Bio-Sand Filter Project

After a refreshing but exhausting trip to the states (is it possible for it to be both?) we returned to Zambia with greater motivation. Our wonderful friends, the Johnson family, recently returned from South Africa. We enjoyed a great weekend together sharing in a renewed sense of purpose.

The river is approaching its highest level for the year. Mutemwa Lodge was completely surrounded by water. We had to park our trucks at a local village and hike along trails, paddle canoes across a deep channel, and then hike some more through knee-deep water to get to the lodge (total distance maybe two kilometers or so). What an adventure for the families! Our wives and kids did great. I was proud of them. We laughed at the thought that some people pay lots of money for that kind of experience and here we were just trying to go see our friends! (The Johnson's go through this every Sunday morning on their way to and from church and any time they need to go to Katima for supplies).















While we were there, we men were able to serve our brother Anton, the pastor of Mount of Light Church near the village of Kalobolelwa (of which the Johnson family is a part). We spent the day preparing and setting a bio-sand filter for his home so that he and his family can enjoy purified water to drink. The filter container and the technology were donated and taught to us by Convoy of Hope, Springfield, Missouri. We are so very grateful for them and for this practical blessing from the Lord.










Our hope is to set up about a dozen more filters in the area, in the homes of the people with whom we have established relationships. One conviction that has increased lately is that Jesus ministry was consistently two-fold: proclaiming the gospel (which is salvation for all people by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone) and extending his hands in mercy ministry to the needy. With that goal in mind, we are researching a number of appropriate and sustainable methods that will make life easier for our Lozi brothers and sisters including: square foot gardening for family veggies and salad production, Foundations for Farming methods for growing maize and beans, aquaculture (fish farming), rope and washer pumps for wells, rocket stoves and/or solar cookers for cooking, adobe ovens (made of termite mud and sand) for baking, gray water recycling, and passive solar toilets for better waste management.

It's a big list and a big dream and it's only by the grace of God that we could see community development accomplished to this level. But, hey, you gotta' start somewhere and this bio-sand filter was just the beginning of practical mercy ministry. And how satisfying to actually accomplish a project in one day!