Dear Friends,
Some more new wells just finished. There are 11 wells in this group all in the 30-40 meter (100 ft plus) deep range. These from the “Nueva Union” water club that just finished up. We have one other club still working up in San Ramon right now. They had drilled two and lacked 8 wells when we left them. Another club wants to start that are neighbors to these folks. We will see if they get too before the rains. The rains are coming. We had showers today. A good drilling season however it works out. With the San Ramon club finishes there that will be 34 wells recently plus another three earlier in the year. Some day I hope each of these wells has a windmill on them and big old fish pond and all these families really prospering. That is what WFA will be working toward. At least they have water now on their homesteads.
Pray for Cayo. His sister is near deaths door, and they are taking her home from the hospital with nothing left to be done. He has been in town tending her for a bit. They didn’t amputate her leg and bad infection looks like it will do her in. Diabetes complications. Pray for Cayo as he has really carried around a big old sack of rocks for a while now. His sisters name is Matha. Sad deal.
To balance the sadness of Martha’s situation last night at church Amalia’s teenage single mom daughter Yoli asked to say something in Church. She said she has invited Jesus into her heart and wants to start a new fresh life and be baptized. It was wonderful! Pray for Yoli too as she starts her new walk with Christ. God is so good and I will praise him!
Thanks for praying for WFA. We live on your prayers! I head home to Texas in a couple of days. I am sad and glad at the same time. I guess that is the way life always is. Can’t wait to see my wife and kids and hate leaving. I guess it will be this way till Jesus comes back. Then we can finally all go home for good!
Terry
And finally the yapa (bonus) of the evening,
Our new little pet bambi deer. My girls would melt if they were here! To keep our crew company and eat the grass in my yard. Melissa raised one like this when we were at the farm and she slept in Melissa’s dresser drawer. Nothing more peaceful looking than a Baby deer after it has had it’s bottle of milk.
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit, www.waterforallinternational.org or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells
Dear Friends,
I forgot one well of the 13 in last batch. It was Domingo’s well, the leader of the group. Here it is with Domingo pumping (before he made his pump jack).
Also while I am at it the first two wells finished from the newest club that just started working. In this club we are using our motorized rig as it is in a rocky area. We may start lending the motorized rig to clubs anyway as that way clubs can form with only five people per club instead of ten and get finished quicker. These club has gotten along fine with the motorized rig after helping them with the first couple of wells. We have three of these here so using the little motorized rig may help really multiply clubs Thanks again for praying for WFA. Pray we can figure out how to make this happen in many other places around the world too.
Sincerely,
Terry
This is Domingo’s well the 13th well of the water club that finished yesterday.
One of the two wells just finished by the new San Ramon Water club. Very first pumping and we lost our light before we could pump it clean. It will clean up quickly. Water level came up to 3 meters from the surface.
Yep this is where the family was getting it’s bathing and wash water. They said they brought water from the river to drink.
This is Elias, Teofilo’s son. Teo is our master well driller/instructor and his son is following in his footsteps and now works with us. A great young man and what a blessing! Teo and I are too old to work this hard. Elias and Sergio are full of energy.
This was the drinking water our guys Sergio and Elias were provided by the group. They called us saying “BRING DRINKING WATER!”
Brand new well and first pumping for family. They won’t have to go to the river any more. After pumping a minute it started to clear. This well was 20 meters deep and up in the hilly area round San Ramon. Lots of gravel and had to use lots of bentonite. Completely different drilling than on the flats where we usually work. People have already heard about the wells and another club is forming up.
Terry
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit, www.waterforallinternational.org or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells
Dear Friends,
Greetings again from Bolivia. Thanks again for supporting and praying for Water For All. Here are the most recent well pics. These from a single club that just finished their 13th well today. We also have another club that finished yesterday 11 wells but I don’t have the pics yet, maybe Monday. Just want you to know something happens as a result of the gifts and prayers. Thanks so much and do keep praying for us. More clubs have formed. One new one is working and we were with them day before yesterday as they finished their 2nd well. They are on their own now and should finish soon. Hope to start one or two more clubs before the rains. I head to Texas next week on Wednesday. Joe is home in Ethiopia safe and sound. Thanks for praying us and the WFA team here and in Ethiopia and in Texas! Our WFA crew here is just doing a fantastic job teaching families to drill their own water wells. I am really proud of them.
