Help Turkana Get Clean Water

Water for Life and Livelihood
http://iftheyhadwater.org/

This organization funds all of the water projects I helped with this summer. I worked with the founder all summer. He is legit.

To feed ONE person THREE meals a day, foreign aid costs approximately $1.39 per person per day.

Foreign aid is a short term solution to the hunger problem in Africa.

A newly drilled fully equipped shallow well will provide water to grow food to feed 100 people.

These solar panel wells cost $14,000. Assuming the pump lasts 10 years it costs...

$14,000/100 people/10yrs/365 days = $0.04/person/day

4 cents per day to feed someone and give them clean water. :)

Yes.

The end is not the End

I have safely arrived back in Nardin, OK. And what a beautiful green country it is. My last blog was really brief cause I was in a rush so here's my final thought-out blog. Anything else I put on here will be for mindless entertainment.

Let's start with some sweet Summer 2010 statistics. Josh and I were blessed enough to have a hand in:
6 new wells!
and
2 new solar farms!

So that is exciting to look back on and remember how many lives changed and are still being changed by the work we did this summer. I wish the drill crew the best as they continue the work over the course of the next year without us. We got very close this summer and I miss them already. The drilling site is their home 7 days a week, not just 5, and I pray for their continued diligence and spirit.



So some things that have really changed for me... I gotta say the one of the biggest ones was a huge decrease in self-worth. Everything of material value and comfort was taken away. I was dirty, sleeping on the ground every night, sand would blow in my face, I knew bugs would crawl on me all night but I only took time to get slap off the ones that were threatening the vitals. i.e. face/neck. We had flavored lettuce for dinner almost every night etc....

According to the world, I was living at the lowest of low. And I know everyone always comes back from this kind of experience with a better sense of gratitude, but it was more than that. It was humbling. I don't deserve to be clean, I don't deserve my next meal, I don't deserve shoes, I don't deserve a roof over my head, I don't deserve a car. Don't deserve to be saved. God freely gave all. And I am unworthy. And if you don't have something, it doesn't mean you weren't worthy enough. We are not worthy! So that got shot down this summer.

Every blessing we do not turn into praise, turns into pride. -Mr. Groeschel

Just a quick story on one friend, Paulo. He worked with us on the crew for the past 5 weeks. He is around 45 years old; the respected elder of sorts. I wasn't sure if he liked me the first week but over time we became good friends. Last Sunday, even though we always keep one man at our campsite to prevent theft, some kids managed to make off with a couple bows and arrows we had purchased. I was pretty bummed and fairly unhopeful we would ever see our Turkana weapons again.

I went ahead and told our leader who translated it to the other guys on the crew including Paulo. Some of the guys looked puzzled and they talked a little bit but I couldn't understand. Everyone keeps talking. Paulo, however, doesn't say a word. He laces his shoes, grabs a stick, and takes off walking across the desert sands towards "town". The way he was walking, I just knew that some kids were about to get some scars to remember the day they stole our bows. And I was pumped. I wasn't that excited about the possibility of getting our bows back. I was overwhelmed by the fact that Paulo would be that angry at another Turkana for stealing from us. (Materially speaking) I am the rich American they should be trying their best to take advantage of. A brotherhood in Christ stronger than blood. It's good. So good he was willing to knock heads for us. Quite an honor. 15 minutes later bows were back in hand.

I have had ridiculously blessed summer. Praise the Lord! Thank you to all who encouraged and supported me. I couldn't have done it without you. Will I ever go back? Good question. The answer is I don't know. Planning the future and discerning what God's will is for my life has always been something I've struggled with. But praise God for these words from Francis Chan:

>God cares more about our response to His Spirit's leading today, in this moment, than about what we intend to do next year. In fact, the decisions we make next year will be profoundly affected by the degree to which we submit to the Spirit right now, in today's decisions.

It is easy to use the phrase "God's will for my life" as an excuse for inaction or even disobeience. It's much less demanding to think about God's will for your future than it is to ask Him what He wants you to do in the next ten minutes. It's safer to commit to following Him someday instead of this day.

Well, that about does it for me. There's a lot of problems and hurt in this world. Good to know that one day God is going spread his tent over all who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"Never again will they hunger never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:16

The end

Coming Home!

Wow! Today I’m flying out of Lodwar. It will definitely be sad to leave all my friends behind. I hope to see you all back in the states soon though!

The past two weeks were awesome.

