December 21, 2008
Water in dry places
This week we finally fitted the pumps on the wells we had drilled and those we were repairing. Over these two days, we fitted three new pumps, and took four broken old pumps out and replaced them with new ones.
Thank the Lord with us for these pumps, and thank you to all who have helped us with prayers, money, and hard work.
December 08, 2008
Well-drilling photos: Part 2
Our second two weeks were drilling in Tamakat, Cekol Koba, and Gorom-Gorom, with the help of Nigel, Andy, Tom, and Dave, from my home church, Glenwood Church.
As usual, you can click on the photos for larger versions.)
Wherever we went people gathered to watch, but also to listen. Pierre in particular was constantly sharing the good news of God's compassion in Christ that was the motivation not only for the well-drilling, but also for Christ's sacrifice to bring us back to the Father.
We had two good wells in Tasmakat. But Cekol Koba and the ground of the Gorom-Gorom school were completely dry. We managed to repair a pump that we shall be able to use for the Gorom-Gorom school, and will repair another one at Tasmakat, and another at Coffalboy.
It was a tiring month for everyone involved, and disappointing not to get more water. But we are thankful to God for what we have been able to accomplish. Thank you to all of you who have supported this work. God bless you.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
December 07, 2008
Well-drilling photos: Part 1
The first two weeks we were drilling mostly around Deou.
(As usual, you can click on the photos for larger versions.)
Deou is increasingly dry, with the water table dropping, and half the town's wells are now redundant. We had great trouble finding water, but managed to drill one successful well at the church ground. The drilling in town and at Lila were sadly unsuccessful. However, we will also repair two other pumps where there is still water.
Billy and Patrick from HICF in North Carolina came to join Friends in Action to help drill the wells. Seydou and Pierre also joined us.
Local Fulani would come and watch the drilling with much interest.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
December 06, 2008
Thanks for your prayers
Thanks for your prayers for the well-drilling on the ground of the school we will be building this year.
Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find any water on the school ground, which has been a huge disappointment. Water will be essential not only for the children to drink and for cooking meals, but also for actually building the school.
However, we have found a temporary and partial solution. A nearby secondary school, which has a good water supply, had an extra pump that was broken down. The school agreed that if we repaired it, we would be able to use the water for our school until a longer-term solution is found.
So, on the last day, the team worked until after dark, watched by crowds of school children, to take apart the old pump, and put a new pump on. What a relief it was when it was finished, and water flowed! Thank God with us for this.
Hopefully this will provide enough water for cooking and drinking, but we may need to truck in water for building. And we will need to look for other possibilities to get a water supply on the school ground itself.
Please come back for more photos of the well-drilling, and to keep up with news of progress on the school.
December 03, 2008
Well-drilling Latest
Thank you for your prayers for the well-drilling at the grounds of our new school. Unfortunately our second drill on the school ground also turned up dry, producing plenty of dust, but no water.
As you can imagine, this has been a great disappointment. We are looking at alternative temporary solutions to provide water for the school. Tomorrow we will look at a nearby pump that is broken down. We hope we may be able to repair it and use that for a year or two, while we look into longer-term solutions. Please keep praying. Thank you.
I hope to write more, and post photos when I am next down in Ouaga.
December 02, 2008
Please pray for water
This afternoon, I was sitting under an acacia tree, with my laptop on battery power, watching the well-drillers here on the school ground.
The first hole has been completely dry, and we have just started what will be our last try at the other end of the school land.
It would be really hard to build the school without a water supply. And of course it would be really hard to have a school of several hundred children without water for them to drink during the heat of the day.
We really need to find water tomorrow.
Please keep praying.
Thank you.
November 27, 2008
Well-drilling : Tasmakat
We have now had two successful drills in Tasmakat area, with the second well having a really good amount of water. Thank the Lord with us for this. Everyone in Tasmakat is very happy.
We are now moving on to Cekol Koba. Unfortunately, the rig got stuck in the sand again as we headed out there. Chuck has decided he definitely needs to buy sand ladders if he is going to work in Gorom-Gorom area again. We managed to get the trucks out eventually. I have come back with Seydou and Pierre to Gorom-Gorom for a day. I need to do other work, check on progress at the school, meet with Seydou and Pierre about the Fulani conference, organise forthcoming visits, set up my new modem and internet connection, download and send emails, and post this on my blog.
If all goes well, we should finish in Cekol Koba on Saturday, and be back in Gorom-Gorom on Sunday to begin drilling on the school ground on Monday.
Thanks again for your prayers.
November 24, 2008
At last!
I have just heard from Chuck in Tasmakat that we have had a successful well-drill today, and that the team have found water and put a well in place!
Praise the Lord with us, and thanks for your prayers.
More news soon.
Well-drilling Update
The well-drilling has continued to be difficult, but we finally got one well drilled and lined in the church yard in Deou. Although the water flow is not as high as hoped, it increased significantly over the time we were there, and should help significantly. Samuel and family were really pleased.
We also are replacing two pumps where there is water but the pumps are broken, and the town leaders are really happy.
We have now moved on to Tasmakat.
The first team - from the US - leave tonight. The team from Glenwood Church in Cardiff arrived last night, and we will head back up north at 5.30 tomorrow morning. Please continue to pray for protection, for water, and for a good testimony to be left.
Please pray also for Reid, one of the Canadian FiA team, whose mother has been taken into hospital. Reid is flying back tonight to be with her.