Terry
P.S. The club was still working while we went around taking pictures and checking pump quality so that is why in some it us pumping instead of the families. The were busy working on the last well. TW. A good group and all very happy with their wells. It makes all the difference having abundant water as you can imagine. The wells are all brand new and were all in the 75 ft deep range in a deep aquifer sealed from the surface under 50 feet of hard clay pan, and making 5 gallons per minute plus. Most will be able to use motor pumps or windmills on these eventually. These folks really live out in the sticks and having a well is really an upper for them and gives them a shot at coming out of poverty and decent modest prosperity. And it is because of your prayers and support! Thanks so much..
Eating the celebratory pig with the water club.
I brought home a baby deer and and a baby ostrich! What a Yapa (bonus)!
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit,
www.waterforallinternational.org or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells
Pastor’s Note
Both Psalm 107 and 136 are great psalms of thanksgiving to God and for God. Ps 107:1 says: “Give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever.” And verse 8 states: “Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men…” NIV As Christians, as God’s children, we have a unique reason for giving thanks. The graciousness of God is not only incredible in light of the fact that He loved us “while we were yet sinners” but that His love and goodness is an unfailing promise for all of eternity. We can and should be thankful for “things, stuff, provisions and possessions” but we also can and should be thankful for the intangible, immeasurable things that are ours because of our relationship with the Sovereign, Holy, Creator God who is now through Christ our Father. “Give thanks…for His love endures forever” (Psalm 136).
Dr. Greg Deering
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Youth Notes
In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Th. 5:18 NASB). This is a very special time of year. It is a time to come together with family and friends and do exactly what the Lord wants us to do: Give Thanks. I want to encourage each of you to remember to do that this Thanksgiving. It is often so easy to become overwhelmed with the “to do list” of the season and forget to remember what times like these are really all about. A wise woman once told me as she was passing into eternity with Jesus, that there is always something to be thankful for and I would have to agree that there most certainly is. I would ask that you pray a special prayer for our students this time of year as well. For many of them, the things to be thankful for are seemingly harder to come by than most of us, and that is why we as a church do the things that we do. I ask that as the Lord leads you to do so, remember our students by name in your prayers. Kendra and I are so thankful for this church and the people that God has placed in it. May you all be blessed this holiday season.
Tanner House
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KIDS HOPE USA
This Friday, Nov. 20, is the KHUSA National Prayer Day. Please take time on that day to pray for our program as well as all of the programs across the USA and Australia. On Nov. 29 we will begin the adoptions for our KHUSA Angel Tree. The adoption notebook will be on a table in the hall for you to sign up for the persons you would like adopt. The limit for each gift is $25. I am expecting to have around 40 people that will need adopting. Thank you for loving these children and their families,
Gena Blasingame
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GOOD BOOKS IN LIBRARY
The Shiloh Legacy Series
by Bodie Thoene
IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE
A THOUSAND SHALL FALL
SAY TO THIS MOUNTAIN
Do you have extra time for reading a good book from the library at UBC? Try it – check out a book!
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
November 22, 2009
Bob Howington
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
November 29, 2009
Ray Sharp
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NURSERY HELPERS 11/22/09
AM – Sharon Gardner & Kendra House
PM – Gena Blasingame & Richard Berry
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NURSERY HELPERS 11/29/09
A M - Juanita Bain & Josh Stapleton
P M – Kathy Bledsoe & Beverley Jones
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November 1, 2009
Attendance
Sunday School……….. 56
Worship……….. 84
Stewardship
Weekly Budget Needs……….. $5,053.71
Receipts 11/15/09……….. $1,919.00
Tags: Newsletter
Pastor’s Note
Servant Evangelism is demonstrating the love of God by offering to do some act of humble service with no strings attached.” In 1 John 4:16 it states: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”(NIV) Since we are in God, we by our new nature in Him, are love. It is essential that we demonstrate or perhaps more clearly stated, it is essential that we live out in practical terms the love of God in us, by offering to do acts of humble service with no strings attached. As God gave of Himself freely in Christ (whether one responds to Him positively or not) we need to give of ourselves for the sake of others so that God’s love, which we have in us, will be seen by a world that does not know true love.
