Christmas Water

Location of the Water System indicated by Red Circle

Jesus said to her,“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.^b The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15

The traditional Christmas dinner is pork or roasted bird. According to the National Geographic Water Calculator (1), it takes 108 gallons of water to produce just one pig.

Coffee is a pretty popular drink this time of year. I personally am partial to the peppermint holiday mocha. It takes 37 gallons of water to make just one cup of coffee. We are not even talking about the milk part of my favorite drink (2) .

So what if you woke up on Christmas morning with no coffee and no roast in the oven? What if you went to dawn your Christmas best and had to wear yesterdays clothing because there was not water to do laundry. What if you had to do a really big poop, but couldn't flush?

You may be thinking that I am going the "decrease the water-footprint" route with what I have to say. As much as I think that is generally a good concept to be conscience of, the message I have to relay to you tonight is a more immediate one.

People can't conduct even the simplest daily task without water, but there is a place called Karanda Hospital that is struggling to run because they do not have sufficient water supply. Not being able to do laundry is a common occurrence.

Back in the 60s, My Grandfather put in the first pump to be able to provide the new hospital with Water.

Now the hospital has 150 beds; treats 200-300 outpatients daily; educates 55 nursing students and 50 children; and performs around 4000 surgeries annually (3)
 My father has taken on the task to ensure the hospital water needs are met. The water pump had not been well maintained during Rhodesia's revolution

My father explains the current project in a recent email to me:

We are digging
down into the bank of the earth above the river, building a cistern that
will eventually have walls about 40 feet high (from 30 feet under the ground
to 10 feet above).  We are running two 3" inlet pipes from the deepest part
of the reservoir to the bottom of this cistern.  We then will use a large
sump pump to shoot the water up to the top of the cistern into a sand filter
tank.  The output of this filter will go into another filter and to our
"river pump".  The water will go to tanks on the mountain.  Grandpa Phil
worked on a similar system about 50 years ago ... though we are doing it a
little different.

This month a man and his teen-age sons brought out supplies to help complete the project. They sent a 1000lb pallet of equipment via ship. I continue to get updates every day from the man's wife about the progress. They have indeed made progress and people continue to finish each day safely. Possiblity of earth cave-ins and other mishaps were on the main list of concern.

My parents emailed me just yesterday with yet another concern. Although progress has been made, the funds have now run dry. They have depleted most of the hospital reserves which is generally designated for drugs and other hospital equipment. 

Many of you have heard about Zimbabwe on the news at one point or other. According to CNN, in 2008 her inflation rate reached 2.2 million percent (4). The county holds the 5th Highest number of people infected with HIV and lowest life expectancy. Ironically, Zimbabwe ranks 4th in the production of diamonds and is the home of the largest waterfall in the world (5).

This hospital plays a crucial roll in reaching thousands with both physical relief and eternal peace. I am asking you this Christmas season to consider celebrating the birth of the Living Water by helping to provide water to these people.

Pray. Give. Pass the word along.

If you feel you can give, go the the TEAM website listed below and type in
Karanda Water

Two choices will pop up. Both names are  men who are currently out there leading the building team, so either will work.

Give to the Water Project


I love you guys! I will provide an update of my little family soon.

Pump House at the Current Stage of Building

Letter from my father last week, December 2