Moldova: Providing clean water and sharing Living Water
- Oct 15, 2007 - comment
PRINCE FREDERICK, Md.—Val Ham, a member of Lexington Park Church, couldn’t believe her eyes when she went to Moldova for the first time in 1996, a year after BCM/D began a six year partnership with the country and five years after Moldova gained its independence from the U.S.S.R.
The water she saw coming from the pipes into the bathroom and kitchen in her apartment in the city of Cantemir was brown. It came directly from a muddy river.
“I thought, Lord, this is so unhealthy!’” Ham said.
When she went to Bujac, it was worse.
“The water that came out of the tap at Bujac looked like Coca Cola,” she said. That water came from shallow wells.
“Ninety-nine percent of the water is contaminated, even in the capitol,” Ham said.
In some villages the local government only turns the water on for an hour a day. And that water flows through 50 to 60-year-old rusty pipes.
Ham saw the result of the bad water while working at the medical mission trips she has been on each year, during BCM/D’s partnership and every year since that time. Patients came to the clinic complaining of stomach, liver and kidney problems. Some had worms and others very discolored teeth. Middle-aged people had blood pressures of 200/100 and higher.
“Their bodies are being used as filters for the contaminated water they drink,” Ham said.
Ham was saddened, but thought someone must be working on such a huge problem. But as years passed and she asked more questions, it appeared that not much was changing. She began enlisting help from BCM/D churches and anyone who could lend a hand to fund a project to dig deep wells.
As a result of Ham and others prayerfully and tirelessly working to raise awareness and funds, drilling has begun.
In 2006, Leonardtown Baptist Church bought a used well drilling rig from Romania. Two Leonardtown members, Jeff Farren and Bob Forbes, trained to drill wells at Equip International in Marion, N.C. They went to Moldova in May of this year to begin drilling, but they only had two weeks and spent most of the time going to get supplies from Romania. They left before they could finish.
Now, with the help of Peter Tricolich, a Moldovan Christian, and Liviu Neagoe, who is coming from Romania to help, the well drilling is becoming a reality. The first deep well, as of this writing, was supposed to be finished in September.
Drilling wells in Moldova is not an easy task, and it’s expensive. Ham said the cost is about $4,000 per well, plus a $1,000 fee the Moldovan government charges for the drilling permit. In addition, Moldova doesn’t have the necessary parts to drill a deep, sealed well, so they get them from nearby Romania. That government charges a 35 percent tariff, and it’s not easy to get back and forth over the border.
But God has provided through the churches and individual Christians. Many BCM/D churches and other evangelical churches are helping with prayer and donations.
After drilling and getting the water flowing there’s the challenge of educating the people. They don’t all realize the water is making them sick. Ham is hoping to get into the schools to do educational programs, teaching the children why they need fresh, clean water free of organisms and minerals that are harmful to the body and how to keep the water and containers sanitary.
Through the educational outreach, Ham said they will also teach that there is even better water available to them –from the well that never runs dray, the Living Water – Jesus.
If you are interested in help with the medical-evangelism or water projects please contact Val Ham (301) 863-9644 or Mal Utleye, interim pastor of Bethany Church, Del., and coordinator of Moldova Mission Trips, (302) 292-8434.
This article is reprinted from the October 2007 issue of Baptist LIFE, the newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.