Post for Sun Mar 14:
Happy Sunday to all! I hope everyone had a great church service today. We attended the French speaking service which started at 8am. It was awesome to see everyone excited to worship the Lord so early in the morning. After church, we went to the Frech Cafe' for breakfast. We then returned to the guest house and prepared for our return trip to Mbiaki.
Our time in Mbiaki was consumed with hard work getting the water system completed. It was another very hot day, our thermometer stops at 103 degrees, so it was well above that today. I spent some more time in my African sauna making some final connections.
We worked all afternoon trying to fit both the foot pump and the new well pump down the well. The well diameter was smaller than expected so we had to work on several alternative ideas to get it to work. We joked that we went from "plan A" and we lost track of which plan we were on when we got it to work, we think is was plan F or G. We were so excited to finally get things to fit on what we considered out last try.
We praise God for His help!! It was amazing to see the reaction of the people to the water coming out of the new pipe. Everyone was scared at first, then perplexed as to how this was happening. We took turns filling the water containers and then everyone started smiling. It seemed their faces said "we don't have to pump the water yet it still comes out". I am sure that they will not know the extent of our work until they cook with the water because the iron won't be there to stain their pots. Also, in the past, when they drank the water with bananas their teeth would turn black almost instantly, now the iron is gone. My prayer is that God will sustain this system for a long time.
The other guys worked the crowd. Jim Fish taught the kids how to play tick tack toe by scratching it in the dirt. The kids were catching on very quickly and having a blast. Jim also passed out some stuffed animals and nearly got overwhelmed by a swarming mob of kids. The interaction seemed better because it was our second time there. John and Kevin of the Pa team had great fun with the kids, Kevin used his video camera and turned the viewer around so the kids could see themselves. The kids were amazed at seeing themselves and were giggling and laughing and having fun. I caught Bruce sitting under a tree relaxing and he was holding a baby and they both looked like they were ready for a nap. It is fun to see God working through us all. I am impressed with all these guys and their willingness to jump in and work hard but also minister to the people around them. That is the most important part, sharing God's love with people who live in desperation. We have the opportunity to be Jesus to these folks which is a humbling thought but huge opportunity. My prayer is that God uses the water equipment and drill rig and other projects to save peoples lives physically and spiritually.
I will not have access to the internet for a couple of days, so please pray for us even tho there are no new posts. We are travelling up country to see ICDI's future base camp for the drilling and ag projects. While we are there we will be drilling a new well with the new rig built and donated by John's family and company. I know John and Sonny are excited to see their baby in action. They can't wait to drill and hit water. We will be checking out the roads to the Congo because ICDI hopes to start drilling wells in the Congo. We will also be leaving our comfortable guest house with a/c and toilets to experience "real living" in the CAR. We hope to return Wed. night or Thursday morning.
Thanks for your prayers, we need them!!!
Tim Harley
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