Well No. 20

Methodist Church Camp

 Sponsors - Mariners Sunday School Class, Oak Grove United Methodist Church

Atlanta, Georgia

The Methodist Church of Paraguay (Comunidad Evangelica Metodista del Paraguay) is in the process of developing a Church Camp near Carapegua, about 60 miles south of the capital city of Asuncion.  The short term goal for the camp is to have the capability to house 100 campers and to have a semi-Olympic swimming pool.  Agua de Vida Ministry recently drilled a well at the camp with funds provided by the Mariners Sunday School class at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The Church Camp is a big project for Coordinator Rochelle Karakey.  She is currently responsible for raising funds to finish the construction of the swimming pool and a women's dormitory; so the support of the Mariners Class to drill the well was a real blessing.  The donated funds were sufficient to drill the well, install the pump and still provide left over funds to build an elevated water tank.

We were able to employ one of our seasoned drillers - Genaro Aveiro - who has drilled with us on our last 8 wells.  We also employed two members of the local church community to assist with the drilling.

The well was drilled in a very hard metamorphic rock, which our bit was barely able to penetrate.  We drilled about 120 feet when we encountered a seam of quartz, and after progressing only about 5 feet in an hour, we decided the well was deep enough.  Since the water level is fairly shallow at this site (about 25 feet), we still had sufficient water depth to install an electric submersible pump.  So - even with the hard rock we were able to construct a good well - Gracias a Dios!

For those who want to read about the technical details of the well, click here.