Glorious day to all. It is very late here in Bumala Kenya, about 2 hours northwest of Kisumu, where we began drilling on Monday and I'm very happy to share with you that we have had real success with minor issues in getting water today. We didn't finish as hoped today but will be able to in the morning before we depart for Migori at noon. It has been an amazing trip so far with many positive things that have happened even since my last blog. On Tuesday, while much of the team was busy drilling the well or teaching the women and children of the community, 4 of us traveled into Kisumu to pick up well supplies and to visit Maisha Orphanage. I'm attaching a couple of pictures of the orphanage which some of you will be familar with. Bea was so pleased that we were able to come visit and they have done a lot since I last visited them last year. She is currently feeding 350 children each day with many of them being orphans and many with HIV. We were surrounded by the most precious kids while there. You will see a picture of two little boys that would not let go of me the whole time. It was a thrill for me to be with them for even a few minutes. Praise God for people like Beatrice Williamson who had a vision for her people.
It was a very long day and we did not get back to the community until 7:30pm and we came in the back way down dirt roads that none of us were familiar with and we were questioning whether we would actually make it back or not. You just can't imagine the trails we took with a van to get to the community. It is such an awesome experience.
Today started off with an opportunity to go see a school here in Bumala that a genteman by the name of Todd Lorentz has been involved in starting a couple of years back and has a team with him and staying in the same hotel as we are. Once he heard what we were here doing, he was extremely interested and wanted to know if we could come out and see his facility and look at the possibility of drilling some waterwells on the school property. His team is from Canada which includes a neurologist. We are excited because this looks like it will be our first well(s) where our Non-Profit Ministry (C-CADE) will actually be able to make some money for the ministry versus having to fund the wells ourselves.
We also had a pastor from northern Kenya that had heard we were coming and came to see just how we drill. He had been in the US last year and had a chance to come to the Water4 office last summer and was interested in buying a unit then but it was recommended he wait and come see how it is done while my team was drilling. Again, I can't be any more excited because he is going to buy a drilling unit himself and our team will be able to come up to his area and train the men on just how to drill. The pastor is Justice Ochuro and currently has 43 churches he is leading and planting new churches all of the time. I love his plan because it goes right along with our plan - drill a well close to churches (especially new ones) in order to draw people to the church to get water.
We were celebrating today as we hit the water table. So, a little out of character for me, we were dancing around the well site and celebrating arrival of water. I am so pleased with the response we have received from the men, women and children of the community. It is so far off the beaten path that many of the kids have never seen a white person. Some are scared but most are very curious and you can here them say (in Swahili) "White Man" "White Man". So cute.
Well, I'm exhausted and have to be up and ready to go by 6am. I would ask for your continued prayers for the team. We are all in great spirits but extremely tired. We have felt the prayers from the very beginning. Every community we will be visiting while here have been praying for us now for over a year and very excited to have a chance for a water well. You just can't fully understand the need for water unless you see it with your own eyes.
OK, until next time, may you be blessed as you have read this blog. Be praying for those lost souls that we are trying to reach through our efforts with the well. As I posted earlier, we have seen lives changed greatly because of what God has done. We honestly are having a hard time stopping to rest because of the joy of serving God in this way. Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank you for your continued prayers.
God's blessings on each of you this day.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
GREETINGS FROM KENYA
Hello Friends,
Well, I am finally able to get on the internet this evening and able to post an update. It has been an AWESOME trip so far and anxious to share with you what God is doing so far. We were very blessed to have great travel to Kenya and arrived pretty close to on-time Saturday evening around 6:20pm with all of our luggage arriving at the same time. We were greeted by 3 of our pastors and had a wonderful reunion with them before heading to the Marble Arch Hotel for the night.
We departed very early the next morning for the long drive to the Kisumu area in SW Kenya which turned into a total of 9 hours on the road. We did make a stop to attend church outside of Narok where we worshipped with one of the 300+ churches that are part of the Maasai Evangelistic Association led by Rev. David Kereto. Our team of pastors that we trained last year to drill wells had been in the Maasai area a couple of months ago to drill two wells for Pastor David and it was a great time to meet him and hear about his work among the Maasai. We had a great visit and what an amazing story he had to share about his work. I'll write more about that in a later blog.
We finally made it to our first location around 10pm and we were totally exhausted but excited at the same time. We were up pretty early this morning for breakfast and raring to go. But first, we had our second great God Orchestrated connection made. Staying at the same hotel we are, we met a team from Canada that is here and have a school that they started a couple of years ago that is working with about 350 orphans as well as do HIV training. Well, if that didn't get me going. We had a great conversation with plans to go see their school and the real possibility of drilling a well for them in the near future. And it very possible we will be able to help them out with some HIV testing kits, as well. Again, it is so amazing to see how our great God brings people together to help fulfill His plans. Be praying for the ministry of "One Child's Village (www.OneChildsVillage.org) as they really are having a huge, positive impact on many children's lives here in Kenya.
