Day 13 (June 27) - Home

After 28 hours of travel, we arrived safely and uneventfully back in Moses Lake. We are so thankful to God for His grace to us during our trip. The weather was great. The travels were smooth. The people were amazingly hospitable. Our team was unified and worked great together. Our missionary hosts were so generous, well prepared, kind and helpful. I think we all left with our hearts expended for the Burkinabe people and for our missionaries and pastors there. God is working there in amazing ways. People are hungry for Jesus. Unlike our easy faith, they have to give up something to follow Jesus. They suffer real persecution, yet are on fire for Jesus. I think we were all convicted and challenged. We thank God for those like the Schaeffers, Hulls, and Obergs who are willing to give their lives for Christ and the Gospel. They are amazing. Our admiration of them has grown. They love the Lord and it shows in what they do for Him and in His Name. Thank you so much to the people of Moses Lake Alliance Church for sending us, supporting us, and praying for us. We hope to prove that it was money, time and effort well spent. Finally, thanks so much to Kevin, Bonnie, Daniel, Jacob, Abby, and Emma. We love you guys and are so thankful to you and for you. You will remain in our prayers and in our hearts.

Day 12 (June 26) - Ouagadougou to home

We visited the Ouagadougou Central Alliance Church and met Pastor Thomas. The church is a large one and was hosting Compassion children. Thomas shared his testimony and his heart for reaching Burkina. We also visited an Alliance elementary school before seeing the other side of Ouaga. Despite all the poverty in Burkina, there are those who are building huge homes across the street from mud huts. We also saw the President's home which is IMMENSE. It reminded us a little bit of America. After a great lunch at "Verdoyant," we went to the "Village Artisanale" for some souvenir shopping. We all were able to spend our money and do some bartering. Thank God for Kevin and Toby being such willing and able translators! We ran back to the guest house, loaded the van and headed to the airport. We said goodbye to Kevin and Toby and headed out for Seattle via Paris. We had a great trip, but I think everyone was ready to go home.

The "Eiffel Tower" of Ouaga

A cityscape of a different side of Ouaga

A large home under construction in Ouaga - a sprawling and growing city

A new basketball arena under construction

Day 11 (June 25) - Bobo-Dioulasso to Ouagadougou

Today we toured some of the C&MA ministries in Bobo. We began by visiting the President of the Burkina Faso C&MA at his office. His name is Job Dao and he is an amazing man. He is very gifted and has a lot on his plate as the leader of all the churches in the country. He has a heart for evangelism and was very gracious to take some time to tell us about his vision for God's work in Burkina. We gave him Yum Yum as a gift. He told us that his brother was getting married on Saturday, so the sheep would prove very useful.

Yum Yum goes for his last ride

Visiting the President

Next we visited ACCEDES, which is an Alliance social action program which includes a medical clinic. Peggy Drake has given her life to helping the Burkinabe people as a nurse. They see about 800 patients a month and deal with everything from AIDS to malaria. They always use the opportunity to share Jesus with those who are hurting. We were all impressed by how well stocked and state of the art the clinic is. They are doing good work in the name of the Lord.

Missionary nurse Peggy Drake showing us around the clinic at ACCEDES

We also saw the Colma Alliance Church which also has a Christian elementary school with plans for a new high school. Many students are coming to faith through the school and it is a tremendous ministry to the city. We also visited the C&MA radio station and even got on the radio live! We all said our names and Jay gave a greeting from Moses Lake which Toby translated. The radio station broadcasts the Gospel and Biblical teaching along with music to a very wide area.

The foundation of the new C&MA Christian high school

After another wonderful lunch at the Schaeffers and saying our goodbyes to the Obergs, Schaeffers, and Hulls, we headed to Ouaga with Kevin and Toby to get ready to head home on Thursday. We cannot thank our hosts enough. They made us feel like family and made their homes a "home away from home." Thanks you to the Schaeffers, Hulls, and Obergs.

We arrived in Ouaga around 6PM and ate at "La Vita" Restaurant. We had some Lebanese and American food and it was great. We headed back to the guest house for our last night and shared what God had done in our lives during the trip and watched a great movie about Africa, "The Ghost and the Darkness," before going to bed.

Day 10 (June 24) - Bobo to Banfora

Tuesday was a purely fun day. We drove down to the south of the country through sugar cane fields (some of them irrigated!) to visit Banfora Falls. There isn't much water in Burkina, so this is a rarity. It was worth the trip. We swam in the pools between the falls and enjoyed a picnic lunch with ham sandwiches and other goodies. It is much greener and cooler in the south of Burkina. We all had a great day together. In the evening we shared our testimonies with Kevin and Bonnie. it was good to hear everyone's story.

