Picoco Well is Complete

Today we finally made it out to Picoco and verified the well is operating. That is great news and while we were there, we watched family after family come and receive the water. Yes, we tasted it and it is good clean water. We will make the final payment on the well tomorrow and we pray it will bless the church and the community and draw people to this quiet and peaceful place. Thank you to all who contributed to this wonderful cause.

On the other side is sad news about our well at Intaka and generally about Intaka in general. We received a call that the well had been stolen at night. We found that hard to believe as it is no small task to unbolt a well, dismantle it, pull the rods, and put it in a truck all within easy earshot of numerous homes of church members. To top it off, there is some sort of strife within the church and the pastor has resigned. This pastor we count as a personal friend and we had talked on the phone about the well and now he isn't taking our calls. We received his resignation letter and we had a special meeting with the denomination leaders about it. The culture would have the denomination issue a letter back inviting him to a meeting with the leadership to discuss his letter. So, more to come, but we believe our long friendship provides the right to drive out and visit with them over this. It has rocked our world a bit as we have spent much time with this church and the Pastor and his family, so we are wanting to very much understand what is happening.

Today, I drove out to Intaka with a visitor from OMS, and confirmed the well was indeed gone, along with some damage to the inner casing that I think is more of a sabotage thing. It's all fixable but experience has taught us that the culture has a way of bringing these kinds of things around. The church and denomination has posted a reward for information leading to..... so we shall see. I talked to some people we know nearby and learned that indeed a car stopped there late one night and that was about all I could get - no one was talking. There is lots of gossip and finger pointing and the police are involved, but we just don't know anything. I drove by very similar wells that are around (although not close) and this seems to be the only one that was affected. We are praying that something good will come of this and I hate to admit it, but I'm praying for God to have His way with the culprits.

So, heartbreak and jubiliation; life here challenges the emotions on a regular basis.

Tomorrow, our long-time and dear friend Karlene returns to the States after three wonderful weeks (at least for us!) with us. This photo is of her today at Picoco. We covered alot of ground with Karlene during her time here and we hope that this trip will help her with the prayer ministry she leads that is so vital to the OMS work in Mozambique. Her leaving will leave a big hole here, for she is really much more family to us than a friend.

People do come and go, for yesterday Lon arrived from OMS headquarters to do some filming and documentary work and so he is also with us and we are enjoying introducing him to the work here.

"Arise, O LORD! O God, lift up Your hand! Do not forget the humble." Ps 10:12