UPDATE WITH PHOTOS

I finally have the chance to update my blog and i have added some new photos also. To see them all you need to do is click on the photo link from the previous post and you can see the new ones also. I think they are a little bigger also.

For the past two weeks I have been traveling back and forth to Joconalis and Manguito. Why you might ask...Well I have finally begun installing the filters I have been making for the past few months. This has been quite an exciting time for me as well as the people of the villages because it is something that we both have been waiting to do for months.

In Joconalis, where we had installed one filter previously that didnt work, now has 6 working filters that can supply water to more than 60 families. Thats about 400 people. I had spent two full days washing all the sand and rock that I had to get the dirt out of it and with that, the filters work wonderful. The papers say that each filter should produce water at a rate of 1 liter per minute. Glory to God my filters do not filter at that rate. I strongly believe that God used the first filter that did not work to humble me and teach me patience and perseverance. With that being said I also believe that God has blessed the filters and doubled the rate of water being filtered to 2 liters per minute. In Joconalis there is a filter at 3 homes, the church/nutritional center/pastors home, medical clinic, and school. I have more filters ready to transport there and hope to go back sometime this week or the beginning of next week. Please continue to pray for the people of Joconalis

In Manguito, we had transported 6 filters but had yet to install any. We were waiting for the time when the men of the homes did not have work to do so they could show us where they wanted them. We finally found a time and have now installed 3 filters there. We could have done more but they had a town meeting with the mayor of El Paraiso to discuss things that needed to be done in the community. These filters have also been timed and have the same flow rate as the ones in Joconalis. There are more filters to be installed in Manguito and we hope to go back there some time next week as well. With the filters that have been installed in both villages are supplying clean water as we speak to about 600+ people (this includes the kids at the school). Please continue to pray for the people and the filters of Manguito also.

I have realized the importance of clean water, not only for myself but also for those who live in the rural mountain villages. Working/construction the filters in the compound in El Paraiso I have seen many kids who have been brought to the clinic with serious diarrhea, worms, intestinal problems, and other sickness that are caused by drinking contaminated water. Please continue to pray for the filters and that they will filter water more pure than any one could imagine. Thanks for all your prayers and I will update this thing again when I have something else to say.

Making of a Filter

I have recieved some question about how I make the filters. Here are some pictures to show you step by step. (I left out the pictures when I was resting eating or drinking.)

The time is now

Well its been another month and i am just now updating the blog again. Sorry about that. I am not one of those people that like to say just just to hear myself talk so im not going to write ¨Well i shovled sand today.¨ So now you know that when there is a new post that means that there is something worth reading. With my time here in Honduras a little more than half way over, I was getting a little anxious about getting up to the villages and setting some filters up. The time finally came on September 23. I took two filters up to the village of Manguito and everything i needed to set them up and get them going. When we got up there, there was one main problem. Nobody was there. Some how somebody got there days confused and nobody was there to recieve us. We left all the materials there at the church and talked to one man about another time that would be good to come. We made our plans and then left. Two days later we decided that it would be good to go to another village to start a project there. This village is called Joconales. We went there and took 3 filters and the materials to set them up. In this village there were people waiting for us. All of the leaders of the village decided to come out and see what this water filter thing was all about. We all went inside the church and had a devotional time where we shared about the importance of water as well as the story about when Jesus talks to the Samaratian woman about the Living Water. After this lesson, Adolfo (a guy who is helping me), explained the water filter in great detail and how it was going to work. We then began to ask about good locations for the filters so that they would be safe and also be able to serve the most amount of people as possible. Here are the names of the house that will have the filters and how many familys will benefit from them:
*Carmelina Rodriguez (10 Families)
*Mirna Mejia (9 Families)
*Rodis Aguilar (6 Families)
*Oscar Perez (8 Families)
*Angela Arita (9 Families)
*Gladis Reyes (8 Families)
*Odin Reyes (8 Families)
*Ceter or Health
*School
*Pastors Home/Nutricional center/Church
*Moises Henrriquez (13 Families)
*Tino Henrriquez (10 Families)
*Balvino Devaz (15 Families)
*Neptaly Valle (15 Families)
*Santos Menjivar (12 Families)
--with all the filters in place and working, we should be able to provide clean drinking water to about 125 different families (over 500 people).

We traveled back to Maguito the 28th of September to take more filters and also have the same devotional time with them. Everything went alot better then the first time because this time the entire village was there. It gave us an opportunity to share the gospel and also our hopes/dreams about this clean water project. I do not have the names of the locations where the filters will be in Manguito yet but when i do i will be sure to put them on here.

Also please continue to pray for these filters. When we were in Joconales, the pastor asked us if we could set up one of the filters to let them see how it works. We agreed and began to fill it up with the needed materials. everything was going great until the last part. When we put the water in the filter, nothing came out. We took everything out and tried it again and the same thing happened. Then again and again it didnt work. I had washed the sand but apparently there was still way to much earth in the sand and it wouldnt let the water pass. Humiliated, i spent the next two days washing sand and trying it again and again and again. Finally, one time when i put water in the filter it came out. It had finally worked. I am excited about this and excited about going back to Joconales and fixing the problem. Please continue to pray for this project. Thank you and here are some pictures of what we are doing.