Update from July 27th..........

 We have been at the airport one hour waiting on a 1.5 hour flight from Bali to Sumba.  TII, this is Indonesia.  David and Tom are on that flight and we have been preparing for the next leg of our trip, which is the trip up into the mountains of East Sumba to Kabanda Village.  


Since my last update we have been busy. The Westover team made it back to Bali, but with an amazing twist. Their tickets were for a flight that did not exist on that day. After much effort Masta was able to get things corrected and there was amazingly another flight from Sumba with room for 7 persons. It wasn’t long ago that we could not get a flight in a week. The seventh person was Pastor Kasper Bolla. He has been helping us a great deal and found out that his mother had passed on nearby Roti island. He was already in route to the town with an airport, Wainapu and ended up helping the Westover team make their transition. They in turn helped him get round trip fares to Kupang, West Timor where he could then ferry to Roti weather permitting. He did make it to his mother's funeral throughout  these amazing circumstances and is now on his way back here to help us try for Kabanda.

For us we continued at Mary Danno’s home water project and completed three tanks, one being the slow sand, bio film filter. We also rebuilt her well casing as the stone was badly crumbled and one side just above ground level. We then shopped and purchased a gasoline engine water pump that will allow them to fill the primary storage tank from the well when the water table is good.
 

We filled the sand filter with stone and sand and was able to fill it with the pump so that the bacterial film layer will begin to develop.This takes a month to create the film which is about 1 inch thick, consisting of bacteria that is anaerobic, it eats pathogens as they slowly pass through it. Compare it to the good bacteria in your stomach.

Mary was deeply emotional and appreciative as we finished up and there were many tears at our departure. We wanted to take two days to rest at a secluded beach before we started our current effort but so many things pull at our time it turned out much shorter. We did finally get away, heading further away from the sliver of civilization that is Baing village and toward another of our supported pastors and his family near the ocean to the south and now west. 

We first met with Alex and his family for a time and gained permission to camp on land beside the ocean several miles away from the village. 

This is a beautiful location with mountains, views, lovely ocean, sand beaches on the ends with green ocean grass carpeted rocks and tidal pools in the middle. If that wasn't enough there was a perfect lagoon that came up to the sand beach behind the surf and wrapped by tropical mountains.

In the lagoon was clear water and mangrove trees mixed with open expanses of water. To top that there were horses on the hills around that!!! With the crystal clear water it is hard to imagine a more beautiful place and yet there we were in the middle of it.

We set up our tent and Luke and I strung up hammocks between trees and slept in the open with a strong breeze. 

Food was not easy to come by due to our fishing being weak in the catching department. However the several pastors and guys who stayed with us rounded up some fresh octopus and small fish to cook up. Grilling it on a stick made for a good meal and we had some rice to go with it. However due to getting there late and preaching the next morning in Alex’s church our time was limited to one day.  We awoke to a downpour Sunday morning and it was a good chance to take our Bronners soap and get a rain fresh shower bath and rinse.

The time with Alex and his family was special. They are from the island of Sabu so are working cross culturally in that village. They have 70 folks who attend and the location is their front porch as the church has been blown down twice by unusual and fierce winds from the ocean. They are up in the valley between the mountains so I think the wind is funneled where they live.

After the service they fed us a nice meal of chicken and rice and we departed for Baing which is 1.5 hours away on a very rugged 4x4 road. Once in Baing we again stayed in the church and slept on benches so that we could be packed and ready to go early if needed. Turns out the man we rented the truck from gave us the truck for the next day to drive it back to the main town of Wainapu. This was a great blessing and he also allowed us to put all our gear and materials for Kapanda on a truck he had going that way as well.

We finished out our time with Pastor Eliasar in Baing and began the jarring 3 hour trip to Wainapu. Turns out there is govt training in Wainapu and there were no rooms to stay in. With my mold sensitivity I pretty much have to stay outside anyway, but we chose plan b which was to stay with pastor Stephen in his location before Wainapu. This worked well last night as we can store gear we don't need for Kabanda and sleep under the trees again. There were large coconuts falling in a scary manner so we were sure to be in a location clear of them.

