Myra’s Wells Newsletter – October 2021

Welcome to our October 2021 Newsletter

Index

You can use this index to read the newsletter section by section. Or just scroll down to read it all ..

There is also a printable version of the newsletter which you can download using this link.

Priorities!

The most familiar Biblical event to do with water is surely the story of the Woman at the Well in John Ch 4. And it does not seem to matter how many times I read the narrative of that event, there are always nuances that I had not seen before

Most recently, I suddenly wondered if the woman at the well did in fact actually meet Jesus’ request to give him a drink? Initially she had no real understanding of who Jesus was, only that He was a Jew and she was a Samaritan, and there was little, if any, common ground between them.

I don’t doubt Jesus was thirsty, but Jesus’ desire for this woman to experience Living Water had a higher priority than a simple drink of water. For Myra’s Wells, even though our stated priority is to provide the pure physical water that is necessary for life, health, and sustenance, nevertheless our higher aim is that this provision of physical water will be a catalyst to enable the local Christians to share what they know about Living Water. As a result, we know many have trusted Christ as Saviour and several new churches have opened.

After her encounter with Jesus, we read that this woman left her water jar by the well, went into town and invited people to come and see Jesus, even then sensing that He was indeed the Messiah.

Makes me wonder what I am prepared to “leave behind” to share the Good News of the Gospel through the provision of pure water in Burkina Faso!

Eddie

A bit more from Eddie!

It is 15 years since Myra went to be with Jesus. Much has happened in that time. A target of 1 well in her memory quickly became 2 then 3, then 20, then 100, then 200. We now have 217 with perhaps another 15 by the end of 2021.

The first well drilled at Zongo in 2006, still going strong and being well used in December 2020

We committed from the beginning that 100% of donations would go to well construction, unless designated otherwise, for example – to help a Christian school. The trustees cover all the running costs (e.g. travel, accountancy). We intend to continue this “100%” policy. We have learned a lot about the best ways of providing wells. Whereas we almost always used hand pumps, there is a move in some urban areas to solar powered pumps feeding water storage tanks, 2,500 litres or more, and so water is now “on tap” in some places. We have also gradually become more serious about training villagers in health and hygiene and well maintenance.

What has happened so far has far exceeded our wildest expectations, and we trust in the Lord to keep us in His will for the future.

Review of the Year

Conveniently both the drilling season in Burkina, and Myra’s Wells financial year end in August. This gives us a chance to reflect on the Lord’s goodness on terms of funds received and wells drilled.

This year, September 2020 – August 2021, has been exceptional. It seems that, despite the pandemic which has adversely affected the funds of many charities, the Lord has stirred even more hearts to support the work of providing water in Burkina Faso. This year, the income has been double the previous year – about £250,000.

Despite the security situation, it has been possible to hold a number of well blessing meetings. This picture from the blessing at Palpagdo shows the local people together with those who travelled from Ouagadougou for the blessing there. At these times, many express their desire to trust the Lord.

Projects Completed year ended Aug 2021

The headlines

10 Water Towers

In these projects, the hand pump is replaced with a solar powered pump which keeps a tank filled up with water.

It has become clear in the last year that this is the best option for villages/suburbs in, or near to, Ouagadougou. Other agencies have been providing water towers and if we just put a hand pump on a well, people are likely to not use it. They will walk further to use the water tower. Nearly all of these towers have been equipped with a 5000 litre tank. For these towers near Ouagadougou, the cost is often only £300 more that the cost of finishing with a hand pump.

School at Natiera built

If you have a good memory, you may recall that we provided a well at a village called Natiera about 2 years ago. The opportunity arose to build a Christian School at the village and Christine’s church in Ouagadougou was able to fund part of the cost.

All donations to Myra’s Wells are always put towards well projects unless the donor specifically asks for their donations to be used in another way. Our constitution allows us to support educational projects. When we talked to our supporters about the school project, some decided they would like to help with the costs of building the school and asked that their donations should be used in this way.

We were able to contribute £22,500 to the project. The school is now in operation. They arranged for a well to be drilled and Myra’s Wells paid for a water tower to be constructed.

