When our Missions Team visited Sudan in January of 2009, the woman of the Toposa tribe asked for our help to construct a well for their tribe. The women have to walk miles daily through dangerous territory to retrieve water. Constructing a well in southern Sudan is very expensive — $13,000!

Donna Hays (who is on the Missions Board and helped to plan that trip) and her father (before he passed away) felt a special burden to respond to the request of the Toposa woman. Together, they raised $10,000. Our challenge, as a congregation, was to come up with the balance. We have now done so in the following ways:

• 20% of last Sunday’s offering was designated for the well, adding $1,986 to the total.
• Donations made by our children during Vacation Bible School added another $200.
• Tuesday the Board of Directors voted to take $814 from church reserves to complete the project.

Drilling will begin soon in the Toposa tribal area. Thank you for your wonderful generosity!

Hello from all of us in picturesque Gallup, New Mexico. For those of us returning, arriving at Sacred Heart felt much like coming home. It’s also been exciting to see and hear the reactions of those who are experiencing the trip for the first time.

Although we’ve only been here a few days, we’ve settled in and hit the ground running — so here’s the latest from the southwest.

We arrived on Saturday and were invited back to the MCC of Albuquerque to share a meal and conversation. It was a fabulous time of fellowship and feasting, and they even sent us on our way with goodies!

When we started our week at the Southwest Indian Foundation (SWIF) warehouse, there were three houses under construction. We helped prepare one house to be transported, installed insulation throughout another, installed drywall, and there is always lots of painting to be done. In addition to continuing to work on the two houses that are in process, we are hoping to get a new house started this week.

Click to enlarge. More photos on our Facebook page.

As we continue building our relationship with SWIF, we are having our SWIF family over for dinner and fellowship on Thursday. We are hoping to have even more than the nearly 40 that joined us last year. We’ll find out soon.

Thank you to everyone back at Jesus MCC for all the prayers, support, well wishes, and goodies we’ve received. We want to extend a very special thank you to the Children’s Church for the wonderful cards and pictures prepared for us. We’ll be home soon with lots of pictures and stories!