Me and Josh spent 7 nights with the drilling crew. We finished 2 wells. The first went fairly smoothly. On Tuesday, the 12th, a few locals showed up and told us that they had spotted a hyena in the vicinity. So here’s the thing, the Turkana do not like hyenas. Hyenas eat livestock. So when they find one, they track it down and kill it. About 30 minutes later we had about 35 men armed with spears at our site, one being myself. So we took off walking for about 25 minutes and got to some big bushes which we encircled. Once everyone was situated, someone scared it out, and spears started flying, and the ugliest creature I have ever seen came limping/running out. This was followed by more spears, clubs, whips, etc. Unfortunately the hyena did not run out on my side and I was not close enough to help put an end to its wretched life, but it was crazy fun to watch all the same. Good people. Glad we got to install the handpump for them.


At the second site we kept running into really hard clay about 15 feet down and it took us 7 tries to find good soil! But it was well worth it. We finished and the people have clean water.

So now I’m headed back to the states. 28th – Indianapolis. 31st – Home. I’ll put up pictures and video then. Hope all is well on the western front. See you all soon!

Drew

First is Third

Ahh... the home stretch.

Josh and I have been continuing to assist with drilling Monday-Friday every week. We are drilling 3 hours outside Lodwar at a place called Chokchok. We have seen and assisted with the completion of about 5 wells so far. Crazy awesome and a lot faster than expected. Basically, you just start praying and digging. The Lord giveth and he taketh away. He likes the givething I think.

Ministry here has really been different than my expectations. Or at least my role. Instead of preaching, I'm seeing. I can see what's happening. But speaking's difficult (language). And the leaders seem to be doing a good job. So I just hang out and turn drills all day. And God has just been teaching me that my time here is not about results that "I" am producing. God produces results. I'm here to offer myself as a sacrifice and that in itself is what He asked for.

Giving. Love your neighbor as yourself. The second greatest commandment. It's gross to find out how much you love yourself. I get the opportunity every time I look at my suitcase and try to decide which clothes/items I'm going to bring back to America with me. I found myself saying "I want/need this when I get back" or whatever else... but do I? More than they need it? Well that's easy... no. So why do I still want to keeep it? Oh...

Generosity. I have really reconsidered generosity in my life at home. I think so many people, myself included, limit their generosity because so many people try to take advantage of them. But that will always be the case. We live in a corrupt world with corrupt people. Don't let that limit the generosity you show to people who you love and love you.

The area we are drilling wells is a previously unreached area. From what I've gathered the CMF missionaries that have been here were the first to reach these people. And have only been here for 15ish years. So many churches have been established and still growing. But on our drive back to town Friday, our driver, Sylvester pointed at some mountains (maybe an hour away) and said, "They still have not heard about God. We need to go there". That really put things in perspective for me. We are on the frontier! And I pray that this ministry will spread to those places from here. And my mind really races when I think about this, but it is too much to write here on this page.

Tomorrow we leave for more than a week. It's our last trip out so we're going to stay for 9 days instead of 5. Meaning I need your prayers for strength. And Joy despite phyisical exhaustion. Pray for the church here and its growth and movement.

I really do appreciate you all for keeping up with what's been going on here. I've been video taping a lot. And I can't show that from here. So when I get home, I will be able to make a dvd or something of the sort and it will be much easier to see/explain. Love you all.

Drew

"Prosperity knits a man to the World. He feels that he is "finding his place in it," while really it is finding its place in him." -C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

It's a fine life, carrying the banner, it's a fine life!

• I crossed a river to get to church last sunday.
  
• I slaughtered the goat we ate to celebrate finishing a well with the drilling crew.
• Haven't shaved in 3 weeks.
• I floss with thorns.
• I bathe under the stars with a bucket.
• 90 degrees and a breeze inside a house is cool. 100 is comfy.
• I could buy a camel for $200 bucks and am considering it.
• Last week my friend Akai told me God would punch me if I threw away any of my food.
• I drink tea every day.
  

Marco Polo

Week 2&3

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31348200&l=ab84e66939&id=1443210018

I have gotten to learn a lot about the ministry here in the past two weeks. We got to see about every aspect of what goes on around here. Water pumps, irrigation, schools, medical clinics, etc…

Last week (June 15th) we drove 3 hours out of town… and I mean really out of town… to work around a lovely place called Nakor, where we laid our heads to rest at night.

The next day (June 16th) we got our first experiences working on water projects. We installed a solar panel and electric pump into a pre-existing well.

