Having access to water came at a good time because we are once again without water from Conchacalla, the mountain access. It has been a blessing to be able to fill the tank from our own well. The water is still a tiny bit tinged with color, but well-digger Tony thought that it would turn completely clear within a week of settling. You can definitely taste that the water has some mineral content to it. I’d say the flavor is similar to drinking from a stream, maybe. I would have no idea how to get the water tested here.
The whole week last week while they drilled out the second well, the pump was running all day every day, pulling water from the upper well to run the drill pump. It was incredible to see that the upper well never once dropped below its level of about three feet below the surface. That should be around 90-95 feet of water at 6 inches diameter, which would be around 130-140 gallons of water in the casing alone, interestingly.
We have a fairly similar situation at the second well, except that it is running even more strongly at the lower house. They said they found two strong streams in the one here at the big house. Saturday, they had put in several pipes, but they needed to finish today. When they arrived this morning at 9:00, the 6-inch tube was about a foot out of the ground, and the water was running over of its own pressure. By this afternoon, the water level was roughly level with the ground, but they said they expect that it will run over in the morning again and probably through the rainy season.
It’s hard to believe that we went from no water for so long to having our own artesian well! Mr. Tony said that if we would cap off the well and drop a 1-inch pipe down into it, the pressure would be enough to keep the water gushing out at all times. Imagine that.
The lower well is around 105-110 feet deep, so a bit more than the upper well. The bit got stuck the one day and only wanted to go down more; they couldn’t get it out! 🐳
So, we are praising the Lord for answering your prayers and ours with such abundance! You all must have really been praying to have found us an artesian well! But isn’t that just like the Lord? We ask for Him to show His power, and He isn’t content with just a sample. He wants to show Himself strong! It is rather humbling.
The next steps are to figure out a system for pumping and filtering the water for each house. I have absolutely no idea how to go about that. If you are a well person, you could send me ideas. Machines and electric and plumbing—not my strong suit. I considered reading Winnie the Pooh to the well, but I don’t think that would help, either.
Once I’m fully over my cough, which is lingering just a bit yet, I want to go to Cusco to look at options for pumps and filters. That might be next week. For now, we can pull water out by dropping a pipe into the well and filling the upper tank. That’ll do for the moment. The only trouble with that setup is that it freezes overnight, so we can pump only in the day.
We were happy to celebrate our anniversay of coming to Peru yesterday. We are now three years old! How it can only be three years, I don’t know. It feels like so much longer. There is so much work to do, and so few hands to do it. I think that’s why it feels so long. From the most practical things—like getting water—everything has seemed to be a bit harder than we expected.
Recently, I shared a devotional with the group here about the call, “Be strong and valiant!” This was given to Joshua by Moses, but the idea is repeated to us, God’s people, throughout the scriptures. But what does it imply? It is easy to give as a platitude to someone going through tough times. “Just be strong and courageous,” we tell them, “and you’ll come out the other side.”
Well, what it implies is not that things will get better or easier, at least not in this life. For Joshua and for us, it means, “Prepare yourself for battle!” If we are going to achieve the promised land, we have to be strong and valiant in the battle. That means hard times are ahead, but if we endure to the end, we will receive the crown of life.
When I think about the future here in Peru, however long that may be, I hear God saying, “Be strong and valiant. Prepare yourself for tough times. The battle for souls isn’t won by sitting back on your laurels or by hoping for easier times. Quit yourselves like men and fight!” And I confess, my little self cringes in fear. I don’t like hard times.
But vale la pena. It will be worth all the effort we can muster. Let’s see what God will do in this next year!
Juan David 