Skip to main content

Kakholi Village Has a Deep Water Well for Christmas


Last Christmas, over one hundred school children and their families did not have clean water in the remote cluster of five villages near the school in Kakholi, Malawi, where over 2,000 people live. 

Statistically, 1 out of 5 children under 5 in Malawi get deathly sick from water-borne diseases. Many of them die for lack of medication and sanitation. 
The lack of clean water in Kakholi caught the attention of WorldHope Corps last year after we distributed anti-malaria mosquito nets nearby.  WorldHope Corps Malawi Program Director, Dennis Singini, assessed and selected Kakholi, Malawi, for the next deep water village wel—as soon as a new sponsor could be found. WorldHope Corps has drilled 64 village wells since 2007, and we were determined to find the next sponsor for Village Well Number 65 so that the 2000+ people in the cluster of five villages, including a hundred school children, could drink clean water this Christmas.
My 91+ year-old father, Val Christensen, and mother Millie Christensen (who turned 90 on December 16), desired to sponsor the next village well in Malawi.   During his 40-year career in Higher Education, Dad was Professor of Chemistry and Academic VP at Point Loma Nazarene University.  Mom taught Second Grade and created a loving home for our family of five. Over the years, they had supported other WorldHope Corps programs, including our Hope Tailoring School and Hope Scholarships for youth.  This year, they wanted to sponsor a village well, and  Kakholi was in need of one.

The new village well was installed in October 2017, and I was able to visit the village and school soon after it was completed. There I met Elijah Mkwate, the village teacher, and Glanson Mruncha, one of the local village chiefs, who described to me how far women and children had to walk to fetch water from the nearest stream.  And what a difference it made to have deep water well near the school, and how thankful they were.

Our WorldHope Corps community development training team (Dr. Doug Smith, Dr. Caroline Njuki, Rev. Michele Robbins) joined me at Kakholi to visit the school and dedicate the new village well for common good.   After I personally tested and took a drink of fresh water pumped by a child from the aquifer deep within the earth, Rev. Michele Robbins prayed over and sprinkled 'holy water' from the living well over all who gathered round to witness the community event.  Then we visited the classrooms were 85 children (first through sixth grade) that day were attending school near the well.  They were so happy to see us and show us their schoolwork.

-->
This Christmas over 2000 people in the cluster of five villages around Kakholi benefit from this new deep well. Thank you, Mom and Dad, for providing good clean water to these kids and their families!  I am grateful to all the Friends of WorldHope Corps for contributing our village well fund, sponsoring a well, or supporting one of core programs or special projects.  Thank you, and Merry Christmas to all!






Popular posts from this blog

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue

Liberation Spirituality: Henri Nouwen and Gustavo Gutierrez in Dialogue Lecture Notes: Presented by Michael J. Christensen, Ph.D.,  Associate Professor in the Practice of Spirituality and Ministry,  Drew University;  and  International Director, Communities of Shalom, The United Methodist Church Introduction “There is a little man in Peru, a man without any power, who lives in a barrio with poor people and who wrote a book.   In this book he simply reclaimed the basic Christian truth that God became human to bring good news to the poor, new light to the blind, and liberty to the captives.   Then years later this book and movement it started is considered a danger by [the USA, or Rome], the greatest power on earth.   When I look at this little man, Gustavo, and think about [the President of the US, or the Pope], I see David standing before Goliath, again with no more weapon than a little stone, a stone called A The...
Read more

First Generation Lambs Club Reunion

Fifteen of us gathered Saturday night at the Lambs Club for a 35 th year reunion of those who helped start the Lamb’s Church in Times Square in the mid to late 1970’s, including: Rev. Paul S. Moore , Founder of the Lamb’s Church of the Nazarene, and his wife, Tamara Dr. Michael J. Christensen , charter member and former associate pastor, and his wife Dr. Rebecca Laird Fr. William (BJ) Webe r, former Associate Pastor and Director of the Lamb’s Residency, and his wife Sheila who lived at the Lamb’s Jim and Dustee Hullinger, who were on staff together and made the Lamb’s their home for over 25 years Effie Canepa , who was the church pianist under 3 pastors, and her husband Peter Shirley Close, who attended the Lamb’s in the late 1970’s while studying, performing  and teaching music and voice Carl "Chappy" Valente , former associate pastor Rev. Bob DiQuatto , lead singer of the Church’s “Manhattan Project” and staff member of the Lamb’s, and his son Jason Rev. Gab...
Read more

Let the River Flow: Why WorldHope Corps digs village wells

  Sunday Sermon at the The Water's Edge in OB , San Diego, CA. "Woman at the Well" (John 4:7-15) When you think about the gospel story of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well, I’d like you to picture this Woman at a similar well in northern Malawi. Sitting and talking with Pastor Dennis Singini about water. Her name is Nyang'oma, which means "drum." Her Christian name is Mary Botha. She is 85 years old and lives in a village in the Kampenda area of Northern Malawi. She has cared for 11 children, two of whom have died. And her husband has died. When Dennis and I first met Mary in 2008, her village did not have a deep well or access to clean water. Nor did the six surrounding villages with over 1,500 people. Women and children had to drink with animals from shallow seasonal wells or walk about of 5km away to drink from the closest stream. Sometimes they would get sick and complain of stomach aches. Cholera and dysentery were widespread, and m...
Read more