Other projects

Other notable projects included the amazing borehole at Saatenga which provided 18,000 litres of water an hour. A water tower with a 10,000 litre tank was installed.

Several other boreholes produced over 10,000 litres an hour and others over 5,000 litres an hour. Bearing in mind the minimum viable provision is 700 litres an hour, we praise God for His great goodness.

Two wells in the south-west nearly didn’t happen. The “road” to the village was non-existent and the drills could not reach the villages until the village people cut down trees to make a way in. The picture on the left shows one of the wells.

Wells in July and August!

The other major development this year has been the drilling of 5 wells during the rainy season in July and August.

This is an unusual development. As we have mentioned before, the drills can easily become stuck in the mud on the “roads” into villages. However, with the wonderful provision of funds this year, we wanted to drill as many wells as we could. This picture shows the scene that greeted Christine two years ago when she visited a village to assess the need for a well there.

Around Ouagadougou, there is as much need of water in some places as there is in the more rural parts of the country. As we had a number of requests from places within 20 km of Ouagadougou, we asked Christine whether we might be able to try some boreholes in these areas. Christine said it should be fine as long as we started quickly because the rains would be heavier in August. In God’s goodness, drilling took place on 31st July and 2nd August. Just in time! And all the wells were positive. Here are some “before” and “after” pictures.

Projects Completed in July and August

Boasia

The ladies here often had to wait for a long time to use the existing well. It was at a school and was often locked. The alternative was this open well. Now they have a water tower. It takes less than a minute to fill the containers!

Bassor

Here there was already a water tower. However, it was privately owned and, although the people could use it, it was often dry before 9 am. Maybe the borehole did not have enough water in it to keep the tank filled. The new borehole supplies 4500 litres of water every hour.

Bissighin

The problem here was that there were too many people for the existing well. Again, we provided a water tower. This is already being very well used. It used to take about 4 minutes to fill containers. It now takes under 1 minute. You can imagine how long the queue used to be!

Koanda de Gompela

Once again, the problem was the number of people trying to use the well. The population at many villages is rising quickly. This is partly because people are moving from the dangerous parts of Burkina; some of it is down to population expansion. At this village, we decided a hand pump was the best option

Tigundalbué

At this village, the people shared a large stone-built storage structure with the animals. Not the best plan for healthy living!

Now they have a water tower dispensing clean water. Much easier for these small children to use!

Thank you to all our donors!

We want to thank everyone who has helped to make this possible by giving or praying. We know that, ultimately, we have to thank God for His provision. This year, there have been 16 named wells drilled. Some are in memory of relatives who have passed away. Others are simply because the donors have seen there is a need of water. Here are some of the plaques placed on wells this year.

Replacing our 4×4 – a message from Eddie

Since starting to drill wells in 2006, we have sent across various vehicles which have served us well, but the trustees feel the time has come to invest in a Toyota Hilux 4 x 4 by the end of this year which will enable us to visit many places inaccessible to normal vehicles. The original 4 x 4 has served us well, but it is coming to the end of its life. Toyota have an operation in Gibraltar that serves charities working in Africa.

Here is the old 4×4 outside Christine’s house in Ouagadougou.

The cost of this will be around £25,000, and the vehicle comes with a three-year warranty. More than half of this amount has already been promised from the trustees, who will, if necessary, find the remainder of the cost.

If feel it would be right for you to help with this, please contact Eddie on 01202 892548 or eddie@myraswells.org or write to him for further details. (See contact details on page 12.)

Prayer Points

Praise for the wells that have been drilled recently and all who have become Christians as a result of wells drilled;
Prayer that they will be a witness to God’s greater blessing of salvation through faith and by grace;
Prayer for safety for the drilling teams in areas where security is not guaranteed;
Prayer for safety of Christine and her helpers based in Ouagadougou;
Prayer for guidance in choosing the most needy places to drill;
Prayer particularly as we plan maybe 15 wells this autumn;Prayer for integrity within the Burkina Faso government. The needs are innumerable.
Prayer for “attention to detail” concerning the new Toyota 4×4

Thank you for your support.

The Myra’s Wells Team in UK and Burkina Faso