Clean water, living water!

        LIFT 45 had smooth travels on Sunday by vans to JFK and a direct flight to the Dominican Republic.  They arrived at the Students International base outside of Santiago just in time for a delicious dinner.  After a morning of orientations sessions on Monday, the students have been going out to work with the missionaries at the various ministry sites: 2 medical sites, appropriate technology, women's social work, boy's sports site, early childhood education, construction, and media.  

The following is a post from Alex Brown at the appropriate technology site:

        The barrio in Lo Salado in Cienfuegos is home to over 2500 families living in poverty, most of which do not have access to clean water. Seeing this need, Students International Santiago has paired up with a local pastor named Alex Jimenez to help change that.   He creates fast, long term gravity filters which he puts out into the community. The filters take around a month to make each, first he must pour the concrete form which takes 2-3 days to set, and then must sit with water in them for 18 days to ensure that there are no leaks.

        People in the community request his water filters.  Alex identifies those with the greatest need.  He sells each filter for 500 pesos which turns out to be around 10 dollars. It is best to sell them, so the people value them and take ownership rather than just receiving them for free. Along with the filter, Alex also installs the filters, cleans and maintains them, and moves them for the family if needed. This is a great way to build trust and relationships over time with the families in order to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

        In our short time here thus far, we have helped Alex deliver and install 2 filters in homes, and there are now 266 filters in the community of Cienfuegos, which means that 1 in every 10 families now has access to clean water.  His goal is to reach every home in the barrio and get to know everyone in the community. After teaching the families about how to use and maintain the filters, he shares about his relationship with Jesus, invites them to church then prays for them.  He continues his relationships with families with follow-up visits.  It is our prayer that Alex would be able to continue his work making and selling filters, and that the filters would be an avenue to share the hope of Jesus Christ with the people of Cienfuegos.