There were so many things to correct and so many things to start. Pastor and Mrs. Henry Nau arrived in April 1936 to prepare the Ibesikpo field to be a Lutheran mission. The Synodical Conference was calling for a permanent missionary. The mission would need a source of water.

Calling on his previous experience in India, Nau went to the nearest stream and calculated the rate of rise of the adjoining bank. He marked the spot higher on the slope. “Here. Dig here. Forty feet down. We will have water.”

The workers dug as ordered. No one thought it made much sense. The chief of the area openly questioned why anyone would dig into the ground to find water. He would never drink such “water.”[slideshow=74]

Of course, the scheme worked. The chief and the mission coordinator were pleased with the first water well for the Lutherans of Nigeria. Later, Pastor Bill Schweppe and the mission family got their water there.

Today we dig bore holes – deep water wells to provide sanitary household water for thousands. The Nigerians know the value of bore holes and prize them highly. It’s especially important during the dry season, when the usual stream beds and pot holes provide only fetid water bearing several diseases. The bore hole system doesn’t come cheap. But when we provide bore holes, we are in fact sustaining life.

To date, the WELS Humanitarian Aid Committee and other WELS groups have provided nine mechanized water systems to Christ the King Lutheran Church of Nigeria and three more to All Saints Lutheran congregations. Two more hand-pump bore holes failed. So we don’t do that kind any more. The water is provided to all comers — Christians, Muslims, anyone — for pennies. This generosity causes many to ask, “Why do you give us this pure water?” The answer lets our people explain the love of Jesus and the love of his people who want to share this blessing with everyone.

The water system standing next to a church building is quite a sight really. It tells the people that we care. And it invites people to get acquainted with our fellow Christians, who can share the “water of everlasting life” with them too.