Dr. Greg Deering
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Youth Notes
What a great weekend! First, I want to say thank you to everyone who helped and participated in this weekend’s Fall Festival. I especially want to thank the students. They were here by 2:00 P.M. and did not leave until after 11:00 P.M. We registered 105 children during the celebration. That is a tremendous outreach! What a great opportunity to reach out to our neighborhood and show love to our community.
Please continue to pray for our student ministry. We have been taking an in depth look at the life of Jesus and His ministry. There is so much false information presented to our students today, and it is our job to help them find the truth. This is a tough task and your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Tanner House
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KIDS HOPE USA
I want to take a moment to thank Ann, Beverley, Fred, Cymbre and Doris Rae for coming to help me clean out my new office on work day. I greatly appreciate it and could not have done it without you.
Don’t forget that we have three important events left this year for KHUSA. The Fall Party is on Thursday, Nov. 5 from 3:30-5:30 in the South Davis Cafeteria. So far we have four families attending. Friday, Nov. 20, is the KHUSA National Prayer Day. Be sure to pick up your prayer materials on Sunday, Nov. 15 so that you can pray for our program and all of the others across the U.S.A. and Australia. Finally, we will once again be having an Angel Tree program for our KHUSA families. The application forms have been distributed and the adoption notebook will be available for you to choose your angels beginning Sunday, Nov. 29.
Thank you for loving these children,
Gena Blasingame
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Dear UBC Family,
Words cannot express our sincere and deep appreciation for your prayers, love, hugs, food and support. In spite of Erin’s many challenges, she taught us much and we know that she had great purpose in this life and touched many people.
Though we are sad in our loss, we rejoice in knowing that she is using her words and hands appropriately praising our Lord and Savior.
You have all brought much comfort and we are forever grateful for your friendship.
Love in Christ,
Nena & Ken Borah, Jonathan Borah, Sarah & Jeff Stapleton
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GOOD BOOK IN LIBRARY
Mitten Strings for God
A lyrical and heartfelt book that speaks
to every mother who longs for a slower
pace and a chance to savor her life and the precious people in it.
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
November 8, 2009
Brandon Blasingame
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
November 15, 2009
Fred Jones
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NURSERY HELPERS 11/08/09
AM – Kathy Bledsoe & Oleane Johnson
PM – Kelvin Stapleton & Kristin Stapleton
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NURSERY HELPERS 11/15/09
A M - Ginger Berry
P M - Janice Stapleton & Erica Henderson
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MARY HILL DAVIS
STATE MISSION OFFERING
University Baptist Church
Goal - $2,000.00
Received for 2009
$1,997.00
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November 1, 2009
Attendance
Sunday School……….. 66
Worship……….. 82
Stewardship
Weekly Budget Needs……….. $5,053.71
Receipts 11/01/09……….. $5,573.00
Tags: Newsletter
Sunday morning here I watched the 40 year old big, high-rise dorm at the University be demolished. It was blown up and fell down. An old land mark on the plains here is gone for good. It was exciting as the explosive charges shook the ground and then the building fell down in almost the blink of an eye. Amazing how something so big and massive can come tumbling down so quick. This was a big building and I bet the construction of it occupied the architects and builders lives for a long time, maybe many years and now it is gone. A pile of rubble to be removed and scattered around dumps somewhere. All gone. All gone.
I like to build things and thought to myself, all the hard work that went into that huge building is now just a heap of rubble. Made me think of what will truly last on this earth. Well, nothing, eventually nothing. If my understanding is right, the most current model of the universe has it just simply expanding forever and ever and eventually everything will just fly apart, with the final atoms being further apart from each other than the universe is large today. Not much to look forward to. At the end, without some kind of intervention, some saving plan, it will all just be “ashes, ashes, we all fall down”.
I saw this demolition before church and it was fitting I think and going to church gave me some comfort. Jesus announced the start of a new Kingdom that he said wouldn’t just fall down and be scattered away. He said it would endure forever. And he also invited us into that Kingdom. A lasting Kingdom, where the acts of kindness and love and goodness and sacrifice that belong to that kingdom somehow won’t collapse and be blown away and scattered. So anyway as the world seems to be coming apart at the seams, things collapsing, I’ll think of that big old high rise dorm falling down, and what Jesus said about his Kingdom. It comforts me somehow, and I’ll be glad I have church to go to on Sundays.
Below are a few pics of current WFA activities to pray for:
· I will be headed back to Bolivia on 10th of November.
