Mission Trip Update
The first order of business was to run temporary water lines from the library/chapel building to the ladies dorm where two water pumps provide water to students and staff.
Then 30,000 gallons of water were drained overnight from the cistern. Many people would gasp at this thought. Why? Water is such a precious resource on the islands and water is never wasted. The good news is that we were there in the rainy season so the cistern would easily fill again.
Once the cistern was drained, it had to be cleaned, and a 32 inch wall built to divide the area.
Student Help
Grafton Jack, a second year student, would help with cleaning, carrying blocks, building the wall, and plastering. It is very warm inside the cistern and masks were needed because of the strong odor of the plaster. Dr. Bellew, the interim president, as well as Pastor Whyte and Pastor Saunders also had their hands in the work at times. At the end of the day clothes had to be hosed off before they could be washed.
Gravity
Once the cistern was done, some water was drained from the library/chapel building up the hill down to the dorm building. Gravity, one of God's forces, made that job easier!
Since there was some time and since we did not have to buy water, we purchased additional plaster and did half of the cistern in that building.
The final days found us cleaning up and packing away supplies. The PVC pipe will come in handy for the next project.
The picture below shows the new wall built in the cistern. This will help the next time it is cleaned. The water will have to be drained from only one half of the cistern rather than wasting all the water.
Billy also did some work on some of the dorm windows and did some major weed whacking. The picture below shows just a taste of the type of hilly terrain there is on the college campus. It is a challenge to keep it mowed and cut as the rain and warm sunshine make it grow very fast!
We have found that since coming home, flooding rains have come to the west end of St. Thomas so the cisterns are filling up once again!
Our trip was from October 25 to November 17. While on St. Thomas we had the opportunity to worship with our church family at Grace Baptist Church. We had truly missed the people there and again it was hard to say good bye to them.
Billy faced some health issues that made it quite a challenge. A dry socket from a tooth extraction required pain meds and antibiotics for two weeks, and then a severe cut in the cornea from a piece of concrete caused him to be on antibiotics another week. But God gave him the strength and endurance to finish the project and then some.
"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19
We would like to thank those who gave and prayed for this trip to Bluewater Bible College. Your generous gifts made it possible for a much needed project to be completed and now the students and staff have a fresh, clean cistern for water.
Blessings,
Billy & Cecilia