Banfora Falls

Our team

(L-R) Kenna, Toby, Colby, Daniel, Jacob and Kevin take the plunge

Day 9 (June 23) - Bobo

Today was a refreshing and relaxing one. We slept in a little before working from 10AM until noon varnishing 100 boards which will be used to make benches for the churches. Kevin is very good with his hands and has made much of what is used by the churches he has helped plant. The Salem Alliance Church team that is coming in a few weeks will take the benches out to the churches and assemble them. After lunch we went to a "French club" to go swimming. We had a great time. It was much needed.

Getting ready for a "chicken fight"

Jay testing out the dive

Patti got the heave ho in to the pool

We had a great dinner at the Obergs'. They have been wonderful hosts. They are so generous and giving. Their kids are a lot of fun and so well behaved and kind. We loved hanging out with them. We couldn't have asked for better hosts.

Dinner at the Obergs'

In the evening, we had the privilege of being broadcast back to Moses Lake for our VBS via Skype. It was great to see everyone back home and to encourage the kids to raise a whole bunch of money to buy motorcycles for pastors here in Burkina. Most of the kids were able to see and talk to their parents and I loved seeing Jessica and Mackenzie. We thank God for the technology to be able to do that. It was a great day. God is good.

Day 8 (June 22) - Sirasso to Bobo

We woke up with the roosters again (roosters don't wait for sunset to begin crowing - they like to start around 4AM!) and began setting up the church for service. We were seated up front as guests of honor. It rained very hard from 6:30AM for about an hour and that kept some people away (some travel as far as 10-15 miles on foot or moto to get there). But, there were well over 100 people there. The women all dress in their finest (with skirts reaching their ankles and their heads covered) and looked beautiful. The women and kids sit on one side with the men on the other. A choir and a kids choir sits up front (but not on the platform). They love to sing (and dance) in worship. Their songs are very repetitive and many of them learn truths about Christ and God from song because most of them are illiterate. They use two different kinds of drums played by hand along with a marimba and some kind of bowl with shells attached to the top which is moved up and down for percussion. They asked us to sing two songs in English. We sang "Awesome God" and the chorus to Audio Audrenaline's "Big House." They seemed to enjoy it. Toby taught us a Jula chorus and we sang a song with them. Toby preached in Jula (with a translator into Bobo) on the Fall from Genesis 3. The service also included communion (only taken by those who have been baptized) and an offering. We gave over $100 to go toward buying grain for 5 families in the church who are currently unable to plant their own fields because they have to work on other farms daily for food to live on (they are a living example of what it means to pray for "daily bread"). The service lasted about two and a half hours. The kids sat quietly and attentively the whole time.

The kids choir in Sirasso

The choir singing (and dancing) during the Sunday service

After the service they greeted all of us. We formed a line and EVERYONE (including children) came by and shook our hands saying "nee-chay," which means "thank you" in Jula. We replied with "a-meen-a," which means "amen." We then went out front and had our picture taken with everyone together. After lunch (you guessed it - but, we were also served "to" this time), Kevin "asked for the road" and we got it. However, we had to greet everyone again before we left. We took back Pastor Marcel to stay with his children in Bobo so he can see a doctor. I gave him a "Dunamis" shirt as a gift. We also took back three other men (and a moto) in our trailer. What a ride they received! On our way back, we saw a station wagon (not even a big one) loaded with 19 men as well as 2 motos and other stuff!

All of us along with the Sirasso church after the Sunday worship service

Some of our girls trying to learn the African dances

We arrived back to the Obergs' around 6PM. Bonnie served us a wonderful enchilada casserole for dinner (praise God that rice and sauce is done!) and everyone loved it. We all cleaned up. It had been about three days since we had a real shower. Most of us were tired and went to bed early. It was a full and memorable day. I continue to be impressed by the believers' faith despite what they pay and give up for their faith. Their trust in God and their commitment is admirable. We could learn much from them. So ends our time "in the bush." We were all glad to be back, but also glad to have experienced it. We will not soon forget the people of Sirasso and the northern Kenedougou region.

Day 7 (June 21) - Sirasso, Katana & Temetemeso

We woke up Saturday and after coffee and bread for breakfast began painting at 7:15AM. Everyone worked very hard and we finished around 1PM. We also painted a huge C&MA logo on the front wall. Kevin had thought that it would take us all of Saturday and part of Monday morning to finish, but we worked very hard and quickly.

Our team working on whitewashing the front of the church. We had a very hard-working team.

Natasha and Patti did a great job on the C&MA logo on the wall of the church.

The "finished product" set up for church.
They will later stucco the bottom four feet of the wall.