We drove to Wainapu to meet a Balinese team who has offered to assist us to Kabanda and had arrived. This also gave us a chance to get dinner and do some food shopping. The meeting and dinner was good but our truck caught fire under the dash when David started it up. Fire and smoke was coming out the vents and under the dash and we all bailed out immediately. I was able to blow the fire out as there was a louvered area that gave me the perfect access to do so. This was a close call to losing that vehicle to fire and we were greatly relieved when it was out. The truck would not turn off however and we left it running until the owner arrived and repaired it for us.

We arrived back late to Stephanus home and got off to bed. We need to be up early today to meet the team at the airport, communicate on the internet, finish our shopping and arrange for the truck to pick us up tomorrow am at Stephanus as it is on the way to Kabanda.

Pray for the work in Kabanda. We are facing many challenges there.
Word to us last night is that there has been much heavy rain, to the extent that physically making it there is in question. We heard today that there was a hard rain again last night and we leave for there in the morning so pray that the very unusual rainfall will abate. We are in the middle of the dry season and there is normally no rain for 3 months on either side of this date! The rainfall is much needed here for food and crops, but really challenges our ability to get to Kabanda and get the materials there. We hear also that due to the rain there has not been the effort to prepare the sand from rocks. We are prepared to run a long water line to get the water closer to the village. This is equally valuable as the distance is over 1800’. We are using quality ¾” iron pipe for this as it will be run on top of the rocky ground.

Tom and David have just arrived safely from Bali and they are doing well and ready to go. Their flight was delayed about 2 hours as the President of Indonesia was in the Bali airport at the same time, causing the security delay. We have now had our lunch and can make this update and do last minute shopping before we leave this outpost to civilization for over a week. Please continue to pray for our safety and effectiveness in our work. Pray that we will be able to bring a blessing to Kabanda even in the difficult and very uncertain circumstances that we face.
 

Tank building photos.............

Update from July 21st.............

It is July 21st and we are almost finished with the tank project in Baing, East Sumba. The Westover team will be in the air from Bali shortly and will be almost home by the time I get to a town that has email.  We need to order and pick up supplies tomorrow, so I will finally get the opportunity to send this.  

Our time on Sumba has been very productive.  As always we have our share of difficulties, but God seems eager to provide in His time.

 East Sumba is a very hard place.  Casual observation reveals that everything that is currently alive here wages a desperate daily struggle for survival.  Plant, animals and people are all scrambling to make it to the next day.

On our first night in the village of Baing we stayed in Pastor Elias home. With limited accommodations and my mold sensitivity, Luke and I opted to stay in the very open and airy church using our tent and hammock. The first thing I ran into was a nasty small scorpion waiting on me to pitch my sleeping bag. Needless to say he didn’t make it to tomorrow. I chose the full tent for protection and Luke was more interested in getting off the ground all together, so pulled out rope and strung up a hammock. We both had some stomach distress the first night and were weak the first day but fine thereafter. 

The Westover Team has been great. I call them the Philippians 2 team and what a privilege it has been to have them here and work together with them. They took everything in stride, bonded with our Indonesian friends and worked hard to make a difference. Sam had his 18th birthday here and Joe was away from home and Wendy for their 25th anniversary. Kelly, Sandy, Kristi and Gary all left busy lives in Greensboro to be here, not knowing really what to expect and yet had the faith to step up to that challenge. The people of Sumba understand this and were touched by the sacrifices made and distances traveled to help them have better lives.

 Luke is loving his time here. He gets along well with adults and children alike. He bonded well with the team and the folks here. He is old enough to hold his own in the work department but also have the energy to entertain the kids as well. He shows spiritual wisdom and is a part of all that we do here. He is sleeping very well in his hammock and will really have a great time at the beach. He keeps the frisbee in action most of the day when he isn’t working.

 Having David’s wife Masta come was a real blessing to us all. Her cooking is super and she added a more normal diet for us. She also put together our medical supplies that we will take to Kabanda on July 28. She is an excellent detail person, problem solver, negotiator and overall get it done person. On Sunday, she held a women’s conference on better health for the women and 68 attended! She was blessed by that and with her public health background was able to teach the women many things to improve their lives here.

