Christian miracle well in Senegal

David Maranz, working with the Bible translation movement "Wycliffe" sent us the following report from Senegal in West Africa:

"Life in Senegal has always been hard, but it has got worse in recent years because the water table has sunk dramatically in many areas of the country. A decades-long drought has brought salty seawater far into the country up the few rivers. Even wells bored well away from the sea are now so salty that the water is almost undrinkable, and large numbers of people have to walk for miles to fetch drinking water, which is often a job for women and girls. In one town with some 5,000 inhabitants, the only deep well which had given good water had finally also become salty. A Christian church in the town had a small area of land, and some of the townspeople suggested drilling a well there. Most considered it a waste of time, because a well had been dug there some years before, and had brought only salty water. The Christians prayed, and had the impression that they should drill the well. They hit water only 6 meters down, and the water so sweet that the first people to try it shouted that someone had put sugar in it. Some consider it to be the best water they have ever tasted. Every morning, 300 women wait to draw water from the well. When all 300 are finished, the well is empty - but the next morning, it is again full.

In Senegal, people are well aware of the symbolic nature of events: the townspeople go to a Christian place to receive what they need to live. Every one of the population is convinced that this is a miracle performed by the Christian God, and even in Dakar, the capital 100 miles away, people are speaking about the 'Christian miracle well'."

Source: David Maranz, Wycliffe Bible Translators and Friday Fax 1999 issue 3, 22 January

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