(Want to read the pdf/print version?  Click here.)

I (Scott) recently had the opportunity to fly into the jungle of eastern Ecuador with a Reach Beyond work team that is helping a small indigenous community build a water system.  Instead of carrying impure water from a nearby river, the community will have clean spring water piped to stations outside each dwelling.

Unloading the aircraft (Eric and Pedro)

The system will be solar and gravity powered – a small solar-powered pump will raise the water into two 2,500-liter tanks sitting six meters atop a wooden tower.  Reach Beyond is there by invitation, providing resources and expertise, with community members doing the great majority of the work.  Since it is a community project, not a government or Reach Beyond project, we expect it to be well-maintained and last for many years.

Aerial view of the community, the tower, and the spring

The path to the spring; the structure is where the solar panel for the pump will go.

Although primarily an office worker in a city of more than two million people, I asked if I could accompany the small Reach Beyond team (Eric Fogg, a fellow Reach Beyond missionary and Pedro Llallico, an Ecuadorean contractor) as a manual laborer on a four day trip into the selva (the Spanish word for jungle).  Our team and construction supplies were ferried into the jungle in a small plane by Alas de Socorro, which some of you may know as MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship).

Scott and others working on the tower.

For several days we worked alongside community members, we ate and took breaks with them, we walked to the spring to bathe each evening, and we slept in “bug huts” on the floor of their community building.  We endured what many North Americans would call hardship, but we also enjoyed the tranquility and beauty of the Ecuadorean jungle.

Eric and workers assessing the progress.

All the floor beams are finally up! (Daniel, Juan, Patricio, & Pedro)

Children playing next to the tower

Women preparing the morning meal

Thank you Lord for the beauty you have created, your provision for our physical needs, and your great love for all peoples.

How Can You Pray for Us?

Thanks for:

• Scott’s safe and interesting travels
• God’s provision

Pray for:

• Our family in the U.S.
• The community of Santa Rosa
• Reach Beyond’s water project workers

Our Financial Support Status:

THANK YOU to all of you who pray and give so we can serve here!

Recent Blog Post (www.AdventuresInMiddleEarth.com)

Touch the Sky (Toca el Cielo), Scott’s hike up and down Pichincha

Extra photos:  The tower

Extra photos:  The community

How to Contact Us

• Scott & Jody Arnold
• Reach Beyond/HCJB
• Casilla 17-17-691
• Quito, Ecuador 170521

• (US address) 815 Laurelhurst DR
• Eugene, OR  97402

• 541-359-7633 (U.S. number–rings on our computer)
• Jody’s email:  jarnold@ReachBeyond.org
• Scott’s email:  sarnold@ReachBeyond.org

Donate via our blog or send check to:

• Reach Beyond
• PO Box 39800
• Colorado Springs, CO  80949-9800

Please make payable to Reach Beyond and note Account #110563 on memo line.