· Our trial well at WHRI in Waco week before last (where they give Ag missions training) was a big success.
· Joe is headed to Uganda on the the 10th from Addis to help a partner start drilling trials in the war torn North.
· Rob is doing language study in Addis and soon to start working back in the village of Gora.
· Our guys in Bolivia just started a ‘water club” with 13 families who are drilling 13 family wells together, and two more clubs lined out after that.
· Our little church in San Julian just had revival and many decisions Cayo says.
· Jeremy and I are also working on a new type of drilling rig here in San Angelo and Sara is putting together training material and info for us. We have many requests to train folks here and are looking for a small farm here in San Angelo where to do it and where to house new interns. I get emails almost daily of folks interested in thorough training. Pray for us as we seek a place where we can train and put folks up long term while training.
In Bolivia I will be helping with the clubs and helping line out Teo and Sergio to make and install more windmills and fishponds with families and having fellowship with the church. Then end of December off to Ethiopia.
Finally Teo’s little boy is fine now and out of the danger and out of the hospital. Thanks for praying for him. Cayo just wrote that his sister was run over by a truck and the doctor wanting to amputate her leg. Wow always a crisis it seems. They have no money of course so the project is helping. Marta is her name. Please say a prayer for her and also remember my friend John Yates in the UK. (John is our friend who is fighting cancer and with his wife Kath has been leading drilling teams to Zambia in Africa.)
Thanks for praying for us, we do live on your payers. Also hey I turned 51 so officially I am in my 50s. Plus I am an abuelito! Marcy had a beautiful baby girl. (see below)
Terry
A few pics of latest wells and WFA activities below!
WHRI (World Hunger Reilef Inc) Interns and Kris Hew pull the rope in Waco.
Kathy and I met at WHRI as interns years ago. We hope to maybe do a special low cost water orientation for WHRI interns later on. We had to see if we could drill a good well there first. We did! 5 gpm + easy hand pumping. Thanks WHRI.
Amber a WHRI intern pumps new family well demo. 5 gallons/minute easy pumping.
Some of the crew that helped! Kris Hiew (kneeling by me) former WFA intern was a great help.
New WFA well club in Bolivia finishes first well. They will do 13 wells! We teach the families to drill for themselves!
Well just finished. Notice man in blue tasting the water to see if it is sweet or not. It was sweet water. Salty water is a big problem in this area.
WFA also teach families in the club to make and maintain their own pumps. Sergio test a new family pump.
These are three inch wells 75 feet deep and later we hope families can put windmills or motor pumps on them for cattle and irrigation, and fishponds. Famiily owned wells not only give water but bring families out of poverty! 13 families will have wells like this one in this one club alone. Right now we have two more clubs lined up after this. Not a lot but at least 13 families will have a bit better life. WFA lends a drilling rig, teaches families to use it, helps drill the first wells, and helps buy some of the material. Then the families do the rest. Families pay for most of the raw materials and do their own work, so they truly own the whole process. The families will place their own home made pump leaver made of hard wood.
I am an abuelito! Our first little grandbaby, Odette Elizabeth Vazquez de Waller, Marcy and Victor’s baby girl. Born week before last in Ft. Worth. What a blessing. God is so good.
Thanks so much for praying for us through the years and for supporting and praying for WFA.
Sincerely,
Terry and Kathy
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit, www.waterforallinternational.org or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells
Pastor’s Note
One of the hardest things for people to face is change. We don’t like it, we don’t want it, we fight it, and yes, we can be very stubborn about it. Particularly the older we get, the more there is a tendency to resist change. We get comfortable with where we are in life and want to enjoy what we have accomplished. But sometimes change makes sense. We have to move up and out to accomplish new things. Sometimes we have to change in order not to get run over from behind. Sometimes we have to change in order to survive. To change we have to be open to the opportunities that are out there to make change possible. For a change to be positive we have to have a vision for where we are going and how to get there. As Christians we must let God show us His vision so that He can bring change to accomplish His purposes in our lives.
