Mexico Cistern Ministry Update June 2024
Maria and I are excited to receive five American mission teams this summer. When the dust settles, 20 families will become new cistern owners. That will bring the 2024 cistern total to 32 and the grand total to 699. All thanks to God, who motivates and empowers our partners year after year.
Back in the early 1990s, Maria lived with her mom and siblings in a house with a tarpaper roof, dirt floor, no electricity, and no running water. She regularly pushed a wheelbarrow to a pond a third of a mile from home to fill two 8-gallon containers. Sixteen gallons of water weigh 133 pounds. Her sisters Pati and Teresa often helped. That old house is gone. Pati and her husband, Felipe, built a home there. It has cinderblock walls, a concrete floor, a concrete ceiling, and electricity. Most new homes in Xpujil are similar. Despite many improvements, unreliable access to water remains a huge problem.
The government’s underground pipeline rarely or never supplies water to our homes. The water tanker trucks do not visit often enough to fill the water receptacles we set out on the roadside. Our hearts sink whenever a tanker rumbles by without stopping. The other day, I saw a man in Xpujil pushing a wheelbarrow with two 8-gallon containers. He had just drawn water from the same pond Maria and her sisters frequented. Twenty minutes later, he was back for more.
Now in our 23rd year, our little rainwater collection ministry has always believed that the Mexican government would not solve the water problem in our region. We do trust the strength, love, and creativity of American and Mexican Christians willing to work together.
Our results are modest: 679 families own a cistern. During the typical six-month dry season, a family can draw about 35 gallons of water per day from its cistern. All our cisterns, added together, can store and supply over eight million gallons of water annually. A reliable water source improves family health, but we understand that access to the ever-replenishing source of living water is infinitely more valuable.
We thank God for giving us a ministry where our Christian Ch’ol Cistern Building Partners can casually share the Good News as they matter-of-factly explain to prospective cistern owners how this project differs from government projects. We are a partnership of Christ-following Americans and Mexicans, moved by gratitude and delight in our salvation to share our Father’s love with neighbors. The participation of our American work teams adds sweat, sore muscles, and smiles to embody and emphasize that message.
Thank you again for your steadfast commitment to this outreach. I am amazed at how God works through your gracious prayers and outrageous generosity to touch more families through cistern construction.
May the Holy Spirit continue to work through us to transform lives in Mexico, the United States, and our own homes. May God use our participation to drive us deeper and deeper into His loving embrace.
Perhaps you’ll join us in 2025? Great dates are still available.
Muchas gracias,
Todd Luke
THE OPPORTUNITY
The Outreach Foundation seeks prayers and gifts for the Mexico Cistern Ministry. This ministry provides clean drinking water in parts of Mexico, bringing hope to an otherwise dire water supply situation. All gifts of any size are welcome. If you want to join this incredible ministry's growing network of supporters, please send funds to The Outreach Foundation, designated “Mexico Cistern Ministry.” Send a gift via mail or click the link below to give online.
