The Old Man and the Water
I’m looking forward to the future of CRF. But in this 50th Anniversary celebration, I have also enjoyed looking back at our rich heritage. As you know, I love to tell stories. The stories of CRF make us who we are. I’d like to share with you in this issue my three most requested stories. If you are a new donor, you haven’t heard them. And if you have been with CRF for a long time, I think you will enjoy thinking through them again as I have. And in the spirit of Paul Harvey, I have added “The Rest of the Story” at the end of each one so you get something new and enjoy the progress we have made.
— Milt
We drill a lot of water wells in Kenya. And we hit water nearly every time we drill in Turkana, a remote desert region. In fact, we have hit water on 98 of our last 100 wells there. That’s pretty remarkable. When we first decided to drill in this place, everyone thought we were crazy. We were told there was no water. But people just weren’t drilling deep enough. With our new rig that can drill 900 feet deep, we find water nearly every time.
But there are a few times that we don’t. Let me tell you about one of them. We don’t drill where the people are—we drill where the water is. When we first start drilling, a crowd gathers. They watch with eager anticipation because they know if the well produces water, there will be a new town, farms, animals, a church, a school, and sponsored children. But if there is no water—they will miss out on all these other results.
And one day, we didn’t hit water. It was a great disappointment. It was time to load up the rig and leave. But one old man asked our supervisor if we could wait. He asked if he could pray over the place where they had been drilling. After the man prayed, he asked if we could wait a bit longer. We waited five hours. The old man asked if they could try one more time and see if there was water. The driller turned on the pumping unit one last time. You guessed it. There was water.
The old man said that we didn’t understand the gravity of what had just happened. He said that he came to this spot and prayed for water every day of his life! He prayed at this spot every day because his father came to this spot before him and prayed for water every day of his life. And his father did this because his grandfather came to this spot before him and prayed for water every day of his life.
And then it hit me. I added it up. They had been praying for water in this spot for over 100 years.
Can you think of a better example of hope?
How many times do you pray for something a few times and then give up? Wow, I need to be like this old man. Is there something you need? Don’t give up. Pray and pray again. Pray until something happens. Don’t lose hope.
THE REST OF THE STORY — There is now a well with a pump on it where the old man prayed. Hundreds of people drink clean water from this well every day (and no telling how many goats).
