Water, Water!

Today marks 4 weeks that our entire community has not had water from the main street line. They told us we are in worse shape now than before. While they have the main water pump out for repair (which has been 2 weeks), someone stole the 2 electric transformers needed to run the pump. So, it is looking like it may be a while till we have water from the street again.

The water truck is beginning to be a regular part of our community. We will see it coming in daily and sometimes several times a day. You can buy water from the truck to fill the tanks that most people have on the roof. This reserve supply is used for the normal daily water outages. But in extended cases like this, everyone is thankful to have those big tanks on the roof. It is what gives us running water in the house while there is none coming in from the street.

When someone buys a load of water, if there is leftover water, they will fill up any buckets or containers that people bring out. Here the water man is filling our buckets from the leftovers of a load of water that someone else had purchased.
Since there are very few wells here, lots of people, including us, are collecting rain from spouts. Here is a picture of 2 houses collecting rain water. Notice the blue bucket clear to the left and then the 2 buckets clear to the right - both collecting water from the rainspouts. The middle one is collecting the rain falling from the sky, I guess.

There has been a positive side to this dilemna. All of the neighbors are working together and sharing what they can with one another. It really is a beautiful sight. One lady came knocking at our door one day and told us to bring out our buckets and containers. She had bought a load of water and was making sure the neighbors would get what was leftover.

The Dominican people are some of the most sharing people. It reminds us that we help and understand one another best when we have gone through the same trials. Everyone is in the same situation and so there is understanding and a helping spirit toward one another.

Water pictures #2

We came to the end of our resources and had to order a load of water to fill our tanks on the roof. You can see them putting the hose up over the roof to pump the water into the tanks on the roof.

My laundry was backed up! I cannot stand to let it pile up, but we kept thinking it would only be another day till we got water back and were trying to hold out.
The third week, a neighboring community turned their line on to run into our community. Here is J. helping to fill buckets of water to reserve from the water coming in.

One day a neighbor lady let us pump water from her cistern to help us out. The hose she ran across the street had some holes in it, so another neighbor put her basin under it to catch the water running out. Any drip of water is precious!

We were one of the few houses that received water from the neighboring sector. So we ran a hose across the street to fill our neighbors' containers. This house does not have any tanks on the roof and so they have no running water at all. They are purely living out of these containers.

God is abundant!

Last week I heard the statement, "God is abundant". As a child growing up in the U.S. I didn't really have to do without a lot of things. However, I did grow up in a simple family who was very frugal and trusted God for what we did not have. I watched God provide for our needs time and again which helped to build my faith for my life as a missionary.

So I've always known God is abundant. But on the mission field you have lots and lots of times (sometimes daily) to put your faith out there and see if God will come through yet again. And - the great news is - He always does!

I have prayed for everything from food to furniture and God has provided so many desires of my heart - some things I really didn't even NEED, but I just desired. Some of those times were when I was secretly praying and did not tell anyone what I wanted but God heard and answered my prayer!

I have learned that when you have a chance to prove God, He will prove Himself! Up until this point in America, we've had things pretty much at our fingertips. We haven't had to trust God - really. But with the current economic crisis, some are in very hard places. I just want to challenge you that God is abundant and He does provide our needs when we wait and let Him. So many times we run ahead and try to "help" God and miss the blessing that He had just around the corner if we had waited for it. I have found that when I wait on Him (sometimes really wondering how He's going to pull this one off), He DOES come through! And all of the waiting was more than worth it!

Last week was one of those times - I put God to the test and He came through again! That's MY God!

How about you? Have you waited on God and found His provision? God is abundant!

Water update

We did not get water from the street yet, so we went together with another neighbor on Thursday and bought water to fill the tanks on the roof. This has allowed us to catch up laundry and clean the house yesterday. A clean house and clean clothes makes me feel like a new woman!

There is no guarantee of when we will get water from the street again. The pump is broken down and the company will not come to fix it. We are stuck! Several people from the community have gone and talked to them and tried to push them and have gotten nothing. So we sit and wait hoping that someday they will come up with a solution.

"Pioneer Days"

One of the children today said, "This is like it was back in Pioneer Days." I explained that some towns do celebrate Pioneer Days, but we are living them!

Yesterday was a very interesting day. The water from the street has been off since last Wednesday. The pump that pumps water into our community is broken and they are having a hard time getting it fixed.

Thankfully, on Friday water came in from another community and we were able to have water to do our laundry and pump water into the tanks onto the roof - which has sustained us up until today. But - I haven't done laundry since last Friday and with the heat and sweaty clothes, it is really piling up.

We have been conserving water only for necessary things in order to make the reserve water in the tanks stretch. We are flushing toilets with buckets of water that we have caught from rain in order to reserve the water on the roof for things like dishes, washing hands etc.

D. checked the tanks on the roof this morning. He estimated that we had 50 to 70 gallons of water - enough to wash dishes and hands today and get baths tonight. If the water does not come on by tomorrow, we will likely have to order a truck of water.

Also yesterday our electric was off from 8:30 a.m. till 9:00 p.m. In the afternoon, in order to make our battery power back up last - we refrained from using fans or any form of electric in order to keep the refrigerator running. It was a very HOT day, yet we did not turn on fans. By 5:30 I was dripping sweat on all sides. We took the kids to the park and a little breeze blew and - OH! - it felt so good!

By last night we were turning a light on in one room and staying in that room and using flashlights to get around the rest of the house. Thank the Lord our invertor did last and the electric came on around 9:00 and we were able to cool down last night!

So, today - I am sooooooo thankful for electric. Even though I can't do my huge-mongous pile of laundry and some of the kids are about out of clothes, I can sit in front of a fan!!

We went to the grocery store today and I was so excited that I could go to the bathroom, actually FLUSH the toilet, and then wash my hands without having to hurry. It was luxury at its finest. :-)

I am thankful for the blessings I have (which are way more than water and electric), but also very eagerly awaiting water so we can have clean clothes. :-)