Missionary Profile

With the Covid-19pandemic, many things have changed and many adjustments have needed to be made in approaches to ministry. Our total SIM ministry involvement includes four areas of ministry, and we will relate particular endeavours in three of these ministry areas. Wells for Burkina Faso- For the last 3 years this well-drilling ministry has been constantly challenged by a deteriorating security situation. Working in some of the same areas where Islamic terrorists have been active has meant making regular evaluation of this ministry and adjusting our goals and activities in light of changing realities. Our drilling season goes from October to May. During the period from October to December 2019, we were able to drill 9 successful wells in rural Burkina Faso. At the end of February 2020, I travelled to Burkina Faso to meet with SIM staff and key partners in this ministry. In question was the wisdom of carrying on this ministry in a rather risky security situation. In meetings with 18 pastors from the areas we have been drilling most recently, it was decided to stay informed, be wise in managing the risks, but to carry on. Church leadership confirmed that the well-drilling ministry and the doors that it opened to the gospel was too valuable to stop unless absolutely necessary. We carried on and were able to drill 19 successful wells during the remainder of the period through May 2020 with only 7 dry holes, a more normal 73% drilling success rate. This gave us 28 successful wells for the 2019/2020 drilling season. With our local partners in Burkina we have since decided to do our own geophysical testing (rather than contract it out) to hopefully improve our ability to locate sites where the probability of hitting water is high. The necessary equipment has been purchased and will be in use during the drilling season beginning in October. The team on the ground is currently planning this season’s drilling with church and local leaders. Barring unforeseen situations, drilling will begin in at least one location before the end of October, 2020.