Wells of Joy - Part Two

Share the well,

Share with your brother

Share the well, my friend

It takes a deeper well

to love one another

Share the well, my friend

Caedmon’s Call, “Share the Well”

People who experience God’s well of Joy just can’t keep the pleasure for themselves, especially when they see the suffering of others.

Paul Loney is a Canadian water engineer. He and his wife Grace saw the heart-wrenching effects of bad water in the Ethiopian village of Keraro, home to about 5,000 people.

The Curse of Fouled Water

The only accessible source of water for these people (besides saline lakes) was a small creek at the bottom of a deep ravine. This water was used for both human and livestock consumption.

The women of the village would carry 10 gallon jerry cans of animal-waste contaminated water to their homes. It was rarely boiled as firewood is a precious commodity. Children and adults were chronically sick, unproductive and poor.

Paul was told that the groundwater in the area would be good but “unusually deep” and just too expensive for the community to afford. Working with village leaders, he and Grace determined to raise the funds for a well - and a pumping, storage and distribution system.

The Joy of Fresh Water

Isaiah's vision became theirs:

"with joy, the people of Keraro will draw water from God's well of salvation!"

They shared their vision with others and “watched God bring the funds together”. 

Two years later they returned for the official ‘opening’ of the well which produced abundant clean clear water with a steady flow rate of 2 liters per second.

There were speeches and feasting and gifts, but for Paul and Grace the best gift was the radiant joy of people who now have clean water for drinking, cooking, washing and agricultural purposes.

Canadians tend to take fresh water for granted, so it was utterly exhilarating for these two northerners to experience the jubilation of an African community over their new source of water!

Grace and Paul Loney

And once again, the Biblical proverb was re-affirmed – those who refresh others themselves will be refreshed.

Proverbs 11:25.