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Clean Water System Proposal for 2008-2009 Living Waters Team Reflections: Past, Present, Future - February 2007 Financial Support Request - 2006 Guatemala Survey trip - October 2005 Translator Story: Even God shops on ebay Shenandoah Presbytery Living Waters Team Clean Water System Proposal for 2008-2009 The Living Waters Team (LWT) has several possibilities for clean water system installations in Guatemala this year. Our goal is to partner with a church, churches or Mission Community to take on a project in 2008. We install clean water systems to treat existing contaminated water supplies; we do not develop wells, springs, or other water sources. The focus is on developing long-term international mission relationships while providing clean water to stem the tide of more than three million deaths each year related to drinking contaminated water. The clean water system is:
February 2007 - by Mac Sterrett, Installation Team Leader Looking for a long-term mission opportunity to build lasting relationships with a foreign church or mission organization? Consider partnering with Shenandoah Presbytery’s Living Waters Team on a water purification project to provide pure drinking water to people in less developed countries! Shenandoah Presbytery’s Living Waters Team installed its second water purification system in March 2006 in Guatemala. Partnering with First Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro, the system was installed at the Spring of Hope mission in the town of San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. Spring of Hope is operated by Promised Land Ministries, a non-denominational Christian ministry based in Guatemala City. The mission operates a feeding program for 150 children, five days each week, and provides a hot meal along with several hours of secular and religious education. The system has been providing pure water for the children and staff since March. Local health department approval has just been granted to allow distribution of pure bottled water to other members of the community. First Presbyterian Church of Waynesboro has had a 12-year mission partnership with Spring of Hope, and work to install the purification began in October 2005 when three Living Waters Team members traveled to Guatemala to “survey” the site and negotiate a covenant. Six members of First Presbyterian Church joined a team organized and lead by three Living Waters Team members for the week-long installation trip in March. In January 2007, three Living Waters Team members returned to the site for the first of two annual follow-up visits. The system was found to be functioning properly, and minor operational issues were discussed with the operator and corrected. During the followup trip in January, four other potential water system sites were visited in neighboring towns and villages. Two very promising prospects for future systems were identified and “surveyed.” Water samples were collected, potential buildings and building sites were reviewed, measurements taken. Water analyses on the water sources for each village (one source is a lake, the other a river) tested positive for bacterial contamination. Local leaders in each village are excited about the prospects for water purification systems to serve their communities. Each system would be located at a church and would be under the daily operation of church members. The Living Waters Team is seeking congregations or mission communities within Presbytery who are looking for long-term mission relationship opportunities to partner on one of these projects in Guatemala. The Living Waters Team will supply three experienced team leaders to organize and lead the installation trip and will provide $5,000 up front seed money to help with the project. Partners would need to commit to making two followup trips in addition to the installation trip (total of three trips) and pay the remainder of the project cost, estimated to be approximately $15,000 over three years. While the costs will vary depending on the number of team members, airfares, and ground costs, these planning figures are fairly sound. Approximately $10,000 would need to be committed to pay for the week-long installation trip, with the costs of the two followup trips (each estimated at approximately $2,500) being committed over the two following years. Shenandoah Presbytery
LIVING WATERS TEAM Financial Support Request The Shenandoah Presbytery LIVING WATERS TEAM is a Presbytery-sponsored program under the Worldwide Ministries committee of Shenandoah Presbytery. Only one percent of all water on earth is available for human consumption, agriculture and industrial use. Half of the water available for drinking and cooking is contaminated. As a result, three million people die each year: more than one half are children! The LIVING WATERS TEAM VISION is to use the gift of clean water to bring together congregations of the Shenandoah Presbytery and others interested in mission with our sisters and brothers in need of clean water. The Living Waters Team enables the Presbytery's churches to provide pure water in those areas of less developed countries where clean water is not available. This program is available through a partnership between the local Presbytery church or group and those who are to receive the water. The Living Waters Team installs water purification systems developed by the Living Waters for the World mission program of the Synod of Living Waters. The Shenandoah Presbytery Living Waters Team needs ongoing financial support to carry out its Mission of providing equipment, know-how and technical support to install water purification systems. The complete program includes both hygiene and Christian education. The Living Waters Team is presently working on programs in Mexico, Guatemala and surrounding regions of Latin America. To accomplish these objectives, the LIVING WATERS TEAM would like to request the financial support of all churches in the Presbytery. To achieve ongoing yearly progress, the Program would benefit from predictable, continuing funding from our member churches. The cost of a pure water installation is $15,000 to $20,000, depending on project location and water condition. The objective of the LIVING WATERS TEAM is to install a minimum of 2 systems per year. With the assistance of all churches in the Shenandoah Presbytery, this objective will be met. Recognizing that there are churches of differing sizes in our Presbytery, and that each church must choose what programs it can support in addition to its regular budget needs, the LIVING WATERS TEAM would like to suggest the following for your consideration. For those churches that annually contribute up to $5,000 in support of the Presbytery budget, please consider an annual contribution to the LIVING WATERS program of from $100-500. For those churches contributing a greater amount to the Presbytery budget, we