“They come to fetch water” – a missionary moment
In 2023, I moved out from the city to my new mission field in the northwest of Mozambique, 100km from the town where I used to stay and work. My predecessor, from Australia, had retired. I am of the same tribe and language of the people in that Muslim village, though from across the border in Malawi. Therefore, I thought it would be simple to interact with them. I actually found out that they were afraid to talk to me, even to say hi! I could see fear and doubt in their faces. I tried to find out why, and was surprised to hear that they were afraid of strange westerners, thinking that they were in the business of buying and selling human body parts. So, they also were afraid of interacting with every person who works with westerners, thinking I had been hired to sell human body parts and bones. During this time, rumours of killing people with albinism were also circulating.
After praying for wisdom, God gave me an idea. I noticed that the villagers had to walk a long distance to fetch water from the river or wells. The whole village had only two boreholes. There was fresh water in the boreholes, but a pump was required to get it out of the ground. Though it was expensive, I decided to sacrifice part of my salary for fuel monthly to pump water and share with my neighbours at no cost. Little did I know that God would use this to make a way. The next year, my mission organization intervened and bought us a brand new solar water pump. Today, all my neighbours have made our home their home. For two years now, we have been providing fresh and clean water to so many people in the village. The water has become another means of sharing the love of Christ to the villagers, especially to ladies. We talk a lot whenever they come to fetch water. It is especially good that they come in groups, which makes it easy to interact with them together. Men too come to help us with some work here and there, and we use that as a tool to share our faith. Now they know and understand who we are and they have become good friends. Water has become a means to bridge the communications gap. Glory to God.