The second day of work (June 17th), the site was located across a river which we had to cross by foot. This river was roughly 400 meters across. Along with ourselves, we drudged across with a generator, welder, huge metal pipes, chains…. I’ve never crossed a large river on foot before. But I crossed this one 14 times that day. 13 times bare-footed cause (it took once for me to learn my lesson). Many of them past herds of camels drinking from the river… it was the craziest thing at the time, but now seems like a very plausible and normal day here in Africa. Oh, and did I mention I was tired that day.

We came back to town. Freshened up. Met a group of four great guys that came from a church in Rolla, Missouri to see what all was happening up here. Their church had raised support for a water well and solar farm.

We headed back out (June 19th) to Nakor with them and got to help with the drilling of 3 new handpumps and saw all stages of the operation over the course of the week. There are two water drilling teams of local Christian Turkana men that carry out the work year-round. We went back and forth between the two teams helping.

It is so heart-breaking and joyful to see the people get clean water for the first time. Some of the people have never seen clean water before. None of them have ever used clean water on a regular basis. They either take it straight from the river or dig small holes in the river bed. They take it home and stir it, and boil it, and try to get it cleaner but dirt is dirt. It is such a blessing to get to see them get water. The women have usually gathered with all their water containers when we finish a well. At one site, we watched a woman bathe her two kids in clean water for the very first time. Another place, we spoke with a woman who had crossed a river to come get our clean water. I love it. When we finish we get a chance to pray with the people when we are done and they are always very grateful.

Our fearless leader, Gene, has been here for 15 years and I’ve gotten to hear some incredible stories about how the church has grown in this area. He is a god-fearing man and has a real heart for helping and ministering to the people here. Over the years he has shifted leadership duties to the Turkana people while overseeing the water projects, Turkana Bible Training Institute, some medical clinics, has helped start some schools… big stuff. Good stuff. Oh, and he’s 61. Talk about a retirement….

That is about it for now. From now on we are scheduled to be out with the drilling teams Monday-Friday, working all day, and sleeping outside, and all that jazz. Hope this blog finds you well. Pray for God to give me the strength and energy to work hard. Pray for opportunities for us to share the Gospel across our language barrier. And pray for my teammate Josh as well. Cause we’re a team.


Water-drilling specifics if you're into that kind of thing:

Generally we place hand pumps along rivers where we know there is water. A committee of local church leaders decide which areas need them the most. We have a drill (which is just a bit attached to long sqare rods of metal with a handle at the top) which we assemble in sections and hand turn until we fill the bit up with sand and then pull up. Repeat for about 4 hours and you usually hit water.

After we hit water and fit all the casing and piping in, we put a hand pump on the well. If the well proves faithful, we can put up a solar panel, and replace the hand pump with an electric pump which will be powered at all times during the day and the people can use to water a farm.



And for your Google Earthing pleasure:

Nakor (where we slept)- 2°36.929N 36°15.677E

1st solar pump - 2°684N 36°14.678E

2rd handpump - 2°37.78N 36°15.911E

3rd handpump - 2°41.909N 36°15.503E

The Adventures of Eregai

Week 1 Summary:

We are stationed in Lodwar, Kenya.

This past week I stayed at 2 Turkana homes for a total of 5 days. We have been getting to know the language and the people.

To clarify, Turkana is the name of a people group in and around Lodwar. They speak the national language, Swahili, and their native tongue, Turkana. We will be doing most of our water projects outside Lodwar in Turkana villages.

Tomorrow we leave to join the Water Projects team which is working about an hour outside Lodwar right now. I think from now on, we will stay with them Monday-Friday every week working, and come back into Lodwar on the weekends.

So, the nitty gritty details of my stay in 2 Turkana homes...

First of all, I don't go by Drew anymore. My second day in Lodwar, I joined the family of John and Margaret Ejore and their three offspring. I don't know why, but having John and Margaret as parents for my first three days in Kenya just seemed kinda funny. A few minutes after I got there John gave me the name Eregai (air-e-guy). I feel kind of honored every time they call me by name and think I am a character in the Lord of the Rings. Anyways, my stay threw me into the thick of the language. I knew some simple phrases before I got there but once I got past those, they just taught me through hand signals and whatever other expressions they could. It was really hard to go that long without being able to say anything too significant but I managed, and we enjoyed each other's company.

