Archive for January, 2012

Tuni and Trichy

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Another trip completed and if you weren’t following me on Twitter,  @wellsforlife, then you probably have no idea how this trip went.

I am discovering that tweeting is about the best way to communicate because in many places there is limited or no strong internet connection or if there is I can’t find the time to exploit it, however having a smartphone with downloaded apps sure does help.

I got one of these smartphones in Tuni and now if I could just figure out how to use it, you would think it would be simple and maybe it is but I think because I didn’t spend a lot I got the model which requires a coursebook for operation.  I have never had a phone with so many features and it pales compared to what is available on a Droid or iPhone however this Samsung Galaxy is supposed to be all that here in India; all I need to do is learn it or at least discover how to keep the battery from being drained and enjoy the touted 3 g speeds while seeking to look at emails, tweet or update FB.

Back to the trip.

We carried out 2 well dedications in Tuni for which video and photos will come once I return home but in each place the reception was amazing  and the power of water was evident.  God truly has a good thing going with water!

While in Andhra Pradesh, much of my focus was outside of Wells for Life as I was traveling with several of the leaders from Westside and we were engaged in meetings with those resposnible for running New Life Children’s Home where we have 200 kids.  Our goal was to share our movement towards a holistic approach towards ministry and our involvment with CHE or Community Health Education/Evangelism.

The time was productive and foundation laying and we’ll see how things progress. The upside of all of this is that I believe we are all on the same page and know where each other is at and where our priorities lay; at least I think we know that now.

Trichy was the main focus of my trip on the Wells for Life side as we were dedicating 10 village projects and a solar light panel project along with classroom building at Fr. Dhana’s school, Annai Erica.

I traveled to Trichy with Sue Shroyer, Chris and Sandy Karcher and Dan Southerland.  This was a first time experience for the Karchers and Dan in Trichy and it was fun to watch them go through the day. We couldn’t have asked for a better first experience for them; the weather was tremendous, the accomodations at Hotel Sangam were again perfect and the villages were incredible. For whatever reason of all my trips to Trichy this one felt the most successful for me personally.  Nothing was different on the outside, Dhana and his DPWA staff did an amazing job as always with every detail, I just have to believe that what I was sensing was the fruitfulness of our labor for the past 8 years.

Fr. Dhana and his work with DPWA and how he is moving forward in his development work within the villages and schools like Annai Erica is truly amazing, he has a firm grasp on sustainability when it comes to education and orphan care and I believe is also taking incredible strides in their holistic efforts within the rural villages.  We partnered with him in 5 villages for holistic development and in a short period of just over 1 year he has expanded the program to another 10 villages without our financial assistance; truly an amazing and God blessed man.  His son Prassanna isn’t that bad either; and as a side note, he can sure drive!

I leave Trichy today with a greater sense of accomplishment than I have had in previous trips and I am hopeful that this year we can made further gains within rural area with water.  Funding is the only thing that prevents us from doing more in this region and so my prayer will continue to be that God brings to us the resources so that we can exploit them here through providing the villages with clean safe drinking water.

As I close let me just end by naming some names; Jared Wells, Moonie Narayan, Hovey Williams LLP, Bible Action Group in Lenexa, Kid’s Ministry at WFC, Ron Medina and Hope and Helps Ministry, Allaina Mackay and friends of Wells for Life – you all made this trip possible and water possible in these 12 communities.  You are game changers, life changers, and incredible people; thanks for helping make a difference in rural India through water.

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2012 slogan

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

I tweeted and posted on our Facebook Fan page yesterday my slogan for 2012 and it bears repeating in this blog post, are you ready?  Here it is, “Send as much cash as you have and I will dig as many wells as I can!”

In reality this is what it boils down to; not making a profit, not supporting huge overhead or infrastructure, just trying to make a difference and save a life, or at least make it more meaningful and manageable.

I leave next week for India with the trip focus being two fold; first much time and energy will be spent with our Tuni partners handling some developmental activities that pertain to their future outreach efforts and our partnership with them in these.  After about 4 days of this work and a couple of water dedications in the Tuni area, I will travel to Trichy with 4 close friends and dedicate 10 projects that were originally slated for completion in October but were held up due to some local elections.  (Apparently development work comes to a halt when the local political power base changes and nothing starts up again until the dust settles.)  Thankfully we were able to get these projects completed and give these villagers the water they have been so patiently waiting for.

Speaking of patiently waiting, I was finally able to put together a Year End Summary for 2011 and thanks to my Mac it doesn’t look to bad, check it out by following this link – https://www.onlinefilefolder.com/3sYWmTreOAPpFi

2012 should prove to be an exciting year for Wells for Life because I believe good things are in store for us.  We have proved to be faithful with what we were given and I can’t imagine that expansion and growth won’t be the fruit of that stewardship.

This April we are moving forward in our medical outreach effort and sending a small group to work alongside our DPWA and NASA partners carrying out medical outreach on a village level.  In these camps there will be hundreds and hundreds of men, women and children who lack the resources or ability to receive basic medical care and so we’ll go to them with doctors, nurses and medicines.  It’s true we won’t be able to treat a cancer patient or take out a gall bladder in a grass hut, but we will be able to examine, bring a diagnosis, provide basic medicines, and educate.

Working in this context gets me excited almost as much as seeing water come up out of the ground for the first time from one of our water projects.  It causes me to consider the words of Christ when he talks about caring for those that were sick, hungry, naked, and in prison.  His words were something to the effect of when you cared for the “least” then you had actually cared for Him.

When stated in this way, reaching out and caring for these folks who are considered the “least”, the “untouchable”, the “low caste”, or the marginalized of society; well, when we touch them and help them with water, with medical care, then were really touching and caring for Jesus.  Is there anything better?

This leads me back to my slogan for 2012 and the impact that we all can make this year; so when you are considering where to give, well don’t look past us and give as much as you can because when you do, a whole lot of good will be done!

And for all of you who have supported us, regardless of the amount of your gift….Thank You!

I can’t say it enough because without you and your gift NONE of what I do would be done. Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children in the rural areas of India would not have the life that they now have because of you and your gifts, so really, what has been accomplished is because you cared enough to give, so again, Thank You!

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