Reid's departure has consequences for the team. Pray for Seydou and Pierre who are still working with Chuck, and for the new team as they learn the work. Pray for me too, as it means I will have to drive one of the big trucks with its trailer. I brought it down across the bush from Deou to Tasmakat okay, but it is not easy getting the thing through holes and narrow bush tracks.
Thank you
November 19, 2008
Well-drilling Update
Thank you for your prayers - we value them as things continue to be challenging here.
Before even arriving at our first drill site we were 24 hours behind schedule, with punctures, breakdowns, and getting stuck in sand, and the drillers were already saying this was the hardest trip yet.
Local people have commented on how hard our team work compared with other teams they have seen, and on the unity of the "blacks" and "whites" working together. We have been able to explain that it is the love of Christ that is the motivation for such unity and service.
However, in Deou, the neediest place we are targetting, we have had three dry holes so far. The team are drilling again in the area, but I have had to come down to Gorom-Gorom (a round trip of about 100 miles) for the second time to buy more diesel for the rig.
Isiyaaka, one fof the Burkinabe working with us, had an accident and hurt his finger, but could have easily lost it completely. he is okay, and working again.
Please pray for protection for the team and equipment, and for us to find good sources of water. And please pray that people see and recognise the love of God in Christ through what we are doing. Thank you.
November 11, 2008
Well-drilling update
Billy and Patrick, my visitors from Hatteras Island, have arrived all right, and we are already in the north to start drilling. Please pray for us as we do so; it seems to me that we have had more than our share of setbacks during the last few days, including some very arduous journeys and breakdowns. Pray that God would give us strength and patience for the work, and smoother travel than we have been experiencing. Thank you.
September 26, 2008
Well-drilling 2008
Web page about the Well-drilling
I have now created a page on my website about our well-drilling programme for November.
To read all about it, and find out how you can help provide water for the people of the north of Burkina Faso, please go here: Well-drilling in Burkina Faso
Sponsored Run for Well-drilling
Also, thanks to Mark and Abi Rogers from Glenwood Church who will be pounding the streets on the Great North Run on October 5th to help raise money for the well-drilling.
Encourage them as they undertake their "grueling journey from Newcastle to South Shields".
You can sponsor them online at their "Keep the Water Running" Justgiving website.
September 14, 2008
Well-drilling in Burkina Faso
In November, we will be drilling 6 wells, and repairing 5 other pumps in remote and dry areas in the sahel area of northern Burkina Faso.
Teams will be coming out from Glenwood Church and from Hatteras Island Christian Fellowship to join us as we work with Friends in Action to provide water to these areas. We will be working in Gorom-Gorom (on the grounds of the school we are building), Deou, Lila, Tasmakat, Coffalboy, and Cekol Koba.
Here is a short video of the work of Friends in Action in Burkina:
Please pray as we prepare for this work. Thank you.
We have so far raised about £16,000, but we estimate we need about another £7,000. If you want to support this work, please send money to:
UK
Gorom-Gorom Well-drilling,
World Horizons:
North Dock
Llanelli
Carms SA15 2LF
USA
Gorom-Gorom Well-drilling,
World Horizons:
PO Box 17721,
Richmond,
VA 23226
USA
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
January 18, 2008
Food and Water Supplies in Lila
This is Lila, one of the Fulani villages where we want to drill a well. Pastor Samuel has an open invitation to teach the gospel there, and it is the village we spent the night with the team from Hatteras Island.
About 700+ people get their water at these hand-dug water-holes, the same wells that are used to water hundreds of cows, sheep, and goats.
The same village has these unusual grain stores, built from stone, with mud "cement" to hold the stones together.
A couple of Fulani girls at the wells:
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells grain store sahel water
January 17, 2008
"The poor and needy search for water..."
"...I the Lord will answer them..." (Is 41:17)
I am just back from a flying 4-day trip looking at possible well-drilling sites in half a dozen villages around Gorom-Gorom. I was accompanied by Chuck from Friends in Action, a Christian well-drilling ministry working in Burkina Faso, and Steve, from my home church Glenwood, in Cardiff.
As you can imagine, water is a major need in the sahel, and there were many more villages than we could possibly help. So, we were focusing on villages with major needs, where pastors in the area are already working. We visited about six villages, all in real need of good protected water supplies.
Deou was perhaps the most striking need. The town used to have springs flowing years ago, but over the last few years, the pumps in half the town have dried up. People end up walking up to 14km in hot season to find water.
We took apart one of the broken pumps, pulling out the pipes, and checking the underground water levels and flow capacity. Locals came to help us, and others sat by watching. We announced that the following morning we would be pumping out water to check the flow, and told the women to come with their water jugs, which they did by the dozen. An opportunity not to be missed – normally having to walk miles to find water, and then wait ages before your time to pump physically to get it, here was water free and at no effort! Steve’s best efforts to distribute God’s gift fairly were thwarted by the scrum that developed as each person sought and fought for their turn. It was mostly good-natured though, and brought many laughs for all involved.
We hope to be able to return later in the year to drill six wells in these villages, and put pumps there. We are trying to find money for this. Each well/pump will cost about £3000. In addition, we saw many pumps in need of repair, and we would like to help get them working again. If you would like to help finance these, please send money via World Horizons, with a covering letter saying the gift is for wells via the Burkina Faso Sahel Account.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
