Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14
This mission project in May of 2011 was a combination of a Gardendale Area Rotary Club water project along with a mission team from Gardendale First Baptist. Being that the Rotary members were all members of First Baptist it made for easy transition from one project to another.
The Rotary Team installed 30 Hydraid Bio-sand filters in around the new church in Souvenance. Before we arrived Elise and the pastor of Souvenance had already delivered the 7000# of filter, filter sand and gravel to the church. They already had a list of 30 homes to install the filters. They based this on one home among three so the water could be shared, so effectively we would be affecting 90 homes. An incredible and well thought out plan, with the exception that some of the homes were Three miles away! Bobby Campbell, Lamar Kelly and myself from the Rotary Club, but we were assisted by Mark Turner and Odney Jean, a Haitian who works with ministy.
While we were installing filters work was going on at the Holy Bible Church and the school. One team member took on the project of painting the entire school building.
Before we came Pastor Elise had the old roof removed from the Holy Bible Church. The old roof was rotten and had been partially destroyed by a hurricane. The new roof trusses were made of steel and would be much better able to handle the high winds and rain that pound this area on a regular basis.
Finally, an orphanage about two miles away was brought to our attention. Even though there were good intentions, it was a pitiful place. A pastor started this orphanage and was doing the best he could. We visited and found out he had no food. For a while the UN had furnished the orphanage with earthquake relief supplies including food, but that had run out. Among ourselves, we collected enough funds to purchase a month’s worth of rice and beans along with basic toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap).