Dr. Greg Deering
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Youth Notes
I would like to reiterate something that has been so accurately presented to us, as a church over the past several weeks. We are in a recession and I am not talking about the economy. We are in a spiritual recession. With each generation that follows the ones before them, the percentages of those people who have a relationship with the Lord are decreasing at an alarming rate. An estimated 4% of people in the United States between the ages of 15 and 33 have a relationship with the Lord. Now I am not math expert, but I can tell you, that is a huge amount of people in our country that will die and go to Hell. That is why what we do here is so important. We have to be reaching out to people, not just those between the ages of 15 and 33 but everyone. It is so hard today, especially for our students, to know what is right and what is wrong because of the filth that they are presented with in the media. On that note, we have begun a study on Wednesday nights called Vintage Jesus. This study takes a look at Jesus from many different angles and tries to get back to the basics by presenting truths and debunking myths about Jesus and who he is. I ask that you pray for our students as we continue through this study, because some of this information may be more difficult for them to accept due to the perversion of who Jesus is to so many people today. I want to leave you with this thought: In a world where so much goes against what we as Christians need to stand up for, take comfort in the fact that none of this is surprising to God. He is in control of all things and created all things. Take comfort! And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NASB).
Tanner House
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KIDS HOPE USA
Coming up on Nov. 5 from 3:30-5:30 in the South Davis Cafeteria will be our Fall Party. If you would like to make a donation towards the cost of the pizza supper, please give it to me or place it in the offering plate marked KHUSA. We also need 2-3 people who are not mentors to help with the station activities during the party. If you can help out, please let me know. On Nov. 20, KHUSA will observe its National Prayer Day, please make a note to set aside some time that day to lift up in prayer our program along with all of the programs across the country and Australia. On a personal note, please say an extra prayer this week that I will get to meet with Benjamin. I still haven’t gotten to see him this year due to various obstacles. Also pray that I will be able to complete training Beth Conkle as a new mentor. I have encountered obstacles there also. Thank you for your never-ending support,
Gena Blasingame
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GOOD BOOK IN LIBRARY
REDEMPTION
(and others)
by Karen Kingsbury
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
October 25, 2009
Randy Whitlock
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DEACON OF THE WEEK
November 1, 2009
Richard Berry
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NURSERY HELPERS 10/25/09
AM – Sharon Gardner & Erica Henderson
PM – Peggy Johnson & Gena Blasingame
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NURSERY HELPERS 11/01/09
A M - Juanita Bain & Brandon Blasingame
P M - Josh & Taylor Stapleton
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October 18, 2009
Attendance
Sunday School……….. 59
Worship……….. 71
Stewardship
Weekly Budget Needs……….. $5,053.71
Receipts 10/18/09……….. $1,314.00
Tags: Newsletter
Dear Friends,
I have some quick prayer requests. Kathy was getting failed calls on her cell phone all afternoon and it was Teo. His little boy with down’s syndrome is very ill not being able to breath and I could tell from our hurried call that Teofilo was scared. I want to ask you for prayer for him. We don’t know if it is flu or what. His picture with his grandmother in better times is below.
During the same call Teo told me they were just getting ready to go shopping for a new well club of 13 wells but he had to rush the two hours to Santa Cruz to the hospital with his little boy. We have saturated the area right around San Julian with wells so we put an ad on the local radio and man we have requests for help to start clubs from all over. Pray for Teo and crew as they respond to these.
Also next week we will be doing trials for a possible future WFA couse to be done at WHRI in Waco. Pray for that and for our new partnership. We also have a request to train some Texas Baptist Men and also a group of missionaries starting a 10 year program in Tanzania. Pray for us that we can figure out how to reach all these needs. Pray maybe we can find a property where we could set up a full time school.
Finally Gary sent me a pic of the well that he and Stan made in Kenya right after Sara and Jeremy had given a little refresher course to them and their Kenya guys. Stan and Gary attended our very first course at the ranch. The well is about 100 feet deep and they did another one just like it at another school.
Also we got word today that our training and trial drilling in Uganda is a go with Global Care, who is working with former child soilders and war torn families in Northern Uganda. Those start around November 12th or so. Pray for Joe and Rob. Joe will do the trials in Uganda and Rob will be in Ethiopia starting things up again there.
And now finally our daughter Marcelina is going to have a baby Monday! Pray for her and for the new grandpa and grandma too! God is good!
Thanks for all your prayers.
Sincerely,
Terry
Teo and Dionicia’s little boy who is dangerously ill and can’t breathe. Please pray for him.
