Living Water

NAMIBIA – Mubiza, Caprivi

GPS: 17 37.866 S, 24 24.453 E

The Kavango people of Namibia live in the north near a river that doesn’t dry up in the dry season—a rare thing in this arid nation. They are proud of their crops, mostly corn, and they walk back and forth to the river many times a day for water for these crops—and for themselves. “River water is running water, so it is always clean,” they tell us. “The only problem is crocodiles eat us sometimes.”

Moses Shilinda is a member of this community. He and members of six other families work on a vegetable project to provide food for their families as well as a small income. They haul river water in drums pulled by oxen to try and keep their small plot producing. They travel to the river twice daily to bring enough water for crops and drinking. Each trip takes 2 1/2 hours, costing them five hours of work time—not to mention the health costs of drinking water from the river.

Just as our team set up to drill about a kilometer from the river, we heard four short bursts of gunfire in the distance. (Because of political agendas, some unrest remains along this border region.) We considered leaving, but a young man came running up to us and said, “Don’t be concerned. The Lord will protect you because you have come in Jesus’ name.” His faith was greater than ours—and he was right. We didn’t have any trouble and the young man’s words of faith gave us the encouragement and confidence we needed to stay and complete the borehole.