By mid-February, we had a pretty good idea of what we needed to do—or so we thought. We had addressed the environmental
issues (it’s freezing up here!), but the system design became problematic. It was obvious that we needed more expertise in the
area of plumbing. Also, we had not found an adequate way to remove the sulfur from the water.
So, no matter how pure the water was, no one would drink it if it stunk like rotten eggs! Then, we
became mired in a legal discussion. What long-term liability would we create for our church?
Finally, I began to look at this from a financial aspect—and saw that the cost to deliver this
system would be much more than originally planned. As a result, the Kelly Rock water project was
placed on a back burner, and we spent the summer building a Habitat house in Louisville’s West End.
For me, I felt like Jonah—not really going where God wanted me to go.
During the summer, two events rekindled our desire to place a water filling station in
Appalachia. In late June, my son wanted to get involved with a water purification team from Edge,
who was going to the Dominican Republic in July. What a blessing! Dennis Mangum added Erik and
me to his 4-person team. In 3 days, we installed two water purifiers! That did it! I was fired up.
The second event occurred when Richard—a fellow Sunday school classmate—overhead me talking
about our water purification project. Richard just happened to be an expert in water pumps and filtration systems! Now, only God
could have brought this blessing to our team!
In late October, 6 a.m. means darkness. Yet, six members from CUMC began the long drive to Beverly, Kentucky. We had
packed all the items needed to build a water purification filling station. What’s more, we were bringing something to the folks of
Appalachia that they hadn’t seen in a long time—rain! Lots of rain! Who said God doesn’t have a sense of humor! He was showing us
how easy it was to create pure water! So, we worked for three days—in the rain—and delivered on a promise made over 10 months
ago.
The week following the 2007 EDGE Water Training Conference, six members from CUMC began the long drive to Beverly,
Kentucky. We had packed all the items needed to build a water purification filling station.
What’s more, we were bringing something to the folks of Appalachia that they hadn’t seen in
a long time—rain! Lots of rain! Who said God doesn’t have a sense of humor! He was
showing us how easy it was to create pure water! So, we worked for three days—in the rain
—and delivered on a promise made over 10 months ago.
God’s timing is perfect; my timing was off! Had we rushed this project, we would have
never cultivated the relationships so necessary for its long-term success. Like an expert
novelist, God introduced the characters--each with a unique talent—just at the right time.
While this was just one of the many blessings that God revealed on this long journey toward
pure water, it will be my most lasting memory.