One of two new wells in Kenya drilled by Gary and Stan and African Students. Jeremy and Sara gave Stan and Gary a quick course just before they left Kenya. Gary and Stan were trained by WFA in our first Texas course. The wells are about 100 feet deep. A heavy duty pump installed as this is a community well that will receive super heavy use. Good work Gary and Stan!!!!! Gary says he saw no reason water clubs as we do in Bolivia couldn’t be done all over this area. Pray someone might come with WFA who might like to go long term to this area and start water clubs.
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit,
www.waterforallinternational.org
or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells
Dear Friends
I wanted to share what WFA is doing right now. But first the other day I was watching a program on TV on human trafficking. It was just horrible. Little girls, my girls’ ages, sold into slavery, sex slavery. Some are as young as seven or eight. Most are from poor rural families, desperate for money, usually tricked into sending their little girls away to work. I had to turn the channel, it upset me so. Rural poverty is terrible. People are desperate for a better life. People seem to never have enough food, or water, or money and it happens all over the world. What in the world is the answer? Yesterday at church, Matt, our youth minister, preached on God’s concern for the poor. How part of sharing the Gospel is the deed part. He gave a figure that said a billion people are hungry each day in our world. I have a figure that shows 6,000 babies die each day because of water related problems! Stop and pause, children sold into sex slavery, a billion people hungry, 6,000 kids dying per day because they don’t have enough water or clean enough water!!!!!. WATER! Something as simple as water!!! Selling kids into SEX SLAVERY!!! What in the world are we to do? How are we to even approach the problem? One can get political I guess, or go to concerts. I have seen those on TV. That might do something.
Jesus gave a suggestion. Go. Go and one person at a time, one family at a time, share the Good News, in word and deed and love people and redeem the situation. Love them like your brother or sister, or child. Do everything you would want them to do for you if you where in their shoes. That is my interpretation of Jesus’s approach to the sad problems of this world. Go, (or send someone) to live, engage, solve problems, teach and preach face to face, life to life. Don’t just sit there, GO (and in Jesus’ day that meant probably not coming back alive!) Jesus’ approach was to go and get at the root of the problems, the sin problem, right out there mixing and mingling where the poor live and die, and do it one person and one family, and one neighborhood and one community at a time.
Now this seems preposterous. How can that make a difference? Surely individuals or small groups of people going out is not very efficient. Surely the UN or a University or an international conference should be able to solve the problem at arms length. I don’t know. But it made me think of the 2,070 or so family wells drilled now and I hope maybe, just maybe, it made a difference to some of the 2,000 or so families. Maybe it helped some to make a better living and maybe not have to sell a little girl into slavery. I still remember Cristiana Sandolval’s from our Cotoca church, telling Kathy and I how her mother was sold to a man for two bottles of whiskey. Maybe a couple of the little rural churches we helped start has provided fellowship and love and taught them not to do stuff like that.
Right now in San Julian, next door to our little church, is a family whose no count dad deserted his four beautiful little girls and a couple of boys and left them in dire poverty. Then their house burnt down with absolutely everything in it. Our little church, small and unimportant as it seems in this big mega world with mega concerts and mega everything, reached out. Josefina and her girls and boys now live in the little neighborhood meeting place next door, they come to church, they have an extended family now (the church) that looks after them. Water for All helps them a bit each month, we also give the teen age boy an after school job. Church members help with groceries. No sex slaves from this household.
The little church has backyard bible clubs for 150 kids each week. Some of those will be affected and kept from harm, coming to know Jesus.
Also the women helped by Hope Bolivia have the extra income they need and sex slavery is not necessary for their survival. It seems like little things but they add up!!
There is another family I know. Don Ciriaco. His wife died and he raised 5 or six kids by himself. He works like a trojan and is worn completely out, and now hard of hearing. His youngest 14 year old boy, Candido, helps him, no school for Candido. Candido is a perfect candidate for suicide (a big problem in rural S. America) or alcoholism. He has no prospects and no future and is sick of the drudgery and hard work his father demands. Now he has a future! He and his dad now have a well, a pond, a windmill and fish and Candido has prospects of prosperity. He realizes this now and has blossomed every time I see him. I can’t wait to get back to Bolivia in November and see him and his Dad and see his new pond again and see how the fish are growing.