would ask you consider contributions of $500 or more to the LIVING WATERS TEAMS Programs. Annual financial support, whether it is in the amount of $100 or $1,000, will create an ongoing fund for the installation of new LIVING WATERS water purification systems each year. Donations to the LIVING WATERS programs can be made directly to the Presbytery. Thank you for your prayerful consideration of these requests. For more information contact Ron Knutson, LIVING WATERS Support Team Coordinator email – rcpwk@adelphia.net - telephone – 540 261 7152 November 2005 In late October two members of Presbytery’s Living Waters Team traveled to Guatemala to do an initial survey for the potential installation of a Living Waters for the World water purification system at the Spring of Hope Mission in San Lucas Toliman. Dan Woodworth (First Presbyterian Waynesboro) and Mac Sterrett (Augusta Stone), representing the Living Waters Team, were accompanied by The Rev. Glen Holman of First Presbyterian Waynesboro as they met with representatives of Promised Land Ministries. Promised Land Ministries is the founder and operator of the Spring of Hope Mission; First Waynesboro has a long-standing mission partnership with Promised Land Ministries. Spring of Hope operates a daily feeding program for 150 children, 5 days a week. The children receive spiritual nourishment, a hot meal, and bottled water which the mission purchases. Installation of a water purification system would mean that Spring of Hope could produce its own pure water for the children, the kitchen, and members of the community at a fraction of the cost of purchasing bottled water. Dan and Mac report that the survey trip was very positive and is leading to the development of a Covenant to install a water purification system at Spring of Hope. They toured the facility and developed a plan for housing the water purification equipment, met with local representatives to learn more about the existing water supply and water distribution system, and took water samples. The Covenant that is being negotiated will define the responsibilities of Presbytery and Spring of Hope relative to the installation, operation and maintenance of the system and will ensure that the partnership venture is successful both spiritually and physically. If things move along smoothly, the Living Waters Team hopes to be able to install the water purification system during late winter. Dan, Mac and Glen also had the opportunity to assist in distributing hurricane relief supplies in a nearby village. Just two weeks before their scheduled trip, Hurricane Stan tore through Central America, raving the Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala. Mudslides and flooding wiped out entire villages, roads and infrastructure, causing $1 billion in damage and killing 669 in Guatemala with another 844 missing. Promised Land Ministries was involved in distributing relief supplies in many towns and villages affected by the carnage. The Presbytery team members helped distribute bags of foodstuffs, staples, water, and blankets in a neighboring Mayan village that had suffered damage. Although our host Spanish missionaries needed translators to speak to the villagers in the local Mayan language, it was obvious from their reaction that they were grateful for the aid made possible in part by contributions from the U.S. partners of Promised Land Ministries. Witnessing the devastation first-hand and being part of the relief effort gave new meaning to the work of the church and dedicated missionaries in foreign lands. Even God Shops on ebay! By Mac Sterrett, Installation Team Leader It’s amazing how God works his wonders with us mere mortals, and a recent experience on ebay showed me how God uses the internet to bring together brothers and sisters in His name. I’m continually monitoring ebay for good deals on electronic Spanish-English translators; I take them with me on short-term mission trips to Spanish-speaking countries and give them to youth and adults who have a sincere desire to increase their knowledge of English. On a recent successful bid, the seller gave me two shipping options; one fast but expensive, the other slow but cheap. I opted for slow and cheap, adding that I didn’t need it right away, that I took them on mission trips to give as gifts. A reply from the sender was grateful: the translator belonged to her 13-year-old daughter who no longer needed it, and they were excited to learn how it would be used. Because they were interested, I sent them a link to my on-line photo album of a recent mission trip to Mexico and pointed out a photo of an 11-year-old girl who was a recipient of one of my translators. Minutes later I received a message from PayPal, ebay’s on-line payment system, informing me that I had a refund. A refund? Why? The answer appeared in my email in-box about 30 seconds later: My daughter has refunded your money and wants to donate the translator; when you give it away, please let them know that Heather hopes it will help them learn English, just as it helped her learn Spanish. Two weeks later I was in Guatemala for a short mission trip. While there I met a young man named German; he was a nurse in the local mission-run medical clinic. We had several interesting if labored conversations; I speak virtually no Spanish, but his English was sufficient that we could converse on a very basic level. At one point I took out my translator that always stays in my pocket, and when he saw how it worked he became very excited. So I gave him the one donated by Heather; a note I had taped to the back explained it was a gift from her. Upon my return to the States I emailed my ebay friends in Wisconsin, letting them know who received the translator and enclosing some photos. A reply came quickly: she was excited and thankful to learn how her donation was being used, and she was taking her story and photos to school to present to the Student Government Advisor. Each year her school runs a fund-raiser to support a worthy cause, and she wanted to make a pitch for sending money and supplies to children and families in need in Guatemala. I have since put this young woman and her family in touch directly with the missionaries in Guatemala, and there is the possibility that her school in Wisconsin might form a direct relationship with school children in Guatemala. Her hope is to be able to provide funds and supplies to make it possible for several children in poverty-stricken villages to attend school. Of all the items I have bought and sold on ebay, surely this is the most valuable! Who would ever have thought that the simple act of making a small purchase on ebay would lead to a mission partnership with a foreign country? How many other routine transactions in our daily lives might yield similar global results? Yes, the Lord works in mysterious ways; He even uses ebay! Do you have your password? Have you placed your bid in His auction? |