Two Villages in Togo Receive Fresh Water Wells

     May and June of 2009 was a busy and joyful time as the Africa Oasis Project was able to put in two village wells and we also hosted a team from Austin, Texas. In Togo, West Africa, the villages of Tsito and Djeta, both needed wells. The people in both villages had to walk over a mile to a source of dirty, unsafe water and then carry the water back to the village on their head.

      Tsito  chee-toe) is the village where we unsuccessfully attempted to use a hand drilling rig to find water. After drilling two holes and hitting rock that we could not penetrate, we gave up on the hand drilling idea (as stated in a previous blog entry). The village desperately needed water. They were walking two kilometers to a dirty pond to get unsafe and unclean water. Even though our hand drilling attempts did not work, we knew we had to put in a well for this no matter what the challenges were. With the financial help of two Adult Sunday School  classes from Bethel Life Center in Wichita, Kansas we  were able hire a drilling rig and put in a successful deep well and provide the only source of fresh, clean water in the village of Tsito. The well that  was provided by the Africa Oasis Project was placed next to the Assembly of God church where it could serve the entire region. The people were so excited when the fresh water began to flow from the  new hand pump. At the sight of the new pump, with tears in her eyes, Vickie said “They don’t have to go to the swamp anymore.” We had the joy of distributing buckets to the “mamas” in the village  as well. BGMC (Boys and Girls Missionary Challenge) provided the “Buddy Buckets” for ladies of Tsito and the surrounding area.

     Djeta (jet-a) is  located Togo very close to the border of Benin in West Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. This village depends on fishing from the nearby Mono River. Voodoo and spiritism are very prevalent in the region. A new church has been planted and a tabernacle has been erected.  There was a great need for a fresh water well and with the help of a group of five young  men from Glad Tiding Assembly in Austin, Texas we were able to put in a well and pump next to the new Assembly of God church. In the evenings over 180 people  came to the one  service and 25 people accepted Christ as their Savior for the first time. PTL! Fresh water and the Living Water of Jesus Christ are now flowing in Djeta. We decided to that the team of young men from Texas needed to experience just a bit of what the people of Djeta had to go through to get water before the village well. We each carried a Buddy Bucket of water for almost two kilometers from an open well to the center of the village and gave the buckets and the water to the “mamas” in the village. Only the women of the village were making this journey several times a day. Now they can go to the village pump  provided by the Africa Oasis Project.