I know another family, Joesefa and Armando and all their kids. They are living on the edge and always have. He told me he is too tired to keep looking for day work. Just worn out. Then there are 50 students at a very poor rural boarding school just down the road from us. All of these and the kids are candidates for the tragedies you see on the TV shows. We just finished family wells and windmills and fishponds for Armando and Ciriaco and Candido and Teofilo and the boarding school. Also we just finished a windmill and well for another village, San Juan de la Cruz. The windmill water system will serve their school and they will be more likely to attract and keep a school teacher. They are in the “sticks” and school teachers are hard to come by. Having access to abundant clean water helps keep school teachers in the communities.
Village water system for school and clinic we just did in San Juan de la Cruz. We also did a well club in this community earlier so now everyone also has a well at their house in addition to running water at the school and clinic. The community can now better attract a teacher.
This village hauled water from a muddy river. This wasn’t just a hand out. The community paid for the water tank (that we designed) and we donated a poldaw windmill that we made earlier. These families can prosper a bit more and the kids get some education and avoid the slums of the city or human trafficking.
This is Armando’s new family windmill. He is on the left.
Here it is stood up.
Here is one of the new fish ponds.
Here is Armando after he and his family and our guys just finished the well. The well was just being test pumped in this picture and that is why the water still looks muddy. The wind mill is over this well. Our years of low cost research and development of low cost drilling and low cost windmills makes this possible. Thanks for supporting that through the years. We are finally at the really fruitful stage. We hope the family will end up generating a couple of thousand dollars per year from the well and windmill and fishponds, plus more from gardens and better watered livestock etc. This is really fun stuff!
We now have four families with windmills and ponds, and three schools with windmills in our latest project. Overall there are 60 or so windmills working for poor families.
Your gifts and prayers have made all this possible. Pray for us as we try to expand this program to include more families.
Josefa and her grandkids
This is Ciriaco’s and Candido’s windmill and pond filling. Candido has dug two more.
These are the kind of things one can do and that WFA is doing. Trying meekly to also do the deed part of sharing the Gospel. Our program in Ethiopia is and will be doing the same kind of thing. There are 15 families in Gora now with safer abundant water from family water wells. Plus we are now sharing this with other missionaries and mission agencies through our drilling courses in San Angelo, in Bolivia and in Ethiopia. We want to continue sharing it in a big way in the coming months and years. We just had a course here in San Angelo, and will be doing trial drilling for a course later in Waco with World Huger Relief. We also have a course planned in June with John Brown University, a Christian University that has courses designed to teach students how to help people in the developing world. Below is more info on the courses we just had but I felt led to share what we are doing.
Seeing the program on rural poverty and human trafficking and Matt’s sermon reminded me why in the world we are doing all this. Why not just quit and do something different I have asked myself many times. Matt’s sermon reminded me why. We depend on all of you for your prayers and support to do this. We are a tiny ministry but couldn’t do any of it without you! I know it isn’t much, doesn’t seem like much in the face of the tremendous need all around the world, but it is something.
Water For All’s 4th drilling class. We give these in response to the many requests we get to share our experience with others. Thanks so much to Southland and all of you for making it possible. Pray that we may continue to expand and offer this in depth course to more and more. Also pray for us as we look for new young people like Jeremy and Sara who are willing to come and be trained and GO! And don’t forget to pray for Joe and Rob as they return to Ethiopia and for Cayo and Teofilo in Bolivia and for Kathy and I. Pray for us as we do trial wells for preparation to do a course at WHRI in Waco.
May God Bless,
Terry and Kathy.
P.S. Matthew got permanent job as a reporter at the Standard Times, our local paper! Yea! We will miss him at WFA but was what he felt led to do. Thanks for praying for him. God is very, very good!
Part 2 Our 4th WFA Drilling Course
Sharing what we know with Rural development worlers and missionaries. Training trainers.
Below are a few pics of our recent drilling class at the Duncan Ranch:
Our most recent class was with a couple of missionaries from Africa, Jeff and Mike and also Greg ,a hydrology professor who will be teaching this in Mississippi to students and in the third world,Dave, another water NGO director and airline pilot, Danny, a pastor who may work in Haiti, Don, retired and drilling in Africa, and Jeremy, a future missionary.
Also with us were Joe and Rob our WFA guys in Ethiopia and Matthew my son who helped us, plus Sara and Jeremy.
