How a Water Well Transformed Abapiri Village

Men, women, and children streamed up the dirt road, stirring the dust as they sang, danced, and praised God. We had finally reached Abapiri Village, and the celebration was coming to meet us!

The moment we stepped out of the van, we were swept into the crowd! My first thought was, “Girl, you better pray for the strength to keep up with them!” Thankfully, their joy was so contagious that before I knew it, I was dancing and jumping almost as hard as they were—just a little more breathlessly!

When we reached the well, everyone was still bubbling with excitement. One by one, people shared what it meant to have water in their village. Again and again, we heard the same thing—the well had given them their lives back.

Molly, the women’s leader, shared: “Today is a very special day! God has done so much for us. Our water situation could have brought death to every one of us. But God preserved us—and here we stand with so much joy in our hearts!”

Molly came to Abapiri in 1975 as a young bride. Day after day, she and the other women walked more than six miles each way to a dam or swamp. They feared wild animals, and their husbands often went with them carrying spears because the journey was too dangerous to make alone.

After all those miles, the water they found was dirty. They carried it home knowing it could make their children sick. But there was no other water to drink.

Then Bilgam shared a childhood memory. After his father died, his mother had to leave her children while she searched for water. Before leaving, she locked Bilgam and his siblings inside their hut to protect them from wild animals. I tried to imagine facing that choice: leave your children locked inside all day or leave them without water. For generations, this was life in Abapiri.

But praise God, everything has now changed! The dangerous journeys are over. Women have more time with their families, and people have clean water for drinking and bathing. Some laughingly told us that when the well first opened, they bathed five times a day. After a lifetime with so little water, they could hardly believe there was enough. Today, the well serves nearly 500 people each day.

As we stood around the well, we celebrated all these changes. But above all, we praised our GREAT GOD for wiping their tears away!

Written by Betty Jo McLelland