Rock on the Mount is a Christian music festival, featuring cutting-edge rock bands. This year marks the fifth year of the event. In the past, the festival has benefitted various projects — this year it will be held as a youth event. Rock on the Mount is hosted by Mountain Bible Church; the event held in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Rock on the Mount is a destination event: music, food, venders, games. For information, please call the organizer at 408-493-0372 or the church at 408-353-2302.

About the Well

Note: The well is last year’s project. We are not actively raising funds for the well (that project is finished!), but we are raising awareness.

The water situation in vast parts of the world is desperate. According to the United Nations, more than one in six people worldwide — 894 million — don’t have access to safe freshwater in amounts necessary to sustain healthy living. Describing the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, the U.N. writes, “Treating diarrhoea consumes 12 percent of the health budget. On a typical day, more than half the hospital beds in are occupied by patients suffering from faecal-related disease” (source).

What can we do?

Over the years, Mountain Bible Church in Los Gatos, California, has established vital friendships* in West Africa. Through those connections, this small church in the Santa Cruz mountains is reaching out to a community in the Saharan, striving to raise $15,000 for a well project. Presently, the community has one well and access to two muddy ponds where both humans and animals drink. The church hopes to raise enough money to install another well, greatly alleviating the suffering of the people.

One well can save lives in this community.

About the Community

The people are the Teleqan, a nomadic group who have wandered Northwest Africa for a thousand years. The total population of this ethnic group is about 100,000. The community Mountain Bible Church is serving numbers around 5,000.

Teleqan means “Sons of Isaac” in their native tongue, pointing to their Jewish origin. During the 10th century, a group of Jews migrated west to the West African Sahel and became known as the Teleqan. Around the 12th century, they were conquered by the Songhai Empire and converted to Islam. They, however, have held on to their name, language, and culture.

In modern times (perhaps throughout all history) the first Christian among this group is Daoud. He is a Bible translator among his people, and desires to reach his people with the Word of God and the message of salvation in Jesus. He has been testing translations from Genesis to the Teleqan and the responses have been very positive.

The Teleqan are being reintroduced to their Jewish roots through the story of Abraham and Isaac. After a thousand years, they are hearing their history in their own language as chronicled in the Bible. The Teleqan have entered into a journey back to their Jewish roots which will eventually reveal the story of a Messiah who can guarantee eternal life and a relationship with God based on grace.

Good, safe water in abundance is hard to find in the desert where the Teleqan abide. Safe adequate water for their family and animals is the most important priority for them. Daoud’s GOAL is to install WELLS to better meet the needs of the people and their animals. We aim to support him in this goal.

Why a well project?

• A manifestation of God’s care for them
• A demonstration of the love of Christians
• A bridge for evangelism

HELP BRING WATER TO THE TELEQAN!

*Additional Information

Due to the sensitive nature of this project, names have been changed to protect our contacts in West Africa. For questions regarding particulars of this story, please contact Pastor John Haak at Mountain Bible Church by telephone, (408) 353-2302, or through the church’s contact page, press here.