Friday, July 29, 2016

Without it we Would Die!



Sound extreme? What is more important than water? Nothing?

Water--The whole world spends so much time and money looking for it, collecting it, and saving it. It is often taken for granted by many, but others are willing to die for it. Back home in the United States we usually just turn on a tap and we've got water.  If you leave the hose running, oh well, "That happened."

Here at Ukarumpa, our highlands center, we get water from two different sources.  It's good to have two different sources for times when one method is not working or we have not gotten enough rain. Each house on our center collects clean rain water off of our roofs. In rainy season, that fills the tanks and then the surplus runs back to the ground. We also have a center system that pumps water out of the river, to the top of our center, using a series of collection tanks and pumps. This water is generally used just for toilets, some showers and laundry.  Most people try their best to never use the river water in their sinks, as it is not clean.

A translator needed this water tank in their village in the mountains.  There are only two ways in:  Walking two days along a jungle path or by helicopter.  This helicopter pilot prepares the tank to be sling-loaded into the village.
We were praying for a good flight. The clouds were close to covering up the village he was flying to, and when he took the previous sling-load, this tank rolled about 200 ft. away. The tank was shaking on lift-off but everything went smoothly.



In June, we finished installing two new, giant water tanks to provide river water storage for our center. This should more than triple our storage capacity! Our previous storage tanks are on the right.
Collecting rain water from our roof.  The last time we had a good rain like this was in May.


Before we installed it, Grayson sprayed out our new rainwater storage tank!

He spent an hour in there.  It really needed it, and he was thrilled!

This new tank is an answer to prayer! Thank you for your donations! It doubles our current storage, but our old tank will most likely rust out in the next year or two. It has pinhole leaks which we continue to patch.
Our good friend and plumber, Leslie, has kept us with water. He gutted two older pumps we found in our shed to reconstruct a working pump! I was impressed. This is the old, leaking pump that he removed. Tenkyu, Leslie! Yu boi stret!
Our pump sends water to our solar hot water tank and throughout the house.



We are in the middle of dry season now. Our metal tank is now almost empty and the new tank is only 1/3 full. Bring on the Rain!!!! You probably already know my opinion, but there is one thing more important than water. The reason we are here.

Jesus Promises Living Water

John 4:13-14

Jesus said..., “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.”