Welcome!
“Like cold water to a weary soul is glad tidings from a distant country.” Proverbs 25:25
Welcome to the November 2025 Newsletter from Myra’s Well. We have news of an amazing few days over the last two weeks or so. Please join us in thanksgiving to our wonderful generous God who makes it all possible.
Contents
You can use the headings below as links to the individual sections or scroll down to read the entire newsletter.
- A short thought – “GLAD TIDINGS“
- “GLAD TIDINGS” – News about an amazing 12 days
- “GLAD TIDINGS” – and church in Indiana
- “Hard to comprehend” – what life can be like in Burkina Faso
- Prayer points
An A4 printable PDF version is also available using this link.
In the photos below – what a contrast … “Thank you for the well!” and “Please can we have a well!”
GLAD TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY
It may be a bit early, but this will be the last newsletter until after Christmas. When the angels announced the GLAD TIDINGS at the birth of Jesus when the Saviour was born – He was unrecognised. Those GLAD TIDINGS will never be equalled! However, there are many “GLAD TIDINGS” that we experience as we bring clean water to the people of Burkina Faso. This newsletter talks about two of these!
Firstly, as to drilling, very recently God has blessed Myra’s Wells in the most amazing ways that we can recall. In just a few days of drilling, almost every day there has been GLAD TIDINGS of a new well – sometimes two in a day, and 11 in total.
Secondly, there is a church in USA called GLAD TIDINGS Church in Muncie, Indiana. The Christians there have funded wells at two Bible Colleges, one of which has proved to be joint most productive well we have drilled at around 30,000 litres/hour.
Solomon said “Like cold water to a weary soul is glad tidings from a distant country”. We would agree!
An amazing 12 days!
In the last newsletter, we asked for prayer as the trustees decided which wells to drill this autumn. For prayers offered, we want to thank you! From the list of requests which are outstanding, we compiled a list of 15 places where we considered the need to be greatest. The list also contained two places where we may be able to repair existing very old wells, and one place where we will upgrade the water tower to a larger one.
Christine had enlisted help from a relative (named Simeon) of one of her colleagues at her full-time job with Plan International. Simeon visited a number of sites for us to check, and clarify, the information that we had on the application forms. This information is often confusing and contradictory!
There has been an amazing 12 days from 29th October to 9th November. There have been 11 new wells in the 12 days, including 8 in 8 days! We never forget to thank God for His goodness!
This is the drilling news as it happened in the form of diary notes from messages received from Christine. All these new wells need to have pumps fitted. That should happen over the next two or three weeks.
Wednesday, 29th October
21:08 Village of Koundi, Andemtenga
New borehole. Depth 100m, flow rate 6,500 litres/hour.
| NB. Flow rate is a measure of sustainability. If this figure is above 700 litres/hour, the well is sustainably replenished so that it will not run dry. |
The situation here was that there was only one accessible drilled well for a population of around 1500 people.
The drilling reached 80m without finding water but the team decided to keep going. From the pictures, we can see that it was late in the evening. Someone captured the moment that water shot up from the borehole before he ran to avoid being drenched.
The full video is available using this link.
Thursday, 30th October
During the evening …
Photos received of previously provided wells at Manessa village and Bendatoega School.
Friday, 311st October
13:47 Village of Guéfourgou, Andemtenga
New borehole. Depth 55m, flow rate 5,140 litres/hour
There were two good wells here already – but people often had to wait for 2 hours to be able to use them, and pay for the privilege. As a result, some had to use an open well instead.
Saturday, 1st November
20:20 Message from Christine
“The drill has broken down!” Perhaps we were working it too hard! Praise the Lord – it was mended over the weekend …
Sunday, 2nd November
09:36 Pictures of a finished well at Teegawenda Bible College
More about this well later in the Newsletter (page 11). The water tower supports a large tank that holds 10,000 litres (about 2,220 gallons) of water. It is being used by students at the Bible College as well as people from the nearby village and others as well.
Standing where the engineer is standing is fine. Heath and Safety regulations in Burkina Faso are more relaxed than in the UK!
Monday, 3rd November
13:30 Village of Simba (first site), Andemtenga
New borehole. Depth 100m, flow rate 1500 litres/hour
The only sources of water here were three open wells. There was no proper drilled well at all for the 300+ people living in this area. We were waiting to hear about another part of this same village, perhaps 4 km away.
This photo is of one of the open wells.
Tuesday, 4th November
10:24 Village of Tambella, Andemtenga
New borehole. Depth 70m, flow rate 18,400 litres/hour
This is an extraordinary amount of water. We will have to put a water tower here. The decision will be around what size tank we use. There is a choice between 5000 litres (plastic) or 10,000 litres (metal). The bigger one is far more expensive! This needs wisdom because the population is not huge. But if we put a larger tank, more people will be attracted to live there. The photos show people waiting patiently at the existing well.
Wednesday, 5th November
10:21 Village of Boulsin, Koudougou
New borehole. Depth 70m, flow rate 1,200 litres/hour.
