Walking for water

I have always been amazed at how beautiful the form of water can be. Whether a rushing river, a placid lake, or even dew forming on grass, it’s always pretty incredible to see. I managed to get a picture of it in an even more beautiful form than these last year as I was working with World Harvest Mission in South Sudan, the newest nation in the world.

Let me give you a little background for the picture...

Not only is South Sudan one of the hottest places in the world, it is one of the hardest places in the world to get clean drinking water as a result of the destruction and neglect of infrastructure during the civil wars that have been waged in South Sudan for over forty of the last sixty years. Children and women travel miles every day to collect water for the family's needs, and if you've ever carried a gallon of milk to the house after the car from grocery shopping you'll know this is no joke (especially if you consider that the water containers common to that part of the world, known as "jerry cans" are larger than 5 gallons in size)

As one of my teammates noted, Jerry Cans come in all shapes and sizes proportioned for the carrier...(picture courtesy of teammate Christine Olmeda)


It was amazing to work with communities in hearing their stories, sharing the gospel, and installing solar powered water pumping systems that greatly increase access to safe drinking water. Simply sharing the good news of the great love Jesus has for them, and helping aid their physical needs.

Increasing access to safe drinking water is essential to development, and greatly increases quality of life. This has recently and currently been done through drilling well-like holes in the ground called boreholes. They might be though of as wells that need to be manually pumped. While the borehole systems currently in place in the Mundri region (see the post "water" below for a most "excellently" drawn diagram) are effective in that they are safe to drink from without treating the water first, they tend to fail mechanically, are expensive to construct, and it can be tiring for women and children to use. That is why World Harvest Mission is partnering with the water authorities of the region to install solar panel powered pumping systems in the boreholes (in place of the manual pumps) that allow for multiple watering stations that can spread out over a wide perimeter. This allows water to be pumped faster, and to a broader area, good stuff!

I can't wait to take part in this work!!!

"…’Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev 22:17