This Trip is the Pits!

Literally, as you'll see in a moment!

After 8 months of "vacation", I've been invited to lead another trip to Ethiopia.  This will be the final training of the project that began in May 2010, and will be my fifth trip on this project.  As you may recall, the topic of our November 2010 training was Latrine Design and Construction.  In the past two years, our participants have diligently trained community members to build latrines, leading to great improvements in sanitation in the project areas.  They have requested advanced training in two specific areas - building slabs (the covers over the pits) of local materials because of lack of availability of cement for concrete; and strengthening pit walls to prevent collapse.  Both of these topics were covered in the intial training, but we will focus almost entirely on these problem areas this time around.

The team will include Bart and Linda Bergquist, a couple I know from previous stateside Lifewater trainings, and Alan Wood, husband of Judy whom I've written about often.  Bart and Alan have great practical experience, and Linda is an outstanding trainer.  The approximate dates of the trip are August 29 - September 11, so we will be very busy preparing during the few weeks remaining.

I'm especially excited - and nostalgic - about this trip because it represents the end of a long journey together with my many friends from this project.  While it will be great to see everyone again, there will be no escaping the fact that this is the last time I will see many if not all of them on this earth.  It will be a bittersweet time, but I plan to focus on the sweet!

I will post again as the date approaches and more information is available.  Meanwhile, please pray for our team, our partners, our participants, and the communities that they serve.  My prayer is that God will wrap up this project with a bang, showing Himself mighty and gracious in unmistakable ways, so that the knowledge of Him will spread through this wonderful country long after we Americans return home.