The church that changed a village

A small village in Chad struggled for generations without basic necessities such as clean drinking water. But over the past few years, the community has started making fast progress to improve living conditions and escape poverty.

‘Makeuré looked like a fire that went out on its own,’ says Pafroumi, the chief of the village, reflecting on what life used to be like for his community.

The village was small and isolated, with few social activities or work opportunities. Children had to walk for miles to get to the nearest school and there was no access to clean water. As a result, parents often opted to not send their children to school at all, and many people were getting sick from drinking dirty water.

Pafroumi, who is not a Christian, was pleasantly surprised when the church leaders approached him to discuss what could be done to improve the quality of life for the villagers.

Pafroumi and the church held three meetings with the entire village to openly discuss problems and how to solve them. Together, the villagers decided that they wanted to have their own school, health centre, and drinking water.

Fast progress
For the first project, every family contributed money to the costs of drilling a well. They made remarkable progress – within two months, the money was raised and the project completed.

‘Today, the whole population drinks drinking water, people wash themselves well and wear clean clothes. Our animals are also watered without difficulty,’ says Pafroumi.

The church then set up a school in the village, meaning that children were not forced to walk for long distances to receive an education. Today, the students are performing well, and the school is becoming increasingly popular with the villagers.

The church also offers training on different farming techniques, which has helped people cultivate their land, grow more crops, and support their families.

A united community
These changes have been life-changing for everyone in the village. Pafroumi also noticed a new sense of community spirit and unity, with people from different faiths working and socialising together.

‘These dramatic changes led me to inquire of the pastor as to why the church today is interested in us who are not Christians,’ says Pafroumi. ‘He told me that the church and community project [run by Tearfund’s local partner organisation] opened their eyes and taught them to love everyone as Jesus Christ did and changed the way they treated other people in the village.’

Big dreams
The villagers regularly meet at the church to discuss problems, find solutions, and dream for the future together. ‘A few years ago, this would have been unthinkable,’ says Pafroumi.

The community has already started baking bricks to start building their health centre, and aim to complete it in the next three years. They are also planning to build a second well. And this is just the beginning.

‘Life has improved a lot in our village,’ says Pafroumi. ‘I thank God who implanted the church in our village because it helps us today to get out of poverty.’

Please pray

• Praise God for the transformation in the village of Makeuré. Thank God that the church has been part of helping the community come together to lift themselves out of poverty. Pray that this community will continue to thrive.
• Pray for our local partner organisations working with churches around the world to bring community transformation. Pray that they will be able to reach other isolated communities and have a life-changing impact.
• Pray that churches everywhere will be inspired to reach out to their communities in new ways.