There were just 3 open wells here – and one of them was contaminated and another one had dried up by about February. These pictures show the two “useable” open wells.
A kind supporter, Jim, in USA has helped with funds for this well. He had previous contact with this village and wanted to help them. The existing sources of water are three open wells. Unfortunately, the first borehole in May was negative and the locals could not agree the best place for a second try. Eventually, a place was agreed with the help of a local man who had lived with Jim in US for some time. This was his place of birth.
12:44 Village of Niodeghin, Andemtenga
New borehole. Depth 70m, flow rate 7,200 litres/hour
The population here had been swelled by the arrival of many displaced refugees, fleeing from the insecure areas further east. The are many places like this. The existing sources of water are not adequate to support the increased numbers.
The photo shows the initial spout of water emerging. When the borehole is cleared of drilling debris, this water will be clean and pure. This “photo” is actually one frame from a video which can be viewed on this link.
13:07 Message from Christine
Of the wells so far, 6 have been in the area of an important administrative town called Andemtenga towards the east. Wells here often have to be very deep!
Christine said, “Even the authorities are happy and said when we come to visit the wells, we have to come to the town mayor. It has been a real blessing 6 positives wells.”
16:37 Photos from a previously drilled well at Rawanégomdé
Eddie had met the pastor from this village earlier in the year. Here are the two photos.
If you prefer videos, there are two in our Google Drive folder which can be viewed from this link.
Thursday, 6th November
11:20 Photos from Teegawenda Bible College
These photos are from the gathering of the students at the college, local people from the surrounding area and others. They will all benefit from this huge new water tower.
15:31 Village of Songtenga, Koupela
New borehole. Depth 90m, flow rate 5,100 litres/hour
There used to be very limited access to a drilled well that is privately owned. This is not uncommon. There can be a well that is very good nearby, but the people in the village are not allowed to use it.
The picture is taken from a video that one of the drilling team took capturing the “soufflage” when the water emerged from the borehole. Again, the full video is available for viewing on this link.
Friday, 7th November
No wells today! The drill was being taken to Tenkodogo which is further south than the ones that had been done.
Saturday, 8th November
09:30 Village of Gambaghin
New borehole. Depth 65m, flowrate 5,500 litres
The closest clean water was at a water tower that belonged to a small factory unit. This is about 3km away – and not available anyway. So the village relied upon an open well.
Sunday, 9th November
12:07 Village of Toecin
New borehole. Depth 70m, flow rate 6000 litres/hour.
There was only one drilled well available and that was nearly 30 years old. Another one was the other side of a river. With over 1000 people living there, the need here was clear.
The photos show the local supermarket and school under the tree!
Hard to comprehend
It is hard for us to imagine the circumstances at these villages in 2025. Our trustee Jeremy says this: “We spent about £400 a few years ago to improve the plumbing in our bathroom because it took about 15 minutes to fill a bath, but the wait times at wells can often be 30 minutes or up to 2 hours and even more at certain times of the year. We hear that they may have to go 1 km for water and don’t think much of it, but if a wheel on the suitcase breaks and we have to carry our luggage through the airport, heaven forbid. Yet the standard 20 litre containers are as heavy as a suitcase and they often carry more… and for 1km… and in the heat… and every day.”
Glad Tidings Church
Pastor Kevin from the Glad Tidings Church in Indiana visited Burkina earlier this year. He was accompanied by Kris, a member of the church and a water engineer. They saw two Bible colleges.
One near Kaya is Teegawenda Bible college. The village and college had been overrun by the extremists. Buildings were damaged and the water tower ruined.
The second college is at Koubri, near Ouagadougou. There are about 1,000 students there along with their wives and families. We have already helped with two water towers, but providing for all the people needed another one!
Myra’s Wells’ focus is on villages, not Bible Colleges. However if someone provides funds, we will drill anywhere. Glad Tidings church wanted to pay for new boreholes and water towers at both colleges. Teegawenda is now in operation. The borehole at Koubri has been done resulting in the joint best ever flow rate. We pray that these two colleges will be protected and thrive! Eddie recently visited the church in USA and was treated to excellent hospitality! He was also able to tell many people there about Myra’s Wells and the blessings that God has brought to so many in Burkina Faso.
For your prayers
Thank you for your prayers! We praise our great God who gives great blessings.
Here are some reminders for ongoing prayer:
- Praise for the wells that have been drilled recently and all who have become Christians as a result of wells being drilled.
- Pray for peace to return to Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries, and an end to terrorism and violence.
- Pray for good boreholes that are planned over the next 3 or 4 weeks.
- Pray for the local pastors as they seek to use the wells as a means of sharing the GLAD TIDINGS.
- Pray for the safety for the drilling teams in areas where security is not guaranteed and where we want to provide water, and pray that the security situation will very soon improve.
- Pray that the well committees will take their responsibilities seriously.
- Pray for the safety of Christine and her helpers based in Ouagadougou.