A great group of guys. The best story of the course was from Malcomb, (we tell lots of stories) who heads a foundation that does work all over, Nicaragua, the Congo, etc. He is a fascinating guy, who was once butt naked in the middle of the Sahara Desert taking a bath (it is a long story) and didn’t want to waste the water so decided to wash his truck. He didn’t bother to put any clothes on being in the middle of the Sahara Desert. So while washing his truck butt naked in the middle of the Sahara Desert a bunch of guys on camels with swords and turbans ride up and stare. They don’t speak English so there they are. Again it was a long story so I will leave it there. Anyway we had a great, great course with a great bunch of Christian guys from all over. It always amazes me how good God is and how good and selfless his servants are.
They all loved the course and we had great fellowship.
TW.
Everyone takes home bits, bit parts, and pump parts and a well head. Everything needed to go to a poor area and reproduce it and start a well drilling movement among the poor!
Checking out the local hydrology
Looking at cuttings
Reaming by hand.
A bunch of good guys!
During the course one of our former students, Gary M. wrote the following from Kenya.
We started drilling using the manual method of Water for All yesterday in the village of Tumaini Kenya. It is located about 20 Kilometers North East of Nakuru where we are staying it is a mountainous area made up of small villages and subsistance farmers . Corn, ptoatoes and carrots make up the major crops along with sheep and cattle. Really pretty countryside and the temperature is very comfortable this time of year.
We got our derrick set up and started drilling yesterday but due to a major downpour with hail we only drilled about two hours and had hard drilling but we made progress to 16 ft.
This am we got an early start and had harder drilling most of the morning but made it to about 45 ft. by lunchtime.
We were drilling through a soft rock layer and after lunch the bit just started dropping and we were suddenly in clay and sand. The bit just kept going down about 5 ft. every 5-10 minutes and we just kept on adding pipe and we got to about 75 ft. and we had a little team huddle and decided to try to get to 95ft (our goal ) before leaving for the day almost immediately sand and gravel started coming up big sand and small pea gravel and the bit just started falling like 5 minutes for 5 ft.
Everyone was really jazzed because of the sand this is a sure sign of water and we were bringing up lots of it. Then we went to add 5 ft. of pipe and the pipe in the hole just started running water out and so we just stood and watched for several minutes then we added the next section of pipe and took the hole to 95…………….79ft. in one day praise God!
Gary’s note reminded us of of why we offer the course. He called the other day and he did two wells for schools with what he learned from the course. In addition to our own programs we want to inspire and train others to GO.
Here are a few comments from the questionnaire we asked the attendees to fill out.
“The course was incredibly valuable for me, I would definitely recommend it. It was valuable both in training on how to apply the method in the field that could not be gained simply by reading a manual, for eliminating the naïve notions that one can show up in the third world and successfully apply the method without some practice or reliance on others with greater experience…..It was a great experience for me – hope to apply it in the third world before too long.” Dr. Greg Davidson, Hydrology Professor.
“I really believe in the work you are doing and have seen first hand the need for this ministry throughout Kenya…..I want to encourage you to keep going. You are meeting a huge need.. I have had a great time and have met a great group of guys. Thank you all so much for this opportunity. I hope to be able to work with you guys in the field.” Jeff Brown, missionary to Kenya.
“Thought the atmosphere was very good… Terry and all the interns did a great job of passing along information, yet being very humble. Great stories and humor…. … I thought that everything that was offered was great….Your are not only a blessing to those attending, but obviously to God’s children throughout the world…. Super job by all involved.” Dave Reirson, Director of Hope2Others.
Thanks so much for helping make these courses possible. Rob and Joe were with us and recharged and soon will be returning to Ethiopia. Also we just made final arrangements to train and help a group get started with drilling trials in Uganda. Joe will be headed there in November. Pray for us all. I head back to Bolivia the 10th of November. Also for Cayo and our church in San Julian, they have a revival planned for the middle of October. And again thanks to Skipper for letting us use the ranch and congratulations to Malcomb for the best story of the course!
Thanks for making all this happen. All our supporters make this happen. We offer the course for way under cost and can only do it thanks to all of you.
Pray for us. We live on your prayers.
Sincerely,
Terry
“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next.” C.S. Lewis
Water For All/Agua Para Todos
For info on Water For All’s international work visit,
www.waterforallinternational.org
or email terry@southlandbaptist.org
Tags: Bolivia, Missions, Water Wells