They basically live outside. They had 2 huts. A grass hut, Margaret cooked things in and kept food. And a square mud hut, they kept all their belongings in (very little). Their life was basically lived outside. No electricity. The water they had, they carried there in jugs from a near-by government well. That was pretty much how everyone around them lived. We slept under the stars on inch-thick straw mats that separate you from the ground. The sky is incredible. It looks like pictures of the Milky Way. I slept good. The bugs would land on my face every now and then, but other than that, I would sleep pretty peacefully.

Food was good. Goat, pasta, bread-stuff, cabbage, tortilla things, kidney beans. Just a mix of that stuff. It wouldn't be my choice American meal but it really wasn't that bad. The goat meat had lots of delicious fat on it and I'm not too picky of an eater to begin with. All my years of being criticized for eating things that are too old, or have been sitting out too long, left on the seat next to us at a sporting event or the seat next to us at a restaurant, all those times are finally paying off. I don't get my plate and start wondering, where has this been and what germs could be in this. I just eat up. :)

During the days I would walk around town with John, take a nap in the shade of his hut, or fetch water and "groceries". One day we walked out of town and found some camels that were grazing.

Camels in Kenya = Cows in Oklahoma. John works for CMF (Christian Missionary Fellowship), the organization I came with. He does odds and ends at the church. The days I was there, he wasn't working though.

They were very good to me. Margaret would pile on heaping amounts of food on a plate for me. At times I noticed that she put meat in my food but not anyone else's and I was very humbled. They were overly-respectful of all my things. They would always keep my bag elevated or on a mat so it wouldn't be in the sand.

We were picked up on Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon, we were an hour outside Lodwar in what everyone calls "the bush". Basically away from civilization. The tribe is pretty much self-sustaining. There isn't a town, just huts scattered kilometers apart.... I stayed with Samson and Elen. A neighbor of theirs, Maurice, knew English and helped me communicate which was such a relief. I stayed two days. Food was similar. I watched a goat get slaughtered. And both mornings, I got a goat leg served to me for breakfast. I was pretty pumped. It's the equivalent of waking up to your mom cooking you a steak. I spent both days, helping Samson feed goats and following him to work at a missionary's house they were fixing up. Other than that, I hung out with the family and kids. Showed them pictures of America. And laughed a lot.

It was a great experience. I've been back at the missionary's house (Gene Morden) for the past 3 days. Gene is great and has a real heart for the people here.

Although we are going to be working mostly on the water-projects side of things here, CMF has a lot of different programs going on in and around this area that are benefitting the people immensely, namely:

Turkana Literacy Programs

English as a second language programs

3 medical clinics

Community Health Evangelism programs

Turkana Bible Training Institute

I have met 3 different missionary families, where I've been so far but a lot of these programs are maintained by the people themselves so they have ownership in it. So yeah, that is what is going on on this side of the world.

Josh and I are leaving tomorrow to join the water projects team and we will be doing that for the rest of our time here. So I think I'll be able to update you on that next week. Pray that our well-digging goes well. Pray that the people would see Christ's love for them through our work and interactions. But it takes God. And all depends on him. "If the Holy Spirit moves, nothing can stop Him. If He doesn't move, we will not produce genuine fruit - no matter how much effort or money we expend." -Francis Chan, Forgotten God

Peace out cub scouts

The last week has been absolutely righteous.

May 25th - I showed up in Louisville to spend a night with the one and only Dillon Zimmerman and his wonderful wife, Kathryn before my pre-departure training started. I had a great time. However, my stay brought much strife to the household. Dillon found out his car had a pretty serious mechanical problem right before he had to come pick me up from the airport. When I got to his house, his laptop wasn't working. We started working on some cabinets and we put a handle on the wrong side of a door. We bought the wrong hinges. The dryer exhaust hose came off when my stuff was in the dryer, etc, etc, etc. I offer my full apology to Dillon and his family. And I hope we can still be friends.

May 26th - I showed up for Pre-Departure Orientation along with 32 other interns who are also out and about for the next two months. Ethiopia, Mexico City, Ivory Coast (do work!), Chili, and Kenya. After a few trust falls and ice-breakers we became good friends and I had lots of time to spend in prayer and in the Bible.

