ADSIM Director, The Rev. Steadman Bent, will be the manager of the Clean Water Project in Nicaragua.  Several young men were able to learn well drilling skills in 2008 when the project began.  Chuck Nienow and Esther Tesh attended the ADSIM Board Meeting in 2009 where the resumption of well drilling was discussed.  In a later meeting, Brother Bent agreed that the project’s original goals should continue. ADSIM will drill wells for individuals who pay full cost for a well.  They will also drill village wells in communities where people lack the resources to pay for a well.  There is a very real need for the Clean Water Project to subsidize wells in these rural areas.  In addition, ADSIM will support efforts to promote feelings of ownership among villagers who receive a well.  Expectations include having villagers pay for the gasoline, oil, and grease used for drilling the casing for the well and the cement for the concrete pad.  In addition, villagers will be expected to bring water, sand, and gravel to the drilling site as needed.  Paying part of the well costs, providing help to the drilling team, and learning to take care of a well should help to promote feelings of ownership among villagers and insure that their well continues to produce good water.

   Brother Bent also shared the Moravian Primary School’s critical need for a well.  Their well produced only a small amount of muddy water which was unfit for drinking. With no resources to pay for another well, buckets of water carried from the Moravian Church parsonage provided the only drinking water for the school’s 300 children.  We assured him that the Clean Water Project would drill a new well at the school.

   In March 2010, Chuck Nienow worked with 3 young men, Hedley Salmeron, John Downs, and Michael Hodgson, to drill a well 100 feet deep at the  Primary School.  Hedley and John already had well drilling skills gained from working with Brother Griggs in 2008.  These men will be the team to drill other wells for ADSIM.  Sister Doris Bush, Primary School Director, reports that the new well is full of crystal clear water even though this is the dry season and the water level in many wells is low.

    Project funds remaining after the work in 2008 were used to pay for the well at the Primary School.  Also, project funds will help to pay for the wells in Sisin and Sakalwas.  However, if ADSIM is to continue to drill wells in rural communities, the Clean Water Project must raise additional money.  The average cost of a well is $2200.

   As in the past, contributions to this project should be sent to:

 Mission Society,

500 S. Church St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101. 

Please include the notation, ‘Clean Water Project,’ on the check.

 Chuck Nienow and Esther Tesh are Clean Water Project Coordinators nienowtesh@aol.com

Dear Friends and Family,

It is difficult to believe that I have been back in Alaska almost 3 months already. My plans for better communication went out the window as soon as I got back. Graduation and end of school year retreats and evaluations went well. It was a very busy time but one filled with lots of joy. We had 6 students who chose to be baptized the day before graduation. One of last year’s students has continued to work with me in food service through the summer. He has hopes of going to a culinary school.

I have had 2 weeks with only one volunteer on campus so I have not been cooking. God has given me a real burden to get a garden planted, even though gardening is not one of my strong suits. Praise Him. He has given me the endurance to work in the garden every day and it is coming along quite well. This has become my ministry for the summer. I really want to have fresh vegetables and salad for the teams and students. The music director and his wife from my church here came out and tilled the garden spot and she brought me some plants as well. If anyone would like to come up and spend time in the garden, let me know.

It is so unbelievably pretty here. The moose have calved and I am trying to keep them out of the garden. The babies are still pretty small as are the bear cubs. The fish are just beginning to run up river so there is not much fishing yet..but soon!

Our first work team arrives next week and it will be non-stop after that until school starts back. I hope to take a few days and join the team from New Philadelphia Moravian Church in Winston Salem when they go out to Bethel in July.

I am looking forward to seeing Libby Vonfange from Charlotte as she visits in July.

I am so thankful for the continued support from each of you. God continues to use my time here in amazing ways. I love being with the students and seeing them develop in their relationship and knowledge of Jesus, as my own grows too. Their stories continue to break my heart and make the ministry of this place and the people here so special. Please continue to pray for us.

Love and blessing to each of you.

Helen Gulledge, Alaska Christian College

helen@akcc.org

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. Romans 14:8

I was informed this morning that spring has sprung. We're looking at nights that are above 5 degrees celcius, and they're expecting a "warm rain" (all relative), so the local farmers are ecstatic and busy about getting the seed in today. So new life springs forth, even in the midst of hard challenges.

The past month has been especially difficult for most in Labrador. The coastal community of Hopedale experienced the suicide of one of it's young members; an 18 year old. This sadly, was followed by a house fire that took the life of a middle-aged mother. And then Monday evening, a suicide of another young man. I had to deliver this sad news to family in the Correctional Center. As small as Hopedale is, alot like a rural community that we know, Hopedale is isolated on the coast. They rely totally upon their lay ministers - and at times like this - the grief is too much for them to bear. As this small community and their families throughout Labrador grieve these losses, because understanding them in this rapid succession is simply hard, my prayer is that all can bring their mind upon God; trusting in Him and then rest in His perfect peace.

In addition to those tragedies, a small group of young adults went hiking, and 3 young men took a canoe that was resting on the side of a river, and got caught in the rapids, going over the 50 ft. Muskrat Falls. The 2 girls with them helplessly witnessed the entire event. The boys were 1/2 of the class entering the local community college. They have now acquired a high tech team after 3 weeks of searching for the boys. Please keep these families, and the entire Happy Valley community in your prayers, as they had all recently graduated from high school; keeping the search & rescue teams and their families also in your prayers.

If that wasn't enough to endure, a small plane out of Happy Valley went down in the mountains last week; killing all. It took several days to locate the plane. "Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus love and righteousness."

A major concern around here is of increased depression followed by a succession of new suicides; in the communities as well as in the Correctional Center. Thank you for your uplifting for all Labradoreans right now. People are very interconnected; it is a verbal society. Especially the younger generation need to see hope of their personal worthiness and purpose.

On a precariously more up-side of our days the past 2 weeks, the church has been given some monies to rewire and replumb the Manse (where we live). Although the manse is only 50 years old, it was built with materials and limited local volunteer labor that was available at the time. Layer upon layer has been pealed away; revealing some very poignant memories of European Moravian missionaries and the simple but hard life that unfolded. God has preserved this manse and its residents despite wood stove fires, live wires in the walls & highly flammable materials. A local member is putting us up in their art gallery (sweet!) for the time being, and thankfully, although it will be months before this project is fully completed, we are seeing some hope of moving back within another 7 days.

Finally, the Head Chapel Servant informed me yesterday, that the local trust for the Nunasiavut Govt. has approved monies to replace the sanctuary roof this summer; a project long overdue, and enabling us to retain the historical integrity of this building!

God has blessed us in immeasureable ways through these efforts, and many many others. "Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us."

I am thankful that we belong to the Lord. Our hope is in Him and through Him.

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Posted By George and Glenna Tasedan to Labrador Moravians of 2010 at 6/02/2010 05:38:00 AM