including politics, crime, health and human services and social issues.

Until recently, Fountain was the Assistant Director of Advancement at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School, one of the top high schools in the country. Before joining University Laboratory High School, Fountain was a lecturer and coordinator of the Professional and Technical Writing program at Chicago State University and a consultant to Chicago State’s student newspaper. Fountain was also a director of the Roosevelt University High School Journalism Workshop in Chicago and has taught Spanish in elementary schools.

As a freelance writer, Fountain’s work has appeared in The Chicago Tribune where she has profiled celebrities and newsmakers from Rosa Parks to Queen Latifah. She has also written for the Washington Post Style section and Black Enterprise magazine. Most recently, an essay entitled “What I Will Teach My Black Son to Fear” appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday Controversy section.

Fountain cites the church and her parents as the greatest influences in her life. She grew up in the church and accepted Christ as her Savior at an early age. Her father, Rev. William H. Copeland Jr., was the pastor of the Morning Star Baptist Church in Kankakee, Ill. for 36 years. Her mother, Leola Copeland, a nurse by profession, has been an example of a Proverbs 31 woman.

God has used Fountain’s love for children, singing and teaching in her ministry in the church and the community. Fountain has directed and trained children’s choirs, youth choirs and adult choirs. She has taught Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and other bible studies and also served as children’s church director. She has been a featured speaker at churches, women’s retreats, seminars and prayer breakfasts. She considers writing as an extension of her ministry and has written and directed several plays and musicals for youth groups.

Fountain is the wife of John W. Fountain who is a professor of journalism at Roosevelt University in Chicago and author of True Vine: A Young Black Man’s Journey of Faith, Hope and Clarity and Dear Dad: Reflections on Fatherhood. Fountain and her husband are the parents of two children.

True Vine, the book

True Vine is a book about a certain black experience in the USA—John Fountain’s life. But it’s more. It’s a handbook and a guide to what is possible in this country. It says, ‘You can do it.’ It says there are doors you can open but you have to put your own shoulder to them. This is the kind of book you’d like to place on every desk in every classroom in America. It is a hymn of a book, showing us the necessity of finding ourselves and being true to ourselves. Of all the books written in the last decade about struggle and triumph this is just about the best.”- FRANK MCCOURT, author of Angela’s Ashes and ’Tis

“Sometimes incredible insights on the challenges and harshness of inner-city poverty can be gained from reading about the experiences of remarkable individuals who defy overwhelming odds and escaped to a better life. No account more powerfully demonstrates the soundness of this view than John W. Fountain’s moving memoir, True Vine.”- WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University