By Kay Maxwell
Special to the Herald-Banner
In the summer of 2008, 17-year-old Jacob Way traveled on a mission trip to South Africa sponsored by Lake Pointe Church with the goal in mind to reach out to the people of a small South African village in Christian love and compassion.
While there on his eight-day mission, Way saw a level of poverty he had never seen before — people who wore each day the only clothes they had, and families that lived in small, dingy lean-tos with no electricity and no running water. He saw first-hand the devastating effects of the HIV / AIDS pandemic — heartbreaking pain and suffering, fatherless families, and motherless children. And he saw how villagers struggled mightily each day simply to satisfy the most basic of human needs — the need for clean water.
Each morning, he watched as village women began a difficult trip along a hot, dry road to get water from the nearest water source. One day for the villagers was sadly like the next, with little relief or pleasure beyond that provided by the very welcome visits of compassionate ministry groups like the one from Lake Pointe Church — brief respites from the daily despair.
With these scenes and thoughts weighing heavily on his mind, Way returned from his South Africa trip with a compelling personal goal — to raise funds to drill a water well that would provide a clean water source in the village where he ministered, to give the gift of hope for a better life in the years ahead to this South African village in KwaZulu-Natal.
(According to the World Health Organization, this area has the highest rate of HIV / AIDS in the world.)
Upon returning from his trip, Way began immediately to work toward making his goal a reality. Among his first stops in gaining support for his cause was the Themba Foundation. Themba is a local, faith-based non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Lake Pointe Pastor Steve Stroope and Rockwall businessman Ken Hickman following their own visit to South Africa. The vision of Themba is to provide God’s grace, mercy and hope to the people of South Africa devastated by the HIV / AIDS pandemic in partnership with existing South African ministries. The organization works with faith-based community organizations in South African villages to identify community needs and develop responses that will have a positive impact on the lives of villagers.
The organization’s members saw their work and Way’s water well cause as a perfect fit of vision and need, and Themba joined Way in his mission of hope, enthusiastically devoting its resources and talents to the project. Themba, Lake Pointe Church, and its partners in South Africa then began to work diligently and in tandem from their locations on opposite sides of the globe to coordinate the many details involved in moving the well project from vision to reality.
As the work of Themba, Lake Pointe Church, and its partners in South Africa proceeded through the fall of 2008, Way worked as well, even in the busiest of times during his senior year, to raise funds to drill the well. His goal of $5,000 — the cost of drilling a simple well from which clean water could be hand-pumped by the South African villagers — seemed a lofty one to most, but he was not deterred from his mission. He worked tirelessly to organize fund-raising events and activities — a fundraiser dinner in December, T-shirt and memento sales at schools and in the community, and the Hawks Care campaign, among others.
He recruited other teens to work on the project, and students from Rockwall, Rockwall-Heath, Sachse, and Community High Schools as well as Lake Pointe Church joined him in his fund-raising effort. Word of the project spread from teens to adults, and parents as well as community members got involved.
As the school year drew to a close, Way and those who had rallied to the cause learned that the fund-raising tally was $16,000, more than three times the amount needed to drill a simple well.
In July of 2009, Way traveled again to South Africa with a teen ministry group from Lake Pointe Church to be a part of the year’s compassionate outreach effort. This time, however, he traveled with an additional purpose – to be a part of the effort to drill a clean water well. The drilling site near the village was identified in advance of the trip — a challenging site because of the village location on a hillside. The task would be difficult and might take many days, the group was told, because water would be deeper than at lower elevations.
Pray, the South African partners advised, that the well, once drilled, can deliver a minimum of 1,000 liters per hour, the minimum required for a successful, productive well to meet the needs of the village.
While Way’s teen mission group was making its way to South Africa, an adult team from Lake Pointe Church was already on the ground near the drilling site, ministering to the villagers and also finalizing details so that drilling could get started. As it happened, the adult team’s last ministry day in the village came on the day that drilling work began. Sadly, it seemed, they would not be there to see the first water brought up from the well since drilling had just begun and an early strike was unlikely.
Nevertheless, their spirits were high as drilling began. Team members gathered along with curious villagers to watch with anticipation as the drilling rig rolled in and drilling proceeded throughout their last day in the village.
In late afternoon, drilling took a hopeful turn as the effort began to unearth increasingly moist soil. With that good news in mind, the team members came together for a few moments so that the end of the first drilling day and the end of their last day at the site could be captured on video.
As filming began, however, the videographer was distracted by sounds from the drilling area. He panned from the group to the source of the noise. As he did so, he captured the first moments when clean water surfaced from the well.
The water spilled out of the hole, spread across the dry earth, ran along the ground, and then began to shoot up into the air as drillers worked to put the cap in place. As the water flowed, tears flowed as well and smiles spread across every face.
The adult team parted from the celebrating villagers on the day following the water strike, but more celebration was yet to come in the village. A week after the adult team’s departure, Way and the Lake Pointe teen ministry group made their way to the well site from their ministry location in a rural area several miles away. Way’s excitement mounted as his van approached the village. When he arrived, he straightaway made his first and very emotional visit to the well. It was a time of almost unbearable joy and hope for him and for his group as well as for the villagers. Way’s words to his Facebook group upon return from his trip expressed his feelings better than any other.
“It was the most beautiful thing I have and will ever see on this side of heaven,” Way wrote. “I dipped my hand in the cool water. After our team prayed around the well, I crumbled back to the ground and wept. And I'm not at all ashamed to admit that. I am proud to say I was a complete mess...
“Truly our community has radically changed and saved the lives of another community for generations to come. This is the greatest act of love we can do. Give the extra that we have to improve the lives of others. And love our neighbor (even on another continent) as we love ourselves.”
An abundant supply of water is now available to all who live in this South African village. The well is producing 5,000 liters per hour, well beyond the 1,000 liters for which they prayed. Though the original well design called for a labor-intensive, time-consuming hand-pump mechanism, the surprising fund-raising success supported installation of an electronic pump to bring water to the surface. Villagers not only have an abundant supply of water now; they have ease of access as well. Moreover, a local supply of clean water has brought the village hope of good medical care for those who are healthy and life-sustaining care for the many there who are so gravely ill. Plans are being made for the construction of a permanent clinic funded by Lake Pointe Church now that water is available for its use.
The clinic will provide assistance for HIV / AIDS victims and their children who are not able to travel the long distance to the nearest hospital.