Now that she is back on Bali our meals have taken a more local twist. We are back to losing weight, but eating fairly nutritious food. Take the other evening. We had 3 meats to go with our rice, vegetables and sweet bananas. We had the standard surf and turf of mushy octopus, dried finger mullet (bait) and fresh dog meat. We love anything from the ocean, especially that night so opted out on the dog meat. After seeing the dogs here I hate to be in the situation where that would ever be appealing.

Although not terribly exciting, the food has sustained us and we have built three tanks, rebuilt the well casing, installed a slow sand filter in the middle tank and engaged many people in the process. 

Thanks for praying.  All members have arrived safely to Bali.  After a nights rest at a local hotel in Sanur District we traveled 2 hours towards Tabanan to the west to spend two days in a traditional Balinese Hindu village at the BATI training center.  It is a beautiful location with a strong stream and large rocks that make a constant roar and cool environment.  

It is a good location to see a traditional Hindu village and the agricultural life that goes on there.  They have fertile soil and abundant rainfall in that area allowing them to grow many things year round.  There are seasons for some fruits and vegetables, but with such a great abundance and variety there are always many things to eat.  This is a stark contrast to where we are about to depart to.  

During our time in BATI (Bali Appropriate Training Institute) we have continued to grow and bond as a team.  We have devotions and some team building exercises to help us focus on our goals.  Simply put, how to work as a team to bring a blessing while modeling love and unity in all that we do.  It might seem easy to do, but the challenge really comes when we are hot, tired, dirty and facing the physical discomforts that often seem so unnecessary.

We have avoided most of that to this point, so thanks again for praying.  It makes all the difference for us every minute of the day and night.

We are all well and getting ready to leave early in the morning for the airport and on to Sumba.  It will not be green on Sumba as it is here.  Pray for our travels and safe arrival in the village of Baing in East Sumba.  We will have a 3 hour ride in some kind of vehicle (insert prayer here!) before we arrive in Baing not far from the ocean.  We cannot see it, but at night you can hear the pounding surf somewhere nearby.  Baing is at the end of the road pretty much, but there are dirt tracks that continue on in several directions to other villages.  

Blessings,
Clay 

Preparing for departure!

Well the time has come. All the planning, work, prayer and preparation are about to be put into motion. It is always a strange time for me. Its early am, I just had my last night in a really comfortable bed and all is well with the world it seems. On trips like this here is great excitement, apprehension and the sadness that comes when you leave home and the love of your life. I will miss Linda greatly, in fact I miss her this morning thinking about missing her tonight when I am actually gone. We live our lives together and deeply connected. She said it best yesterday, "A month like this is hard but it can make a difference for a lifetime and an eternity for those dear folks who suffer daily in their circumstances." Please pray for Linda, she carries a double load in my absence and adds the very important role of communication and distribution of information for the teams as well as receipting gifts and deposits.

Pray for Mike Haran our Treasurer. He is doing a good job keeping our finances on track.

Pray for the flights and travels of the members.

Westover Team #1. They fly through Atlanta then Seoul, South Korea to Bali. They created an excellent prayer calendar for their time and I am attaching it to the blog.

Luke and I fly Richmond to New York then on to Seattle, Osaka, Japan then Bali.

David Dihel flys Atlanta, Tokyo, Singapore, Bali. On the way back he flys to Sidney, Australia & LA.

Tom flys Dallas, Houston, Doha, Singapore, Bali.

Pray for these flights and for everyones well being. There are no easy flights flying coach and my consolation on these flights is thinking about my grandfather who as a soldier in WW1 travelled for 2 weeks in cattle cars across Europe to then fight a war under horrendous conditions. His sacrifice is the perspective I need. Of course his travel was free too!

Some of us team are not at 100% yet for our trip support. If any of you can help financially we sure could use it. Another $3,500 would put us at 100% for these two teams, sites and scope of work.

Make your check to CFTIW,  note 2010 Sumba project and mail to CFTIW 1100 Rockfish Road, Waynesboro, VA 22980.  Linda will receipt your gift and send you a thank you and a receipt for your records. It is tax deductible. If we receive any funds in excess of this trip they will be applied to our fund to provide additional water tanks and filters where most needed.

You can email me at CFTIWoffice@gmail.com.

Blessings,

Clay

Site #1 Baing, East Sumba

This is the team from Westover Church, some who are making  a second trip to build clean water capacity on the very dry and hard island of Sumba Indonesia. They will be working near the coast on the eastern end of East Sumba in July. Our friend Elias will host us there in the community. We will work there and also venture several miles into the bush to work at another site that is more primitive.

