Team 1

Team 1 is leaving for Kenya today.  Please keep Herb and Roger in your prayers.  They are going ahead of the rest of the team to get housekeeping set up, purchase tools and materials, purchase food for us and the Kenyans that will be working with us.  They will also take a survey of our current wells to see what repairs are needed.

We’ve also made contact with a fantastic resource for our mission.  His name is David Maina.  He is a pastor for a church in Nakuru.  He has been drilling wells since the ’80’s.  I talked to him on the phone last week and have also emailed him.  He has a source for us to purchase bentonite (a clay powder that is vital in well drilling).  He has a LS 100 rotary, mud pump drill that we may be able to rent for certain situations.  The whole team is excited to meet pastor David, who is Kenyan and speaks excellent english. 

Please keep our mission in your prayers.  Our goal is to establish 2 deep wells that will carry the people in the Twiga area through the dry seasons.

Update

Even though we’ve had success in using the new power drill (HD200), it doesn’t look like we will be able to take one to Kenya this trip.  Due to excessive shipping costs, taxes, tariffs, etc., Living Water Mission will not be able to afford to do it at this time.

Africa Inland Mission is awesome!  They were planning on sending the 900 lb. crate, by air, for a very reasonable amount.  The trouble comes in getting it cleared, financially, through customs in Kenya and then shipping it from Nairobi to Eldoret. 

Honestly, it is still not too late.  If someone who reads this has been blessed financially and feels God is leading them to support this, please let me know asap.  With our current funding though, we just can’t swing it at this time.

The Team is doing its best to learn Swahili.  This is a huge undertaking, especially when you are 51!   Slowly but surely we are getting it. Mungu ni mzuri sana!

Please keep us in prayer as we work together with our partner, Keith Gafner, in Kenya.  We have a ton of logistical decisions to make and communication is always a challenge.  We plan on staying in Twiga during our next tour.  The majority of our work will be drilling wells and fixing existing wells in the Twiga area.  We also plan to visit Turbo and drill a well for NewSong Community Church (Kenya).  Since there are rocks in both of these areas, and rocks are our biggest challenge using this drilling method, please pray the Lord will send us to spots that we can drill between the rocks!

Thanks again for all your support.

Shalom,

Tom <><

Another Golf Club in the Bag

I like how one of our team members described our recent discovery of a new piece of technology.  He described the Hydra Drill as “another golf club in our bag.”  As an avid duffer, I could relate readily to this metaphor.  We are branching out and adding a little more technology to our mission. 

We found this portable well drilling rig on Craig’s List.  After some negotiating we got a good price and purchased a used unit.  We’ve been training with it here in Michigan.  I works wonderfully!  It is our desire to break this unit down and transport it to Kenya when we go in February.  We are also considering buying a new unit and ship it to Kenya. 

This would enable us to dig a “community” well and put an Afridev pump on it.  We could then put such a well in a heavily used community such as a school or an orphanage. 

The cost to get this unit there will be around $6,000 for purchase of the equipment, crating, shipping by sea and by ground to Eldoret, Kenya.  This cost will consume more than half the money we have raised this year.   The Afridev pump will cost around $1,000. 

Please partner with us in prayer that God will provide the funding to help 100’s of children grow up with access to clean drinking water.

Getting Ready for the Next Mission: 2010

There is much to do and time is racing against us again.  Our plan is to return to Kenya in February of 2010.   We have developed a clear vision statement that is found in a post done a couple of months ago on this blog.  Right now we are currently in the middle of drilling another practice well.  We received some new bits from our friends at Water4 in OK.,  but are not making really good progress with these new bits.  The soil we are drilling in a light sand, clay mix, with occasional gravel and are only drilling about 1 foot per hour.  So, we are now making some more bits like we took to Kenya last year.   Once we make a well at this sight, we hope to experiment with several new types of piston pumps.  It’s also keeping us in good physical shape as we practice!!  I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

The Twiga Health Center has offered us some property to build a workshop/living quarters for the well project.  This building will enable us to build the equipment needed to drill the water wells.  It will also serve as our living quarters and main office in the Twiga area.  Now when I say a building, try to think Kenyan and not American!  It is more like a shed.  It will be a little smaller than a double car garage.  The dimension will around be 15′ x 21′  If we can…we will make it a little longer.  We hope to have it built before we arrive.   There is no electricty in Twiga.   It is common to use small solar panels to light a small light bulb for the night time.   The men will live in the shed.  Any ladies will stay in the Health Center.  There is a 4 seated cho on the back of the property.   There is a well on site for our water.  It’s the one we drilled in Feb. 2009.    Cooking will be over an open fire.  What more do you need?

