A Testimony of Transformation

By Tening Mane, as told to Beryl Forrester


Tening Mane & his wife, Tara


The most important part of my house was the front door, because we all knew that the spirits of our ancestors dwelt at the entrances to our houses. We would pass through there cautiously, because we firmly believed that the spirits had great power over our lives; it was our obligation to stay on good terms with them.

Every year at the beginning of the rainy season here in West Africa, we would assemble our agricultural tools – the hoes, mattocks, machetes, and shovels – and lean them up against the doorposts. Then we would say to the ancestors and Satan, “We are ready to start cultivating and planting the soil ahead of the rain. We ask you to grant us plenty of rain, to protect us from thieves and insects, and to give us a good harvest.”

A Rat in the Well

The rope and washer pump on the well in our garage.

On January 27th we tried pumping water from our well in the garage but it was obvious the rope wasn’t traveling through the pvc pipe the way it needed to in order to bring water gushing out the spout and into the bucket. We soon discovered that the pvc had separated a couple of places along the way down the 30 ft. well and back up the tube to the surface.


Andrew and I knew we were faced with the unpleasant task of raising the tubing along with pulley mechanism at the bottom and make the necessary repairs. Fortunately, Jonathan Miller was there to join us. He and his wife, Annette, had just arrived from the U.S. the previous day.

When we lifted the 30 ft. tube and bottom block from the well we discovered the fiberglass rope supporting the entire mechanism had frayed and broken. That is why the tubing had separated. But how did the rope fray like that, 30 ft. down and submerged underwater? That was the mystery. So we fixed the rope, put the tubing back together and again the pumping wheel at the top turned easily and water flowed from the spout. Once again we could water our garden, have plenty of water to wash up with and use for cooking. We normally didn’t drink from that well because it has an open top at it was possible for debris and other things to fall into the well.