Below are some pics of the team and the location. We would greatly appreciate your prayers for this team and the work they will be doing. We think they will be able to start their trip at the BATI training center in the Hindu countryside near our Field Director David's home village. There they will get a first hand look at the different technologies that are utilized that assist people in difficult areas.

Site #2 Kabanda Village

Dear Friends and Partners,

We have a big trip to Indonesia coming up and I want to share those details with you in this letter. In July we will host two teams from the US who will assist us on Sumba to provide critically needed clean water to the villages where we work and seek to work. These are hard places in a hard land so we covet your prayers in the preparation for this tough trip.

I have added a second team so that we can establish some functional capacity to the remote village of Kabanda in the far south east of East Sumba. The CFTIW Field Director just returned from Kabanda village and the situation is dire. To get there it is a rugged 12 hour dump truck ride to the end of the road followed by 7 hours hiking nearly 6 miles up and along the mountain to the village which is on top at 1800’ feet elevation. The climb is 1500’ vertical in the first 1.5 miles with 30 lb packs so we will be challenged.

 Once there we will find 700 people, many who are nominal Christians with no electricity, running water, clean water, soap, bathrooms, medical care or much of anything else. David thinks this is the neediest area in Sumba which itself is the poorest island we have seen in Indonesia. That is coming from an Indonesian!
In this pic our guys are exhausted. They ended up having to push the motorbike in many places due to the heavy rain, and steep terrain. Their feet are so strong they can do all this barefoot while we need the best boots we can afford. 

Their critical needs are:

1.      Lack of clean, sanitary water. Serious malaria and water borne diseases and pathogen issues.

2.      Medical care. No medical care, medicines or knowledge. Especially hard on young children.

3.      Education for the children. With the conditions they cannot get teachers to come there and stay.

The village leader reports than when people get sick in Kabanda they only know to prepare for their death and burial. It is too far usually to carry them to the hospital far away and they have no funds to pay anyway.

We must carry in all our gear, tools, medical supplies, food and personal water purification capacity. We will bring Gods word and His love to these people to encourage their weary hearts while we work hard to bring better life to them through clean water & hygiene. We will use a generator to show videos to teach them many things. Pure drinking water will greatly alleviate many current health problems and perhaps then the teachers will come and stay to teach lost generations of children there. It is the starting point at least.

Team #2 consists of David Diehl from the Atlanta/Oenoi team in 2008 and perhaps a friend who served with him in Tanzania. Tom Parker, a childhood friend who lived in the Congo as a child and is an RN working in the medical field in Texas adds our medical component.  Luke, our 16 yr old son is ready to roll. He is once again strong, sturdy and has a great heart for the people of Sumba. David A. our Field Director, myself and several of our Indonesian brothers round out this team.

Together and with your prayers and financial support we will stand together as one, servants to model the love of Christ through both word and deed. This will be a tough one but this is where it counts.

Will you stand with us in financial and prayer support for this trip? Our budget is $3000 per person plus the cost of the infrastructure which to start is $3000 itself. Our goals are too build hundreds of tanks and filters in many areas as well as provide treated mosquito nettings, piping to water sources, ram pumps and other complimentary efforts.

Gifts are tax deductible and you would make them out to CFTIW 1100 Rockfish Road, Waynesboro, VA 22980. Attach a note indicating that your support is for, "CFTIW Living Water Project." Include your address and email address. We will issue you a receipt, letter of gratitude, and with your email we will add you to our trip update list from the field during the trip. That way you will get the updates very quickly in as much real time as we can.

Please pray for God’s blessings on our endeavors and that our impact on both of these locations will bring many blessings for many years to come. Our desire is to provide real hope and the skills that will bring better life in that place from July on. These are hardworking people but due to their remote location they do not know better. In many ways I am not so different. For many years I went through life spiritually ignorant, not knowing how much that God loved me and that Jesus was ready to change my life forever. 


Thanks to many who came to my spiritual rescue I have been a recipient to so many blessings. What Christian would not want to share that with others in the same spirit that it came to us? 

Blessings, 

Clay R. Trainum
President/Executive Director
CFTIW