June 1st - Take-OFF! Delving into the unknown is a crazy thing. Especially when there is no turning back. It was a weird feeling to know I was getting on a plane with complete commitment to the unknown. No dropping out. No quitting. No edit, undo. What in our lives do we ever commit to? Not much. I have to know everything about anything before I ever make any kind of serious commitment. If I was going to move somewhere new, I would have to know where I was going to work, where I was going to live, where I was going to go to church, what kind of neighborhood I would be in, what kind of schools, people, on and on. Any major decision I make, it has to be thought out from start to finish, with at least 3 back-up plans. Moving, jobs, significant others. We have to get to know everything before we commit. And instead of committing, we spend our whole lives testing the waters. Cause diving in is our greatest fear. As long as we're staying above the surface, we can see the safety of shore. And if we're rich enough, we can get lifeguards. It's human nature. And that is why I think I had such a weird feeling leaving for Kenya. Every evidence I had around me, every prayer, every scripture, every person I encountered confirmed to me that what I was doing was right. Regardless, "it ain't easy". So anyways, I'm writing to you from Lodwar, Kenya. So here goes. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that you know nothing and won't know anything until you dive in. God gives us the past and the present. But the future is His. The one aspect of time humans cannot see.

June 2nd - Didn't make our flight in D.C. Toured D.C.

June 3rd - 14 hour lay-over in London. Toured London.

June 4th - Flew into Turkana. Drove around Lodwar in a Landrunner. Started learning some of the Turkana from my new friends Simon and Eric. Great people. The town is incredibly hard to describe. I have never seen anything like it. I'm so pumped for the rest of the week. Tomorrow, they are putting me into a Turkana family's house by myself for three days so I can experience their day-to-day lives and learn some language. I'll come back on Tuesday and leave again for three days to stay in a community in "the bush". My teammate Josh will accompany me on that. I'm pumped.

Wish I could say more, but I've over-stayed my time on this computer. If you know me, you know I write slow. Love you all.

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. Matthew 11:12

The Water Crisis

The Story of the Thirsty from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene.

Every year, there are 4 billion cases of diarrhea as a direct result of drinking contaminated water; this results in more than 2.2
million deaths each year—the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day.

The weakest members of communities are the most vulnerable; every day water-related diseases claim the lives of 5000 children under the age of five. That’s roughly one every 15 seconds.

More than 150 million school-age children are severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. These children commonly carry up to 1000 parasites at a time, causing anemia, stunted growth, and other debilitating conditions.

Going to Kenya!

WELCOME! Friends and any of you lost on the world wide web,

So yeah, I'm going to Kenya this summer and I want you all to know about it. So here's what's up... I'll be serving as an intern for Christian Missionary Fellowship International from May 26th to July 31st.

I will be serving in the desertous region of Turkana with two other interns from the U.S. We’ll be assisting some long-term missionaries that live there. Water is a very limited resource in Turkana so one of the main focuses of our ministry will be drilling water wells for the people. Wells are used for drinking and also for irrigating farm plots that will help the people become more self-sustaining and less dependent on relief. I am absolutely excited about this opportunity to minister and show God’s love to these people.

I've always been a fan of world missions but I've never had the faith to commit to going myself, even when called. I can remember times in high school when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and praying prayers like, “God, I’ll do whatever you want me to… as long as you don’t want me to be a missionary or a pastor.” Yeah, pretty shallow and an attitude of extreme consequence. I shudder to think of all the things I've missed out on in life because I didn't put my trust in God. How many blessings pass us by while we’re sitting on the side of the road pondering whether we trust Him enough to truly follow?

As Francis Chan would put it:

We say things like, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart." Then we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set our lives up so everything will be fine even if God doesn't come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting hope in God's fidelity to His promises.

My life has definitely not been marked by true faith. But since coming to college I've had many opportunities to grow like crazy spiritually. God placed some great people, some great books, and a great church in my life. As I mature as a Christian, I continually gain a better understanding of how awesome and huge God is. He has an awesome and eternal story unfolding. Right now. And I can either be a part of what He is doing, or I can do my own thing, seeking things in the earth reserved for fire. He has a big big awesome plan. And that's the one I want to be a part of.

So why Kenya? Well, around December 2008 (last year), I saw a video that rocked my world. Watch now:

This video really hit me hard. We have all the resources we need to put an end to the world’s water problems so why the heck don’t we? How beautiful a picture: providing the most basic necessity for human life in Jesus’ name. Thrilling. So I've been wanting to do something ever since and now I'm blessed with the opportunity to do so.

So why the blog? Cause I want you all to be a part of this and I need help.

Pray – that God would do something amazing while our team is in Kenya

Give – God blesses us so we can bless others! The cost of my trip is $4,442. Anything you’d be able to give would be a blessing!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. If you made it this far down the page, just know I’m proud. Love you all. I hope to be updating this blog throughout the summer so if you send me your email I will let you know when I add info and I can keep you all posted on what’s happening.

Drew Reese