Monday, August 27, 2018

Out There with the Beams -- August 2018


Dear Friends and Family,

We had a great tour of the U.S. this summer visiting friends, family, and supporting churches across quite a few states.  Thank you so much for hosting us so graciously as we traveled around the country.  It was great seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and sharing how God is working in Bolivia. If you are new to our monthly newsletter, then bien venidos!  We are now busy setting up mission teams for trips to Bolivia this fall and next year.  We hope you will join us on this journey and help us share God’s love by becoming a valuable partner in this ministry. 

Agua Yaku Update
While we were traveling this summer, my Agua Yaku crew began a new well drilling partnership/project with two local mission organizations, the Baptist Convention of Bolivia and the Swiss Evangelical Mission.  Marcos and his crew packed up the well drilling equipment and headed up to the town of Riberalta, located about as far north at you can go in Bolivia, right up next to Peru and Brazil—two full days drive from Santa Cruz.  The Baptist and the Swiss mission have been working in this area for years, planting churches and discipling new believers in the rural indigenous communities around Riberalta. 

Access to clean water has always been a top priority and a huge need in this area.  Local pastors and community leaders asked the missionaries for help drilling water wells in these remote communities.  After contacting Agua Yaku about the need, we began discussing the possibility of starting a drilling project in the area this year.  We needed to act fast because it is only possible to get the drilling equipment into these communities during the dry season months of July through October. 
This is where you come in! We need your financial help to complete this project.  We made the commitment knowing that God would provide the means to get this done.  We committed to drilling 65 household wells (with manual handpumps installed) in 13 rural communities where these two mission organizations are working.  Fortunately, groundwater is relatively shallow in this region and if we do not hit too much rock, we should be able to find good water at a depth of 50 to 100 feet.  If everything goes smoothly, we should be drilling three to five wells a week.

Water well recipient families have agreed to help with labor, to provide a meal or two, and to pay about Bs. 500 ($72.50 USD) to help cover the costs of materials, but after we pay the full cost of materials, fuel, travel expenses, salaries, mission admin fees, etc., the actual cost of each well will be closer to $600 USD.  We need donations help cover the remaining $527.50 cost of each well we drill, or $34,287 USD to cover the cost of all 65 wells.

We will drill as many wells as we can, but we cannot drill wells for every single family.  Many residents will continue to collect contaminated water from surface sources such as rain water, shallow hand-dug wells, rivers and streams, and even stagnant livestock ponds.  We want to ensure that each person has access to clean water regardless of whether they have their own water well.  Habitual use of water filters helps ensure that each cup of water a child (or adult) drinks is clean regardless of the original water source, and that it will not contribute to the endemic problem of gastrointestinal disease that is so common throughout this region. So, along with drilling water wells, Agua Yaku will also distribute water filters and implement a WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) training program. Agua Yaku will donate water filters to schools, health posts, and churches in each of these communities.  We will also offer filters for sale to families at a nominal subsidized price.  The cost for each filter distributed is approximately $42.00 USD.  We would like to distribute at least 300 filters during this project in Riberalta.  To reach this goal we need to raise additional counterpart funding of $12,600 USD. 

Combining the cost of water wells and filters, we need to raise a total of $46,887 USD to cover our commitment to this project.  Please consider being a part of the solution. Help us share clean water and the love of Christ through word and deed with these humble families.  We have already drilled over 20 wells in Riberalta in July and August, but we need your help to take the project forward. 
Stay tuned for an exciting update on our new AQUASIV water filter in the coming weeks. 
Blessings,
Danny

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