Submitted by Brad Myers, Mission Trip Participant, February 2020
I was introduced to the Nica Thirst Initiative water project through Pastor Steve Hall and my local church (Heritage Community Church). I was intrigued with the mission projects and my family gladly made some contributions to support our church’s efforts to bring clean water to this third world country. I had a close relationship with my Aunt and Uncle (Patricia and Richard Jones) who were always very involved with charitable efforts to support people in need both in their local communities and abroad. It was a strong influence on my life and when my dear Uncle Rich passed away and blessed us with an unexpected inheritance I wanted to do something to honor their legacy. So through our church (and the CTG Foundation) we decided to sponsor a well in their honor in Nicaragua. It turned out to be one of the first drilled as part of this new organization and we got to see great pictures and hear moving stories from a mission crew from our local church who went to assist with the well drilling project. It wasn’t until about a year later that I felt called to personally make the trip to Nicaragua and be part of a team that was supporting the drilling of a new well and to support some other local projects. I cannot express how much this trip changed my life both spiritually and mentally. And while I knew that we were supp
orting people in some of the most impoverished areas of Central America, the level and extent of the situations were way beyond my expectations. Forget about running water, many of these communities do not have any water source available for miles and in many cases the water they can access is shared and contaminated. It is a situation you can only fully understand when you see it in person and/or if you have gone through some sort of natural disaster and lose water for an extended period of time. On my trip we were able to drill a new well for a remote community and got to spend time with the community and their local church along with working several other local projects. The Nicaraguan people are strong, humble and despite their circumstances were welcoming to the strangers in their community and very proud of their homes. I have been forever changed by this experience and can attest firsthand about the dramatic change just one well can make in the lives of not a single household but whole communities. I was fortunate enough during my visit to also get to visit the well that was installed in my aunt and uncle’s honor and that is the picture above. Isaiah 41:17 says “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them.”