New Developments in Kipkaren

Water is such a source of wealth and health around the world, particularly in developing communities. It is a source of wealth in that most sustenance in an agricultural economy is so dependent on timely rain and flowing rivers. It is a source of health in that it is estimated 80% of sickness and disease can be attributed to the lack of clean drinking water. So when Cathy and I showed up here we were so surprised to see a government project in the process of building a water treatment plant. The ELI training center is about 2 ½ miles from the village of Kipkaren, and the treatment plant will be right between the two. What’s so fun is that the source of drawing water from the Kipkaren River is virtually IN our back yard! That means we get to watch the big Cat (caterpillar back-hoe) dig a huge canal to divert the river from its usual path, in order to dry up the river bed where they plan to build the “drain” and the beginning of the concrete pipe which will carry the river water to the treatment plant. Have you ever tried to change the direction of a fairly large river; estimated at approximately 3 to 6 feet deep (depending on the rains) and about 50 feet wide… with a fairly roaring flow? The engineer and supervisor of the entire project (Papu is his name) is now our neighbor, living in one of the little guest huts down the path. As they dig the new canal, the big Cat moves the dirt across the river to build a kind of blockade which will eventually divert the river into the canal. There is a 3 foot thick, 15 foot wide and who knows how deep rock that is the last piece of earth to be removed to allow the river into the canal. This is really cool to watch. But more than that, this project will bring the blessing of health to many many people. Who ever saw it coming… clean drinking water to a village (or two!) of people who barely have a road that passes through. So, as I watch this awesome river have its course diverted, God has put on my heart the way He so masterfully diverts and guides the direction of our lives. Can you ever foresee what some of these wonderful kids of the ELI Children’s Home will end up doing? So many of them have dreams and aspirations. One boy named Brian wants to become a “flying doctor”… a missionary doctor reaching people who need medicine. Another Brian wants to be a journalist. Pray for these children, that they would have the courage and wisdom to follow God’s path, which may bend and turn and twist like the mighty Kipkaren River. And so, we have already begun to teach the children about wisdom and God’s path for their lives from the book of Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. If it all sounds so wonderfully exciting… IT IS!