Providential Plumbing
"Here we go again," mumbled the sleepy servant of God at 2 AM as he stumbled out of bed and into the courtyard that was filling up with water. This was the heaviest rainy season they'd known at Pastor Alaïnde Diatta's home, which also houses the church he founded. His nightly task was to remove as much of the day's rain, bucket by bucket, from the overflowing ceptic tank and dump it over the wall that separates his home from a flooded field. At the height of the rainy season, this meant staying close to home at all times, which was a challenge for a man who wears many hats, including vice-president of the association of churches he's a part of. Not doing so soon resulted in water coming up through the tiles into his kitchen. Stinky, contaminated, ceptic water. Where his wife Honnête prepares meals. Eew.
Despite all their efforts, the waters were rising too quickly, and soon Alaïnde and Honnête would be forced to abandon their home. Many in their neighbourhood already had, but the Diattas kept on praying for a miracle. He'd already spent hundreds of dollars to have the floor level of his outside courtyard raised several inches. The rest of the house needed to be raised as well, but he lacked the funds.
Dan and I prayed about what we could do to help. We've often discuss questions of sustainability of national work and the snares of dependence on Western funds. Yet we struggled to think our dear friend would soon be homeless, and with a baby due in a few week's time.
Just as this was all going on in the Diattas' life, we the Thorntons were taking a trip to Dakar to visit Pape, another pastor we work with. These trips to the big city are a treat for us, so we decided to get some shopping in at the American store. I can go without their best selling boxed cereals and cake mixes, but Jif creamy peanut butter is essential to my survival in Senegal!
After loading up on Jif, Worcestershire sauce, and even salsa verde, we had some time to kill before making our 1 PM appointment with Pastor Pape. Dan needed a few things from a hardware store, so we headed downtown. A couple minutes later, however, it dawned on us that we wouldn't make it back in time, so we kept our eyes peeled for one off the VDN, the freeway we were on. Within a minute, we saw one and pulled over. The store adjacent caught Dan's eye as well. "Look, Ange, a plumbing store. And they have pumps. I've been meaning to check one out for Alaïnde. I wonder if that would help them out."
"Without this pump, this would've been our last Sunday here," declared Alaïnde. So, not only would the Diattas have been homeless, but so would have Eglise Evangélique Mahanaïm d'El-Hadji Pathée. Praise God for His providential care!
(I should add that the pump was a temporary solution that got the Diattas through this rainy season, but they still need to raise the ground level of their home to avoid getting flooded out next year.)
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| Our friend Johan advising Alaïnde on how to adapt the building to avoid getting flooded out of their home |
Dan and I prayed about what we could do to help. We've often discuss questions of sustainability of national work and the snares of dependence on Western funds. Yet we struggled to think our dear friend would soon be homeless, and with a baby due in a few week's time.
Just as this was all going on in the Diattas' life, we the Thorntons were taking a trip to Dakar to visit Pape, another pastor we work with. These trips to the big city are a treat for us, so we decided to get some shopping in at the American store. I can go without their best selling boxed cereals and cake mixes, but Jif creamy peanut butter is essential to my survival in Senegal!
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| $200 and worth every penny! |
After loading up on Jif, Worcestershire sauce, and even salsa verde, we had some time to kill before making our 1 PM appointment with Pastor Pape. Dan needed a few things from a hardware store, so we headed downtown. A couple minutes later, however, it dawned on us that we wouldn't make it back in time, so we kept our eyes peeled for one off the VDN, the freeway we were on. Within a minute, we saw one and pulled over. The store adjacent caught Dan's eye as well. "Look, Ange, a plumbing store. And they have pumps. I've been meaning to check one out for Alaïnde. I wonder if that would help them out."
"Without this pump, this would've been our last Sunday here," declared Alaïnde. So, not only would the Diattas have been homeless, but so would have Eglise Evangélique Mahanaïm d'El-Hadji Pathée. Praise God for His providential care!
(I should add that the pump was a temporary solution that got the Diattas through this rainy season, but they still need to raise the ground level of their home to avoid getting flooded out next year.)
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