The first thing I want to do is say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my awesome wife, Jeana. It is hard for me to be away from Jeana on her birthday, but I look forward to dinner with her when I get home. And no, I am not dumb enough to tell you how old she is. You will have to ask her. Haha. I love her more each year!
Ok, on the first day of spring it was hot again; how is that for a weather report! We went back to the office complex to continue our projects. Phase two of the water project was to get the automatic water filter working.
After sitting for many months with no flow going through it, the filter was plugged to the point no water would go through. After some work, the water began to flow through again, and as you can see in the picture I sent, the water was bold reddish brown color (would you like to drink this?) After some flushing, the water started coming out clear.
While I worked on the water filter, the other guys worked on changing filters on the tractor and removing the fuel tank to clean it. Thanks to Rudy Maibach of Maibach Tractor of Sterling, Ohio for helping send new filters over. By the end of the day, the tractor was back together. We hope to get it started tomorrow.
Late morning we decided to head out to the Water for Good farm called PK 22. No one has been out to the facility since Oct. and so we wanted to check things out. PK 22 is outside of Bangui so we had to go through a couple checkpoints along the way. The theme of today's post is, " the power of the flag." As you can see in the picture, there is a flag mounted on the front bumper of the trucks we ride in which identifies the truck as part of an NGO which gives more legitimacy and makes us look important, at least Jim haha! This flag allows us to go places safely that taxis and motor bikes avoid. At the first checkpoint the French military asked us where we were going and why and then since we had a flag, waved us on. We then drove through a section of town reserved only for the remaining Muslims. Again our flag gives us safe passage and respect. We then go through another checkpoint manned by the Anti-Balakas and they saw the flag and waved us through. They also, knew our driver Fabian and the Water for Good truck. We arrived at PK 22 everything looked pretty good. Again, thanks to God, very little was damaged even though it is on the main road, it could have been so much worse. It was nice to see the big white canvas barn still standing. A couple years ago a team from Wooster came and built this barn. Craig, Josh, Dave, Bruce, Larry, Rick all gave up there time to come over here and use their talents for God. Hey guys, it still looks good! The only damage is from the Seleka who cut a hole in the canvas. Today they were patching it back up using fabric and needle and thread. The shop area had a couple things stolen but all the tools were left alone. Unfortunately, the gardens did not fair so well, they were burned and destroyed, what a shame. But just like God is so good at, we saw buds starting to shoot out of a couple of the burned trees. God can make all things new. We can help Water for Good's staff bring life back to the gardens and fields.
On the way back to town we stopped and visited with Fabian's family. Fabian oversees the PK 22 facility and lives in the nearby town. It was great to see his wife and two children again, Fabian talked about when he had our team over to his house after we built the barn, he appreciated what we did to help, but he said he enjoyed getting to know us and asking us questions. Fabian and I have worked together many times. Even though we don't speak the same language, I have had the opportunity to train Fabian on how to operate several of the machines. He is a joy to work with and it has been fun building that relationship.
After our visit at Fabian's home, we stopped at a very small village to check on their water well and foot pump, Jim took the opportunity to ask how the people were doing. They were starting to build a new house making the bricks by hand and using mud as the grout. Small signs that life is moving on for some. Then we stopped in the Muslim section on the way back into town, Jim recognized a man so we stopped and talked a little bit with him. Everyone seemed friendly and happy to talk but you can see on their faces that things have been tough for their community.. Most traffic takes a detour around this section of town because of the unrest and tension between the Muslims and Non Muslims but because of our flag we had the opportunity to go through and stop.
Just as in any conflict, behind the labels, there are just people who need help and especially Jesus.
Thanks for your continued prayers
Tim
Ok, on the first day of spring it was hot again; how is that for a weather report! We went back to the office complex to continue our projects. Phase two of the water project was to get the automatic water filter working.
After sitting for many months with no flow going through it, the filter was plugged to the point no water would go through. After some work, the water began to flow through again, and as you can see in the picture I sent, the water was bold reddish brown color (would you like to drink this?) After some flushing, the water started coming out clear.
While I worked on the water filter, the other guys worked on changing filters on the tractor and removing the fuel tank to clean it. Thanks to Rudy Maibach of Maibach Tractor of Sterling, Ohio for helping send new filters over. By the end of the day, the tractor was back together. We hope to get it started tomorrow.
Late morning we decided to head out to the Water for Good farm called PK 22. No one has been out to the facility since Oct. and so we wanted to check things out. PK 22 is outside of Bangui so we had to go through a couple checkpoints along the way. The theme of today's post is, " the power of the flag." As you can see in the picture, there is a flag mounted on the front bumper of the trucks we ride in which identifies the truck as part of an NGO which gives more legitimacy and makes us look important, at least Jim haha! This flag allows us to go places safely that taxis and motor bikes avoid. At the first checkpoint the French military asked us where we were going and why and then since we had a flag, waved us on. We then drove through a section of town reserved only for the remaining Muslims. Again our flag gives us safe passage and respect. We then go through another checkpoint manned by the Anti-Balakas and they saw the flag and waved us through. They also, knew our driver Fabian and the Water for Good truck. We arrived at PK 22 everything looked pretty good. Again, thanks to God, very little was damaged even though it is on the main road, it could have been so much worse. It was nice to see the big white canvas barn still standing. A couple years ago a team from Wooster came and built this barn. Craig, Josh, Dave, Bruce, Larry, Rick all gave up there time to come over here and use their talents for God. Hey guys, it still looks good! The only damage is from the Seleka who cut a hole in the canvas. Today they were patching it back up using fabric and needle and thread. The shop area had a couple things stolen but all the tools were left alone. Unfortunately, the gardens did not fair so well, they were burned and destroyed, what a shame. But just like God is so good at, we saw buds starting to shoot out of a couple of the burned trees. God can make all things new. We can help Water for Good's staff bring life back to the gardens and fields.
On the way back to town we stopped and visited with Fabian's family. Fabian oversees the PK 22 facility and lives in the nearby town. It was great to see his wife and two children again, Fabian talked about when he had our team over to his house after we built the barn, he appreciated what we did to help, but he said he enjoyed getting to know us and asking us questions. Fabian and I have worked together many times. Even though we don't speak the same language, I have had the opportunity to train Fabian on how to operate several of the machines. He is a joy to work with and it has been fun building that relationship.
After our visit at Fabian's home, we stopped at a very small village to check on their water well and foot pump, Jim took the opportunity to ask how the people were doing. They were starting to build a new house making the bricks by hand and using mud as the grout. Small signs that life is moving on for some. Then we stopped in the Muslim section on the way back into town, Jim recognized a man so we stopped and talked a little bit with him. Everyone seemed friendly and happy to talk but you can see on their faces that things have been tough for their community.. Most traffic takes a detour around this section of town because of the unrest and tension between the Muslims and Non Muslims but because of our flag we had the opportunity to go through and stop.
Just as in any conflict, behind the labels, there are just people who need help and especially Jesus.
Thanks for your continued prayers
Tim
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