Newsletter Oktober 2013

The farm
We have had a major rethink about what we are going to do with the problem of water. In the last letter you may remember that we were hoping to buy a reverse osmosis pump to remove the high fluoride in the well water. About a third of the money required came in for this, so we put our thinking caps on and the Lord gave Mike the idea to build a small reservoir with a lining, which will give a 4,000,000 litre capacity. With drip irrigation this will give about 12 months water supply. Today (9th) they finished bulldozing after about 2 weeks. The ground was so hard that they replaced the digger for a bulldozer.


The next stage is to smooth it and remove the rocks and then find a suitable plastic lining to keep the water in and a top lining to stop evaporation. Please pray with us about these big expenses.Then we need to pray that we get good rains at the right time (the short rains can be little and unpredictable.) The first good rains will be run down an irrigation channel and fill the reservoir. The first rains are never used for anything. They just flow downstream. After this we need to put in drip irrigation on 3 acres. The tanks are ready to put in place on their 6m high tower. We have had to lay off workers which is a pity as it provides income for many poor and widows. We have had our difficulties too with various workers. Please pray for Eliya who has not been doing so well and has a pride and jealousy problem. He walked off in a huff last week. Do you remember the brothers of Joseph who were jealous of and hated Joseph and how these lead to a spirit of murder? Read it in Genesis 37. That is similar to Eliya. We had a poor harvest of beans; the rains stopped early and the river dried earlier than usual and we were late in planting. On 3 acres of maize we obtained 31 bags, which is good considering the first time doing Farming God's Way on that land. People said we were crazy with no ploughing, but they were proved wrong. This should increase in the coming years.


Water
There has been a big problem with water. The Sanya river is dry as water is taken off upstream for farmers and their irrigation projects. The Maasai living downstream have no water for their animals (they have too many for the dry land to sustain) and the drinking water is used, putting great strain on the water supply all around. People have been fighting and yesterday the Regional Commissioner was called to try to help out. Large numbers of people turned out to see him. The long term answer for all farmers and cattle herders is to build reservoirs like we are doing to provide water for long periods as well as reduce herds.


Church
Mike holds meetings every morning on the farm before work starts with up to 30 people (now 10). Steve continues to preach regularly at theKikuletwa church and we need to see the Holy Spirit move on lives.


Simendo
The group meets regularly mid-week with Anne. There is a lot of interest in the Bible studies. One man called Baraka is drinking in the Word of God having been saved in May from being a serious alcoholic who nearly lost his life through vomiting litres of blood. A young widow who buried her husband in April has also given her life to the Lord and is growing in the faith. She is pregnant and struggles with her children. Life is very tough for Maasai widows.


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