Tuesday was a great day for the TBK team in El Salvador. After their drilling progress on Monday, the team started the day excited, ready to get to work and cautiously optimistic for what the day would hold.
Just before lunch, team leader Chris was working on the drill site and started noticing extra water flowing from the drill platform. He was a participant on last year’s trip where the team drilled for 4 days and never hit water. “After that experience,” Chris said, “I was unsure if the extra water I was seeing was the water used by the drill to cool the pipes, or if we really were about to hit water.” Five minutes after noticing the excess water, the Living Water staff confirmed they had hit water!
Team members were laughing and crying over the revelation that they hit water on the morning of the second day! The community members were also excited to come and see the clean water gushing from the ground. Men and women walked out of their fields to go into their homes and tell their neighbors that the Living Water team found clean water. Some community members even pulled up chairs to sit and watch the clean water flow, while others showed up asking how they can help, eager to assist.
“I realized that we didn’t just find water, God changed the entire community’s lives in that moment,” explained Chris. He went on to share how hopeful he felt for the mother of 9 children who will no longer need to spend hundreds of dollars each month for water that isn’t even clean or safe to drink. Now she will have access to clean, safe, drinking water for no cost at all.
The hygiene team taught children a lesson on being made the image of God. Then our team members got to laugh and play with them after their daily lessons. The entire community celebrated yesterday, leaving our TBK team feeling fulfilled and privileged to play a part in what God is doing in El Salvador.