Drought!

Jeff writes:

In my last post I mentioned the need to pray for rain.

We went to a village church today and learned that the gardens around us are drying up. The ground is hard as a stone. It is coffee season now, so our neighbors are harvesting their coffee. It is a major cash crop here, which means they can use the income to buy food. However, soon there will be no money or food to be had. In the last major drought here, which happened in 1997, many died from starvation.

If we do not get a lot of rain in the next two weeks or so, we may have to do something we have never had to do at the college, cancel a term. Right now we are hauling river water to fill some tanks. It is not potable, so we must add purification tablets to it. Most of our student body is away on break, so the demand for water is low now. Whether hauling river water will support 100 plus returning students and their families is unknown.

Our personal situation is not too bad. We share our water tank, which is filled with rain water collected from our tin roof, with another family. I checked its level when we returned from Lae, and it is still two-thirds full. Nevertheless, we are conserving as much as we can.

Please pray for rain, and remember to thank the Lord that He has provided most of you with unlimited supplies of fresh water from the tap.