Monday, March 24

 I thought I would start today's update by talking about what we did yesterday afternoon.  Jim and I took the opportunity to visit some neighborhoods where Water for Good staff live.  We wanted to hear their stories and meet the spouses and children.  It was fun to get into the neighborhoods and see people still in their houses.  In one neighborhood though MISCA peace keepers were stationed in the area which quickly reminded us that things are not normal.  It really means a lot to these families to have us come to their homes.  Gerard introduced us to his wife and welcomed us into his home.  He shared how honored they were to have us stop at their house.  He showed us pictures he had on the wall of Jim and Faye Hocking and Tom and Sue Peters,  he also retrieved a picture I had given him of my family.  He shared that when the violence started and they thought they would have to abandon their home, he told his wife to make sure and grab the pictures because he did not want to loose them.  Another reminder that we are investing in people when we do the work.  We also met with Nicaise and his family in a different neighborhood and it was typical in that the road was very narrow and our truck barely fit in between the houses.  As we did at the other visits, Jim talked with them and asked about their experiences with the war.  Before we left we spent time praying for them.  Please continue to lift up these families and the other Water for Good staff because each day is a challenge.
     In yesterday's post, I mentioned how there are starting to be signs of life getting back to a little bit of normalcy and that is true.  But last night gave a quick reminder that the fighting is not over.  There was a clash between some MISCA forces and the Anti- balaka forces on the main road.  This clash lasted most of the night resulting in the road being blocked today.  This cut off access for us to get to the Water for Good properties as well as for the Water for Good staff to come to our part of town.  So, some of the same neighborhoods we were in yesterday were now inaccessible due to the unrest.  Things on this end of town continued as normal except for the obvious increase of military vehicles moving around.  So this prevented us from doing any of our work today so we had to adjust and just be patient, hoping that things are better tomorrow.  Please continue to pray for the situation.
     In spite of our change of plans Jim and I had a productive afternoon meeting with several people.  One meeting was with a relief organization that wants to partner with Water for Good.  The meeting was very positive and it looks like it will be a good partnership to help with water, sanitation and Ag work.  Our other meetings were opportunities for Jim to talk to different people to gather information and different perspectives on the situation here.  So even though it was not what we had hoped for as far as work production, God used our time.

Tim