Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Goin2GUA

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since our Rotary/First Presbyterian team travelled to Guatemala to install its first Living Waters for the World (LWW) water filtration system. Reports from other LWW partners traveling through the area, as well as e-mails from the system operators, indicate that they system continues to function and provide clean, affordable water for residents living around Iglesia Presbiteriana El Dios Vivo (Presbyterian Church of the Living God).

April 27-May 3: a week of travel & mission partnership for seven folks from Middle Tennessee. Our team: Jennifer Taylor & her son, Jonathon (Fayetteville Rotary), Joseph Hamilton & Todd Jenkins (First Presbyterian, Fayetteville), Robert Montgomery, Teresa Burns, & Raymond Shackleford (First Presbyterian, Pulaski).

Our first purpose will be to visit and provide a check-up for the El Dios Vivo system and its operators, ensuring that they are continuing to maintain and operate the system efficiently, and encouraging them to continue to use it to provide safe water for more of the area’s neediest residents. The second part of the trip will be a journey to Aldea el Jute (Jute Village) to begin the negotiation and preparation process to install another system later this year. Please keep the people we’ll be working with, the system, and our group in your prayers.

Prayer Itinerary
April 27: Fayetteville/Pulaski to Nashville to Houston to Guatemala City to Guastatoya. Please pray for traveling mercies.
April 28: Meeting with the LWW system’s Operating Partners; examining the system, the business plan, and the community education process. Please pray for clear communication, trust, and friendship.
April 29: Repairing/adjusting the system. Please pray for Murphy’s Law to take a vacation.
April 30: Saying goodbye to Guastatoya friends and travelling to Aldea el Jute. Please pray for safety, peace.
May 1: Getting to know the community of Aldea el Jute and the folks there who are interested in getting their own water filtration system. Please pray for openness and deepening friendships.
May 2: Negotiating a LWW convenio (covenant) with Aldea el Jute; traveling to other villages to test water. Please pray for diplomacy and good water-testing skills.
May 3: Aldea el Jute to Guatemala City to Houston to Nashville to Fayetteville/Pulaski. Please pray for Godspeed.

© 2009 Todd Jenkins