Water and the Word

The dust lifted like a red cloud behind the vehicle as we bounced down the dirt road away from town and into the village, which was the same direction as the flow of bike and foot traffic. It was late in the afternoon, so people were coming back into the village from a day of work, some riding their bikes and waving with one hand, others with basins full of goods on their heads, smiling broadly but still hanging onto their loads with both hands. 

Other people gathered at the well to collect their evening supply of water for washing and cooking. That's where we stopped first. As we came into the village, we parked the car beside the well and watched as the long line of people took turns filling up their yellow buckets. 

"It shouldn't be this way," Geoffrey told us. When the population of the village is too large for only one well, people have to wait in line, which often causes frustration and conflict. 

We had come to this village to survey the water situation and see if this will be the next village to put in a new well. Already, we had seen enough evidence to merit the installation of a new well.

If people aren't patient enough to wait in line at this well, or if they live too far away, they can always get water at this second option - an open well that is almost completely dry during this hot season. You can see the rocks and mud showing at the bottom.

A woman at his well told us it takes her one whole hour to fill up one basin like the one pictured below. "What do you do with that water?" we asked, thinking that by the looks of it, she must use it only to wash. 

"We drink it," she said.

Finding out that this woman is a Christian, we asked her and the local leader, Dieudonne, to show us the church. They led us to a nearby tree, and we gathered under the shade to hear their story. The church there hasn't met in over a year because the leader is untrained and feels inadequate because he doesn't know how to read or write. Geoffrey took the opportunity to invite Dieudonne to our next leader training and explained how there is a section for both literate and oral learners. Dieudonne was willing to come, and the church members who had gathered around him were willing to send him. 

In the shade of that giant tree, we sang a song of worship and prayed a prayer of blessing over the church, asking God to raise it up again in that place. We encouraged the leader and the people, and we proclaimed in Jesus' name that this very site was dedicated to him and ripe for renewal. 

As we walked back to the car, we were all thinking the same thing. "Maybe that was the whole reason we came today." 

Every time that we leave our gate and take a trip to the village, we pause and pray. We ask God to be with us on the road and in the village, but we also ask him to use us in any way he pleases. On this day, we went out to do well research, yet the Lord provided a much greater opportunity with a greater purpose - one that was perhaps far more eternal and far reaching than a new water well. 

Even if we don't end up doing a water well in this village, the trip wasn't wasted. Please join me in praying for this village, for the water problem, and for the church and its leader. 

May God continue to direct our steps, every going out and every coming in, to be a blessing and a bringer of the kingdom of God.