Welcome to November. If you’re wondering what the forecast is: “hot and sunny”. It will be like until toward the end of May when the rainy season begins again. It gets up to about 105 these days, but in March it can get up to 115 (so I hear).
One of the values that I intend to work toward is “empowerment”. I hope to leave here with more than just a pile of crossed-off check lists. I hope to leave behind a team people who are each encouraged. To break it down further: I hope that they will have gained a sense of pride in their work and in the product, a sense of ownership in their responsibilities, and an understanding of the organic (inter-dependent and growing) relationship between their work and their vocation (God’s calling) – or more simply, purpose.
Bouba is a young man (probably 20ish) of the Fulani tribe, who works with me. Bouba is a Christian. We attend the same church – he doesn’t attend the Fulani church because the Fulani tribe is mostly Islamic and they frequently give grief to the Christian Fulani’s. By attending the French/Gourma church that I go to, he avoids some of the grief – at least on Sunday afternoon. Before this job, he was working as a shepherd for Djibo – who is our head guard at the Mission’s station. In fact he still continues to shepherd in the evenings – he often sleeps up on the cliffs with the cattle. Bouba hasn’t attended too much schooling and so he only knows French from picking it up here and there, so our conversations are limited, although I am amazed at how well he can understand my hand motions and my broken French. He is prompt, reliable, works hard, recognizes problems before they arise, is careful with the equipment, is humble and yet has the ability delegate. During the two to three years, we (the Mission) will be undertaking the installation of scores of “survival gardens”. Drilling boreholes is just one task required for developing these gardens. As you might imagine, there is a market for boreholes here – and the team is developing the skill set (and the tools) to meet the need. This is potentially an excellent opportunity for empowerment beyond a simple checklist of to-do’s. I don’t claim to know Bouba’s desires or God’s intentions, but I pray that God will guide us both. This next week, I will be attending an SIM conference in Fada (Thursday – Sunday). This will give Bouba an opportunity to work without me. Please pray for Bouba during this time. (Yes, there are others, but you wouldn’t want to be overwhelmed with specific stories and prayer requests – would you?
But how is the work going? I will give a few highlights...
- Hand-drilling bore holes: We have dug only two boreholes since I’ve been here. However, we have improved our tools set and our efficiency. The last borehole took 4 days to reach our depth (10m).
- Pumping: The pumps that we are using are relatively expensive, but robust. We purchase them from the capital, and I think there is room for improvement. Most of the progress has been made on the pump superstructure (the support structure above ground). We’ve designed and fabricated a test pump superstructure which works great: it’s smooth, seemingly robust and simple. A 5 year old child can operate it without difficulty. Diada (a local welder who is closely connected with the mission) is learning to fabricate these pump superstructures.
- Biogas: This is a technology where animal dung and water is mixed to make a gaseous fuel – like propane, for cooking and other uses. I am about to setup a trial run for a two barrel biogas system. If proven effective here at the station, I would like to work closely with a willing nearby family to implement another – perhaps the Combari’s (with whom I lived for a month).
- The survival gardens themselves: We’ve worked with 6 families to setup a garden for each. They have varying levels of commitment and ownership in the gardens. The installation team frequently visits the families to provide encouragement, and helping them to understand the techniques and the benefits, as well as physically assisting with the work. In December we will begin 18 more gardens. This is a lot to manage for our team who is used to 6. Please pray for this transition.
- Rhino: No this is not an animal. This is a vehicle – it’s an offroad golf cart of sorts. It’s been broken down. I’ve tried, but I haven’t fixed it. I’ve changed the gas (it had old gas), changed the fuel pump, cleaned the carburetors (about 6 times), adjusted the carb settings, bypassed the fuel filters, elevated the fuel tank (without the fuel pump), removed the exhaust, checked the tappet clearances, cleaned the spark plug and checked the spark plug gap. But still, it isn’t working right. It’ll idle forever, but it’ll only run at speed for about 4 minutes until it stalls. It won’t start unless it sits for awhile – the longer it sits, the longer it’ll drive without stalling again. If you’ve got any ideas – I’m all ears (my e-mail is b_earl_85@yahoo.com).
I have been reading from I Samuel – and I think it’s about remembering that God is King. God gives us a lot of power in this world. God also gives us a guide (Scripture, the Holy Spirit, the Church) for how to use that power for His purposes. We need to remember to die daily to ourselves and to give God glory by following his lead (by prayer and obedience). Man alive – if that’s not something that I’ve heard all of my life… Much encouragement in your walk.
