Well Openings

Wow, its been a while since I've posted anything; I've got lots to catch up on. For those of you who follow my email updates, you know that October and November were busy with well stuff. The wells had been drilled earlier this year, but due to rainy season and the month of fasting, we had to wait til October to finish putting in cement platforms and installing the pumps.

By mid-November we were able to start opening the pumps for the villages to use. As each pump was ready, we wanted to hold a special meeting or ceremony (it kind of depended on the village) to share a bit about why we have come and given them wells, as well as to emphasize the importance of keeping the wells maintained, and continuing good sanitation practices (each of these villages had also been involved in a community sanitation project that our team coordinated).

The first villages to use the pumps was a cluster of three villages, so we decided to hold the opening "ceremony" at the middle village. Scott and I arrived around 9, for a 10am meeting. Although the village knew to prepare for us, they weren't. A couple women swept the ground under a tree, and after a while we finally got someone to bring some mats and a carpet for everyone to sit on. By 11:30, the leaders from the three villages had arrived. We invited a couple local officials, including the Sultan of the T people, but none of them showed. Here are the local village leaders who came:

I'm so thankful for Scott who can speak French, English, T and Arabic. He did most of the talking, but I took the opportunity at each opening to share some things from God's Book, including the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and the Living Water. They listened very attentively; please be praying that the Spirit works through His Word to bear eternal fruit.

Although the first couple villages didn't really have their act together, we did get some very warm welcomes at the others. Often we were served tea with peanuts or other beverages. One village gave us two chickens, another wanted to kill a goat for us to eat with them. Unfortunately we were on a tight schedule that day and had to decline, so they sent the goat home with us!

In some of the villages we actually had women present, which was great, especially as they are the primary users of the wells. Here are some that gathered at the last village:

In this last village, after I had finished sharing the story of the Samaritan woman, one of the men repeated back some of the things I said, affirming them as good and true, and saying that they had never heard some of these things before. He also was very thankful for all the work we have done, and said we are welcome to come back anytime for any other work, and also to share God's Word. Please pray for this man, and his village, Dongé, that the seeds of faith might take root and grow into a large tree like the one in Matthew 13:32.