In Northern Nigeria, clean water is a rare commodity. According to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, approximately 60% of the region is without reliable access to safe drinking water. People must travel up to 20 kilometers or use nearby contaminated sources like streams and puddles, if they are available. Waterborne diseases are common and often lead to death.
These areas are also often populated by large numbers of displaced people, many of whom represent unreached or least-reached people groups. Islam is the primary religion, with Christians being generally unaccepted in communities or even persecuted. Reaching the villages of Northern Nigeria with the gospel has been a significant challenge, leaving this region both physically and spiritually dry.
However, God is bringing restoration to this desert land. Your gifts to Send Relief gave local believers the resources to dig wells in villages across the region. The initial goal was to provide 35 wells, but because these wells were so cost-efficient, they were able to add an additional nine, bringing their final number up to 44. This project gave over 42,000 people access to clean drinking water, allowing them to live healthier, safer lives.
The impact on these villages is immeasurable. People were overwhelmed and overjoyed to receive such a life-altering resource. The fact that it was provided by Christians completely shifted perspectives and tore down walls of resistance to the gospel.
In one village, a mallam, or teacher of the Koran, runs a school where he instructs local students on the Islamic faith. When he learned that he had access to clean water, he declared, “Digging wells and planting trees are acts of grace; those who did this know the true meaning of religion.” Afterward, he invited the two coordinators of this project to meet with his entire student body on a Sunday morning and explain the gospel. Several of these students accepted Christ as their Savior!
In another village, a chief had lost his wife and child to waterborne illness the year before. Knowing that his remaining family members wouldn’t have to meet a similar fate, he blessed the donors of the wells, saying, “This type of evangelism is accepted by all—God’s government, not man’s. Blessings 100 times over.”
So far, these 44 wells have resulted in 620 people in Northern Nigeria coming to know the Lord, 127 baptisms, and at least 90 new small groups formed to worship and hear God’s word. Additionally, Christian leaders distributed 200 micro-SD cards with Bible-based videos and 100 pamphlets on health and sanitation subjects, all in local heart languages.
Perhaps this story best captures the way God is transforming this region. After the wells were built, catastrophic flooding impacted many areas, continuing even now. When one village began distributing government relief materials, some people suggested that any Christians in the village should not receive aid. This mindset is in line with the exclusion and persecution that believers regularly face. However, village elders quickly intervened, saying, “They brought us a well and you want to deny them assistance because of their religion? Begone with you!”
Northern Nigeria has now seen the example of true Christian love as described by Jesus in Matthew 22:37-39: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”