Just yesterday morning, Jim and I were having a spirited discussion about organizing our time and the debate about working from a list and also being available for what God want us to do – Jim being less of a list maker, and me being an avid list maker. It is incredibly frustrating for me to arrive at the end of the day – but be far from the end of my list. We ended up talking about what he wanted to get done that day, and off we went.
About 1 hour later, a Fulani man came running up to ask for help. He said there was a man trapped down in a well. The man had climbed in to dig the well deeper, but apparently had not been down there very long before he sat down and became unresponsive to the people at the top of the well, calling to him. They were very concerned and wanted help.
Jim, the boys, Sayon and Mordeca (our friends who were here working on Jim’s garden) ran off with a long climbing rope to see what they could do. When they reached the place– over a mile away – they found an extremely narrow and deep well. With the sun overhead, they could see the man huddled at the bottom, gasping for air. He would not respond to the people yelling to him from the top.
What followed in the next 8 hours was a frustrating and fascinating interaction with another culture. Several people tried to go into the well after him, but got part way down and were unable to breathe because of the lack of oxygen. Jim and the boys were able to hook up a ventilation system with a little 12 volt fan, a tube, a plastic cookie sheet, and a motorcycle battery (MacGyver would have been proud) – in an attempt to pull air out of the well, which would in turn force new oxygenated air down into the well. The man in the well was a well digger – and his friend refused to go in after him. I am told the people there were beating him – in attempt to shame him into going down. There became a fight – why should a Yalunka person go after him, when he was Fulani. Soon the governmental man in charge over the area showed up. Someone took off on a motorcycle, going from village to village, looking for another well digger who would be willing to go down after Musa ( as we learned was his name).
After a while, they began throwing milk and then gasoline down the well. Why would they do that????? We came to find out (when it was all said and done) that people here believe that, in some wells, there are evil spirits and if you go into the well, the evil spirits will steal your breath and kill you. They dumped the milk and gasoline down in an attempt to appease and distract the evil spirits into letting go of the man.
Meanwhile, with each passing hour, our hope of him being brought back up alive was diminishing. The boys related to me how agonizing it was to watch as no progress was made and to hear him gasping for air, and then have that followed by periods of silence, and then the gurgled breathing again. I paced around the house (I got a lot of cleaning done with all the nervous energy), pleading with God to spare the life of Musa – who does not yet know Jesus. I had given Kaleb one of our 2 way radios during one of the trips back to the house for supplies, so we were able to check the progress occasionally.
On the last trip, Sayon and Mordeca came for a pulley and a climbing harness. They were able to rig up a pulley over the hole and lower a well digger that had been found in a bigger town. On his second attempt, he was able to go down quickly, tie a rope under the arm and up over the shoulder of Musa, and be pulled back up. Then the men were able to pull Musa up from what was becoming his grave. Musa arrived at the top alive, with a weak pulse, but unconscious from the lack of oxygen (undoubtedly made worse by the fumes from the gasoline!). Jim was able to call me on the radio to ask what they should do for him medically. Within an hour, he was waking up a little and sat up on his own, and drank a little milk. Jim and the guys began the walk home, along with the dozens of villagers who had gone out to watch the show.
Many people stopped by our house on the way back to thank us for the work that Jim did. It made a huge impression on them that he stayed for the whole time. The area boss guy also thanked Jim for what he did. Today a delegation came from town and from the well village to thank Jim for everything – bring with them a very large rooster as a gift (who crows SO loudly that he is going to find his way into a cooking pot very quickly!) They reported today that Musa is up walking and talking and eating and has no recollection of what happened down in the well.
The whole experience - which had a great ending (praise the Lord)- was an interesting peek into the lives of our friends and neighbors. It brought up an incredible discussion about Jesus’ power over evil spirits, and how as believers, we don’t need to fear the evil spirits. We were excited to see the faith that is growing in our 2 friends here. And we are thankful beyond measure to know that Musa is alive and well. We are trusting that God will use that experience in his life to bring him to the Jesus road.
And I, for one, and thankful that Jim threw aside his to-do-list for the day and followed what the Lord brought before him.
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