Abuk Garang Aleu helps dig a "soft pit" for a water well in Auchier, South Sudan, that is being rehabilitated for the community. South Sudanese on Mission, a ministry of Texans on Mission, is rehabilitating broken wells and drilling new ones to provide clean water.
Aleu: 'This borehole is not just a water well, it is a source of hope, life, and opportunity'
Two years ago, Abuk Garang Aleu’s small business growing and selling vegetables came to a halt. The pump on the water well had stopped working.
“When the borehole broke down everything came to a halt,” Aleu said. “Without water for irrigation my crops withered, and I had no choice but to abandon the business that sustained my family.”
Mechanical devices, by their nature, require service and repair to keep them operating. Across Africa, hundreds of water well pumps sit idle, no longer able to bring clean drinking water to the surface.
South Sudanese on Mission, a new ministry of Texans on Mission, is rehabilitating unusable water pumps, including the one Aleu used in the Auchier community.
“I want to thank South Sudanese on Mission for rehabilitating this borehole,” Aleu said. “This borehole is not just a water well, it is a source of hope, life, and opportunity for me, my children and my community.
“Two years ago, I was running a small but thriving vegetable business around this very borehole in Auchier,” she said. “I grew vegetables such as okra, tomatoes and greens, and I sold them at the local market. This income supported my children’s education, provided us with food and gave me a sense of dignity and purpose as a mother and entrepreneur.”
Aleu said the breakdown of the well affected three villages that depended on it. As a result, she said, “Every day, we had to walk nearly 5 kilometers to fetch water from Anyuop Jang village. It was exhausting, time-consuming and dangerous, especially for women and children.
“My children were the most affected,” Aleu continued. “Without the income from my vegetable business, I could no longer pay their school fees or buy them uniforms, and they had to drop out of school. As a mother, it broke my heart to see their dreams interrupted because of something as simple and basic as clean water.”
Aleu said when she heard “the news that South Sudanese on Mission was coming to rehabilitate our borehole, I was overwhelmed with joy. I felt a new energy, a new beginning.
“I knew immediately that I would restart my vegetable farming and that my children’s future could once again be secured,” she said. “With water flowing again, I can plant vegetables, sell them at the market,and generate income to support my family.”
Leaders of the South Sudan ministry provide weekly reports to Mitch Chapman, director of TXM Water Impact. The Sept. 12 report noted that the ministry has recorded 176 professions of faith in Christ this year and is “organizing for [a] second baptism of Muslim converts at Nyamlel River.”
The professions of faith are the result of drilling new wells, rehabilitating existing wells like the one in Auchier, forming water-user committees and starting Bible studies.
Chapman noted that TXM fully funds the work in South Sudan. “I’m so thankful that Texans on Mission has stepped up to provide this important ministry in a place where the need is greater than anywhere else I’ve been.
“They need us on so many levels,” said Chapman, who has been a longtime bivocational pastor. “It thrills my pastor’s heart to see people cared for in the name of Christ and to have opportunities to give their lives to Him. It’s a reflection of what Jesus did during His own ministry.”