We made it out to the drill site of Christopher Juma's village and received such a warm welcome and a lot of enthusiasm for our coming. Christopher had arranged for about 10 men to be there to be trained on the drilling process and it didn't take long for them to get the hang of it and they were off and running with about 10 feet drilled just this afternoon. We did hit a layer of rock that we are having to hammer through but we made good progress the first day. We estimate this first well will be need to be only about 35 - 40 feet and expect we can finish it by Wednesday afternoon. Pray with us about that if you would.
Tera Perkins, the young lady on the team, spent all day with the women and children of the area and probably had close to 100 women and equal children totally engulfed in what she had to say. It was really neat to see. She is truly a blessing to this team because of her heart for missions and more specifically for the people of Kenya.
The really BIG NEWS of the day happened at the drill site. Before we even started the training and drilling, Pastor Joseph shared Christ with about 20 men and we saw about 14 of them accept Christ as their personal Savior. Now, if that doesn't excite a person, then nothing will. It was powerful to see God work today.
I think I best close for now since it is 12:30am and we have a very early start this morning. While the men are drilling today, I am going to go visit Maisha International Orphanage and Beatrice Williamson who is from the Kisumu area but lives in Oklahoma City now and has a wonderful ministry through her Orphanage she started in her home village. Check out her website (http://www.maishainternational.org/).
OK, more tomorrow hopeful. Thank you for your prayers. We can feel them!!
Well, I am finally able to get on the internet this evening and able to post an update. It has been an AWESOME trip so far and anxious to share with you what God is doing so far. We were very blessed to have great travel to Kenya and arrived pretty close to on-time Saturday evening around 6:20pm with all of our luggage arriving at the same time. We were greeted by 3 of our pastors and had a wonderful reunion with them before heading to the Marble Arch Hotel for the night.
We departed very early the next morning for the long drive to the Kisumu area in SW Kenya which turned into a total of 9 hours on the road. We did make a stop to attend church outside of Narok where we worshipped with one of the 300+ churches that are part of the Maasai Evangelistic Association led by Rev. David Kereto. Our team of pastors that we trained last year to drill wells had been in the Maasai area a couple of months ago to drill two wells for Pastor David and it was a great time to meet him and hear about his work among the Maasai. We had a great visit and what an amazing story he had to share about his work. I'll write more about that in a later blog.
We finally made it to our first location around 10pm and we were totally exhausted but excited at the same time. We were up pretty early this morning for breakfast and raring to go. But first, we had our second great God Orchestrated connection made. Staying at the same hotel we are, we met a team from Canada that is here and have a school that they started a couple of years ago that is working with about 350 orphans as well as do HIV training. Well, if that didn't get me going. We had a great conversation with plans to go see their school and the real possibility of drilling a well for them in the near future. And it very possible we will be able to help them out with some HIV testing kits, as well. Again, it is so amazing to see how our great God brings people together to help fulfill His plans. Be praying for the ministry of "One Child's Village (www.OneChildsVillage.org) as they really are having a huge, positive impact on many children's lives here in Kenya.
We made it out to the drill site of Christopher Juma's village and received such a warm welcome and a lot of enthusiasm for our coming. Christopher had arranged for about 10 men to be there to be trained on the drilling process and it didn't take long for them to get the hang of it and they were off and running with about 10 feet drilled just this afternoon. We did hit a layer of rock that we are having to hammer through but we made good progress the first day. We estimate this first well will be need to be only about 35 - 40 feet and expect we can finish it by Wednesday afternoon. Pray with us about that if you would.
Tera Perkins, the young lady on the team, spent all day with the women and children of the area and probably had close to 100 women and equal children totally engulfed in what she had to say. It was really neat to see. She is truly a blessing to this team because of her heart for missions and more specifically for the people of Kenya.
The really BIG NEWS of the day happened at the drill site. Before we even started the training and drilling, Pastor Joseph shared Christ with about 20 men and we saw about 14 of them accept Christ as their personal Savior. Now, if that doesn't excite a person, then nothing will. It was powerful to see God work today.
I think I best close for now since it is 12:30am and we have a very early start this morning. While the men are drilling today, I am going to go visit Maisha International Orphanage and Beatrice Williamson who is from the Kisumu area but lives in Oklahoma City now and has a wonderful ministry through her Orphanage she started in her home village. Check out her website (http://www.maishainternational.org/).
OK, more tomorrow hopeful. Thank you for your prayers. We can feel them!!
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