Bittersweet Ending

Crew the Last Week
Me, Paulo, Ekatorot, Todd, Ekai, Daniel, Loye
First Peter, David
(Missing Danger and 2nd-to-last-born)

This past week was the last week in the Bush for Todd and I. We drove out to a new location Monday morning, hoping and praying to finish a well. Upon our arrival we learned that the current hole in the ground was NUMBER 9!! I wasn’t sure if we were going to get a well finished or not now.  As we began to help, we soon learned why they were having such a tough time digging.

Paulo & Me

Ekai & Me

Each week this summer with the drilling crew, we had faced a new challenge digging, whether it was clay, pressure, the casing getting stuck, or not enough water. Next up, rocks!! In the new location the soil was very rocky. On well NUMBER 9, we soon hit rocks. Ekai then started the water-witching all over again. He found a new spot, which we hoped and prayed would bring us our first completed well. By late Monday, however, we realized that the water the crew was drinking was not clean water. They were getting water out of the river. All summer we had the privilege of having a second pump near to where we were drilling. At this new location, our wish for a more hardcore experience was granted. We were either going to have to drink the river water or dig us a well, so we could get clean water…

Finished Well

Well, Tuesday morning rolled around and 19 feet of digging later God blessed us; we had enough water and depth to the hole for a hand pump. We began pumping out water with a portable gas pump to make sure there was enough water to suffice. We had dug the people of that area their first well. God willing, we also got us some clean drinking water. People from all over the area came to fill their water jugs and take baths. We had reached this point before, but never actually installed and cemented the hand pump, due to the rise of the Kerio River in Week Two.

Momma and her baby getting a drink

Sylvester came late Wednesday morning with all the necessary pipes and metal hand pipe. All morning we mixed sand, gravel, and concrete dust to pour over the base. Ekai took apart and helped us install the hand pump. After four weeks in the Bush drilling wells, at 12 o’clock noon, God blessed us with the completion, from start to finish, in just two days, our very first well. As excited as we were, Todd and I both knew that we had come over here to drill wells, but God had different plans.

Clean drinking water

With only the full completion of one well many people would not consider this summer a success. However, I think this summer has been a huge success. God allowed Todd and I to be apart of His Kingdom Work in Turkana and contribute a piece in His Plan. Personally, God has helped me grow spiritually. I have built relationships that if I do not see these guys in this life, I will in the next. As much as I have learned from the crew and people here about perseverance, hospitality, love, and friendship, I know they have learned from Todd and I also. Maybe it has been challenging in them in their daily bible study, showing them what grace is, or just giving them the shirt off my back, I don’t know, but I definitely feel like I have learned a lot more and been blessed from them than they have from me.

Todd & First Peter

The Turkana send their greeting to their brothers and sisters in Christ in America and they hope to meet you someday. They were adamant that they would be praying for you.

God was here before I got here and He will be here after I leave.

It is sad to be leaving them tomorrow, to head to Nairobi, but God has allowed this summer to be one to remember forever.

WATER!!!!!

However, even though we finished a well, we still had to move on to the next location because it was only Wednesday. We still had another day of work to do. 

The new location proved like the others, we dug all day and no completed well. Todd and I took our last turns spinning the drill as 5 o’clock Thursday rolled around. When five hit, both of us took off our gloves and handed them to Ekai as if to say our time here working is done. We hugged him as we headed back to camp for the night. My stomach knotted up thinking this might be the last time I get to work side by side with these guys.

A Bittersweet Ending

We had completed ONE well this summer and dug more holes than I can count. We met some amazing guys and made some lifelong friends, which we can now stay in touch with because we made them Facebooks and Emails. God is great. He has blessed me so much this summer.

The start of one last time

We said our goodbyes to the crew I was able to let my mind recall everything that we have been able to do as we started on our journey home Friday morning. We have experienced town life, bush life, built desks for schools, spent time with the drilling crew, seen farms, Lake Turkana, Malindi (the coast), taught at TBTI, and then we get to see some of Nairobi and some animals before we leave.

Our journey home wasn’t typical either…

Lodwar Mt. 1 hour into Journey

We decided to walk…from the Bush to Lodwar. Six in the morning we got up and headed out. Three and a half hours of walking later, we arrived successful back in town completing our last week in the Bush.

Lodwar Mt. 2 hours into Journey

Thank you to everyone who helped support me and have been praying for me this summer.