Tuesday, July 12, 2011

When God Multiplies...

Water. Food. Space.
When we arrived to no water well for the house and were to be purchasing water to fill our cistern there was no way we could imagine supplying a house of 80. In the first week of DTS we cracked down creating a bucket system to manage. 

Bucket showers are ways of getting clean with between 1-2 gallons used for one bathing time. "showering" can only be once a day as we have 90 people using 5 bathrooms. Because it is so expensive to fill the cistern we decided to make use of the green pool in our yard and use that water to flush the toilets, following the expression "if it's brown, flush it down; if it's yellow, let it mellow." (I'm sure you're getting the picture.) We buy filtered water for drinking only with is about $1.20 per 5 gallons - this is no trouble a'toll and we're really blessed to have only run out of drinking water 3 times in the last month!
Laundry is done by hand in a bucket system that I have yet to master apparently - every time I work on it the Haitians alway laugh, though many have complimented me that I'm "almost Haitian" - I thank my time in Thailand each time.  Many of our Haitians have taken it upon themselves to serve us foreigners in doing our laundry (we joke that it's because they're tired of smelling our clothes haha) but have really blessed us in this.

2 weeks into the school some neighbors opened up their cistern to us to pul water from as they needed to drain it to clean. So we have been so privileged to be able to walk just across the street to get buckets of water for showering, laundry and kitchen needs rather than the walk down the road a whiles to collect it from a hand pump open to the public. Living in this situation truly gives you a respect and compassion for the millions of people around the world who live like this every day of their lives... we are so privileged.

When we began the school many of us were full of doubt with how this water situation was going to work. We spent hours and days trying to find an organization or well digger who would come and bless us with a new well - only to be denied and find that they were months booked. Yet I can say now that since the school began 4 weeks ago, we have only had to fill our cistern twice!!! We honestly have no idea how this is possible but can only praise the Lord for multiplying our water! There were staff meetings where we have laughed together, none of us willing to look into the cistern to see how much is left because we're afraid we'll rob the Lord of His blessing by saying it needs to be refilled! What a funny position to be in!

Not only in the water situation, but in physical space in this house - we have seen the rooms expand as what was comfortable for the 25 of us living in staff training multiplied into 90 people!!! Again, we though this was going to be near impossible and could only pray for a miracle as we prepared for the students to arrive. And sure enough we have easily managed to have all of us living in this house together! Eating, sleeping, dancing, working, and conducting a full lecture phase out of an eight room house, 5 bathrooms, and one kitchen! The kitchen was at first a major problem with sanitary concerns coming in all the time to now servicing 100 people per meal and hardly anyone getting sick.

We have seen water, food, beds, space, and time multiplied to fill the needs of this Discipleship Training School as we train up a generation of youth to chase after intimacy with the Lord! And now we are fully trusting and believing for the provision of finances for ALL of our staff and students as we prepare for outreach! For example, the team of 9 I am leading to Jamaica in total needs $18,000 - and we are fully confident that the Lord will provide that for us! Check out Team Jamaica! to learn more!

Praise the Lord for His Miraculous Provision!!!
Love Always

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