Since there is no electricity in Twiga, this will be a major hurdle for the workshop.  We have priced out a generator/welder in the Eldoret area for about $2,ooo US.  With the workshop and a generator/welder we will take the Living Water Mission to an entirely new level.  Please pray with us to raise the money to aquire the workshop/living quarters and the generator welder.   It is our long range goal to house a Living Water Missionary in Twigs to train and work with local Kenyans.  It is so difficult to keep this mission going long distance.  We really need somone with boots on the ground year round.  This would do it.  Maybe you could do a fund raiser for the Living Water Mission in your area?  We had great fun and success this year in the various fundraisers we’ve done.

Again, everyone going to Kenya will be raising their own travel money.    If you would like to help out in anyway, please mail your support to NewSong at 133 E. Chicago Blvd. Tecumseh, MI 49286 or use our PayPal button on this blog.  Please keep us in prayer as we continue this vital mission to our dear friends in Kenya.

July 31st Spaghetti Dinner Fundrasier

There will be a Fund Raiser Spaghetti Dinner on Friday, July 31 @ 4:00 – 7:00 pm at First Presbyterian in Tecumseh. 

The cost is $5 per person donation toward the Living Water Mission.  See anyone on the Drill Team to purchase your tickets in advance.  Tickets can also be purchased that night. 

At NewSong we are collecting donations of boxes of spaghetti noodles and jars of spaghetti sauce in the lobby.  What a great opportunity to help the mission!

Kenya Dig It 5K Race Results

Our first annual Kenya Dig It 5k race and 2 mile fun walk was a complete success!  We raised over $3,400 for the well project!  A big thanks to Tonia Hawkins and her awesome team of helpers!  Everything went perfect!  We had almost 60 runners and over 30 walkers.  The course was flat and fast through the pretty residential areas of Tecumseh.  Prizes were awarded to the top 3 finishers in both male and female categories.  Great medals were awarded to the top three finishers in each of the age categories.  Everyone loved their T-shirts!  What a healthy way to raise money and awareness of the Living Water Mission.  Again, thanks to ALL who made this such a successful event!

Singing for Water – June 4, 2009

On June 4, 2009 the Living Water Mission sponsored a concert in the park.  A BIG thanks to Jim and Ginny Ingle for music and food!  Wow what a fabulous time.  We had a crowd in excess of 200 people come to enjoy the music, food and to support the Living Water Mission.  We raised close to $3,000 that night!  The lion’s share of the credit for this fundraiser goes to Jim and Ginny Ingle.   We now have many people in our fine city who are supporting this mission financially and in prayer.  Thanks to all!  May God bless you for your kindness and compassion.

Vision, Purpose, Values of Living Water Mission

Vision Statement:

 To Bring people into a relationship with Jesus Christ by providing clean, safe and affordable drinking water.

 Purpose statement:

To train locals to drill clean, safe and affordable water wells in Kenya; while at the same time making disciples of Jesus.

 Values:

Sharing Jesus in a culturally sensitive way

Praying is a part of everything we do

Using locally appropriate technology

Equipping the locals to become independent partners in this mission

Respecting and understanding the local cultural values

 Be accountable, trustworthy stewards of all donated funds

New Drill Bits

These are the new drill bits sent to me from Chris Cotner at Water4.  I like the check valve system he is using.  It looks like it will allow for much better flow.  I have not yet used these bits, but they sure look like they will be much more effective than the ones we are currently using.  We hope to do a training well in a couple of weeks.  I will publish the results when we are finished.

Pass the Word

Come and help us raise money for the Living Water Mission on Saturday, June 27 at 9:00 a.m.  We will be having a 5k run and 2 mile Fun Walk at Family Frosty on 3171 Russell Road in Tecumseh, MI 49286.  The cost is $15 early registration and $20 on race day.  Or by getting $50 worth of sponsorship your registration will be free.  You can also send your support via the Pay Pal button on this site.  Medals will given for most all age groups.  There will be much to do after the race as well.  This is the day of our Community Celebration with games for kids, minature golf, ice cream, music, etc.  culminating with fireworks at 10 p.m.

To register for the 5k go to www.kenyadigit.org

It’s going to be a GREAT day!  Pass the word!