“…the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14, KJV)
In the outer islands of Vanuatu, families cross volcanic terrain, and dense jungle, on foot to reach water that often isn’t safe to drink. In rural West Africa, entire villages depend on hand dug wells that can run dry for months. Both sources often leave children vulnerable to waterborne disease and pull them away from school and family. Two nations, thousands of miles apart, share the same daily fight: a physical thirst that shapes every hour, and a spiritual thirst that has gone unanswered for generations.
A group of children surrounding a bucket of unclean water in West Africa.
Friends in Action is drilling wells in both places, but not as a stand-alone project. In Vanuatu, our team led by Levi Pitman partners with village leaders to survey sites, drill, and train local leaders to maintain what gets built. In West Africa, Jeremy Effler and our field team do the same, working alongside local pastors who know exactly where the need runs deepest and where the church is ready to grow.
Drilling for water in a rural location in Vanuatu.
This relationship starts well before a drill bit ever breaks ground. Much of the work you see in pictures and video only happens after days, weeks, even years of working alongside local pastors. Building relationships grounded in Jesus Christ is where it starts.
Here is what makes a well different. FIA doesn’t just find a spot to drill, call in a team, and work alone. FIA doesn’t drill and go home. A well isn’t the end of a relationship, it’s the start. Every well FIA drills is entrusted to a local pastor or church, who becomes its steward. Families who once traveled for water now gather at a well built in the name of Christ, and that gathering becomes an open door.
A Nivan man hiking to retrieve water.
Matt Walsh (left) and Jeremy Effler (right) praying with others in West Africa.
A boy collecting the water-drilling run-off.
A project meant to solve a physical problem is becoming a place where the Gospel takes root and new believers are discipled week after week, not reached once and left behind.
Pray…
Pray for the churches in Vanuatu and West Africa shepherding these communities toward Christ, and for the families still walking today.
Give…
Give toward a well that opens the door to years of discipleship, not a single conversation.
Go…
and see how a well becomes a gathering place for a growing church, not just a water source.
A well can meet a physical need in a single afternoon. It can start a discipleship relationship that lasts a lifetime, one that keeps growing long after the drilling crew has gone home. That is what we are asking you to help build.
Will you join us?
A West African child drinking from a freshly-drilled clean water source.
