Starting the New Year Strong

Wow, a two month hiatus from our last blog post! Since then we have gone through Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years and made our trek back to Honduras. It was a wonderful time back in the U.S. visiting with family and friends and updating all on what our next year holds for us.

Back in Honduras

2015 is going to be a great year of ministry and a great year for our family! We have a big plan that God has placed before us which will require a lot of work. As we’ve mentioned in previous news and updates, our ministry among the Garifuna people involves touching every area of life. We address problems and issues in 5 key areas: spiritual, physical, social, educational, and economical. Our ministry is wholistic, meaning it involves the whole person and is interconnected to life as we live it and know it. This approach to ministry takes a long time to establish as it is rooted in building trusting relationships. Quality relationships and real change usually comes from time spent with people.

This past year God has blessed our ministry by opening doors in our Garifuna community by establishing several relationships with community leaders and we've been able to learn what the felt-needs are of the community. One of the main needs is access to water. Not only do they have little-to-no access to water, they do not have drinking water which effects health and hygiene.

Put yourself in this position, where you do not have water you can drink (without ill effects), do not have water access inside your home, and even do not have a source of water that is suitable for cooking or cleaning. This also means you cannot flush toilets or take showers. Also, because of the lack of access to any water (purified or not), most homes in this community do not have bathrooms (they find a place outside their home they can use). You can probably imagine what life would be like without water access and how that would not only effect your health and hygiene but how it would effect you mentally as well. It creates a sense of helplessness that carries through socially and effects every area of living.

So what to do? 

Since returning to Honduras, the Lord has shown us that we are to initiate a water project in this community. The verse we are basing this project on is from Isaiah 41:17-20:

¹⁷ “The poor and needy search for water,
    but there is none;
    their tongues are parched with thirst.
But I the Lord will answer them;
    I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
¹⁸ I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
    and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
    and the parched ground into springs.
¹⁹ I will put in the desert
    the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.
I will set junipers in the wasteland,
    the fir and the cypress together,
²⁰ so that people may see and know,
    may consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,
    that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

The purpose of this project is not only to give people clean water, but to help them see that the Lord is the one who is providing (v. 20), that it is him helping them through us so that they might know him better.

One of our first meetings with the community.

The plan is to have a well drilled on community property (donated by a local pastor) where all can access and install a filtration system to purify the water. Not only will we drill a well, but we have designed a beautification project that will complement the water project. Imagine a beautiful area, like a gazebo with tropical plants and flowers and places to sit in the shade and talk with a neighbor. At the center of this area is a filing station where community members can come and get the water they need. This area would be cared for by the community and managed by a “Junta de Agua” (an official group required by the Honduran gov’t designated to oversee access and maintenance of the project).

We have also planned an education program that will teach the community how having clean water will change their way of living and improve their lives, and of course the spiritual aspect that will use the education opportunities to teach about biblical concepts. We anticipate that this first major project will be the “seed” that gives many more ways to improve this community with a solid foundation built on Christ and will open doors into other areas to touch lives and unify this community.

What’s required?

We have estimated that the total cost from start to finish will be approximately $7,500. This estimate includes drilling the well (costs for equipment, replacement of bits, etc.), installing a purification system (which includes a holding tank and the filtration), and structure to house the filling station. This estimate will probably change as we get more details (for example, we may have other materials donated), but this is our best “educated guess” at this point.

To begin the project we need about 1/3 of the total cost for the actual drilling of the well. Our goal is to raise $2,500 by March 1st so we can begin the first phase of the project the first week of March. The second phase is the filtration system which we have a goal of raising an additional $2,500 by April 1st. And the third phase is the beautification which we have a goal of raising the final $2,500 by May 1st.

How can you partner on this project with us?

We are asking that you would consider giving to this project as the Lord leads you. Any amount helps! Remember, there is no access to clean drinking water in this community. Any amount you give will go to provide clean water to drink and be the beginning to breaking a poverty mindset (physically and spiritually).

Here is an idea: engage your family in this project! The impact of the final “product” will be extreme as it will improve the quality of people’s lives physically, socially and spiritually. It will give them a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11)!

To give directly to this, click on the Dontate Online Now button.

And of course, please pray specifically about this project. First, pray the many opportunities we have to speak into people’s lives would be full of grace and love and that the words of Jesus would be clearly communicated. Pray that this project would create unity within this community and empower people to live fully (to break a poverty mentality... it is happening!). Pray this project would create “equity” for us to initiate other projects designed to compliment it. There are many chains holding these people from their full potential as God has designed them. Pray these chains would be broken!

And finally, THANK YOU! You are crucial to this ministry God has allowed us to be a part of. Your involvement is necessary. We couldn’t do it without you! We'd love to hear from you personally as well. Send us an email at ckwells1[at]gmail.com or call us direct at 503-877-6391 (Oregon local number that calls us in Honduras).

In Christ,
The Wells Family