In the afternoon we rested a while (it was very hot and humid - especially high up in the church where many of us were painting) before going to greet the believers in neighboring villages. We visited with Blaise who is a teacher in Katana along with several other believers in this village, including Omar who has been talked about a lot in Bonnie's e-mails. Blaise is well educated and speaks French very well. He has been the main reason that there are now believers in Katana. We sat and talked with him and a few other believers for a while. When we left he wanted his picture taken with all of us (first the twins - they were viewed as quite the novelty - I told them more "freaks" than "novelty," then with all the girls, then with me, and finally that left Blaise and Jay). He had his own camera (not digital), which is a pretty rare thing around here.

Blaise with Carl and Chad (he wanted his picture taken with them first).

We then continued from Katana to "the end of the road" (literally) to Temetemeso. It is near the Mali border. A year ago there were no believers there. Now there are about 100! They gather together to pray EVERY NIGHT! People have been coming from all over to be prayed for. They have been given a great piece of property by the chief, who has been very supportive of the work even though he isn't a believer. They just finished a pastor's house where the church currently meets. They don't yet have a pastor, though (Please pray for one). Pastor Marcel pastors them (even though he must travel about an hour one way on a moto on terrible roads to get there). Kevin is very excited about this group of new believers and believes they will be used to reach neighboring villages. We gave soccer balls in Katana, Temetemeso, and Sirasso as gifts to both the village and the church. They were all so excited.

Some of our ladies in front of the pastor's house in Temetemeso

Temetemeso - a typical "bush" village

Kevin showing us the well the C&MA put in at Temetemeso

We returned to Sirasso around 7PM for dinner (you can guess what) then Kevin showed the movie "The End of the Spear" on the wall of the church using a generator. Even though they couldn't understand the language, about 75 people came out and seemed to enjoy it. We slept outside that night (no mosquitoes yet, so no nets needed - thank God) on a very muggy night. We thank God fof the opportunity to visit and work in places where Christ is so desperately needed and places and people for whom we have been praying.

Emily sharing some mango with some village boys in Sirasso.

A "bush" bathroom - a place with which we all have become way too familiar!

Day 6 (June 20) - Sirasso via N'Dorola

We drove from Bobo to Sirasso (about a 3 hour drive) stopping along the way to greet and visit Pastor Samuel and his wife Elizabeth in N'Dorola. Samuel is a very busy man as he ministers to several villages (as do most Burkinabe pastors). We visited with and prayed for Samuel and his ministry there.

Pastor Samuel, his wife Elizabeth and two of their three children.

We stopped for a roadside lunch of peanut butter, banana
and French bread sandwiches along with mangoes.

We arrived to a warm welcome in Sirasso. We were served rice w/peanut sauce and chicken for lunch at Pastor Marcel's house. We then set to work painting the church, which is a very large building able to hold about 350 Burkinabe. It was just finished two months ago. We worked until dark when we were served dinner (guess what? rice and sauce - not a lot of variety here!). Everyone worked very hard and we got a lot done in just a few hours of work.

That evening we prayed for healing for Pastor Marcel. He has been very ill after prostrate surgery. Kevin said he has lost about 15 lbs. in 10 days. Please pray for his healing. He has been cursed by the local witch doctor and animists and his continued poor health or death would be viewed as a victory by them over Marcel's God. We slept in the church during a beautiful and powerful thunderstorm. They said that they didn't get enough rain, though. They are all farmers and are at the mercy of the weather.

We were witnesses to an amazing lightning display in Sirasso at night!

Emily trying her hand at pulling water up from the well.
There is no running water or electricity in Sirasso.

Carl and Toby painting the trusses - high and hot work!

Burkinabe women pounding grain to make "to."
Not like driving down to the corner store for dinner, is it?

Day 5 (June 19) - Bobo-Dioulasso

We visited an Alliance Church where they minister to Compassion International children every Thursday year round. They get breakfast and lunch. They learn songs about Christ, memorize and recite a Bible verse, and receive a Bible lesson. It is a great program. We played with the kids. They mobbed us. They are soooo cute and precious! Our group in total adopted 6 of the children (60 of the 200 who come have not yet been adopted). Some got to meet their child. I adopted one for the youth group, but didn't get to meet her b/c she went home sick. Her name is Bereniece. We gave them a soccer ball and left for lunch.

Trying (fairly unsucessfully) to teach the kids "over/under."

Trying to leave as Compassion kids mob the van.

We had lunch at the Schaeffers'. Andrew & Esther Schaeffer teach at Maranatha, a pastors' school in Bobo. They are so gracious and hospitable and such a great family. We loved visiting with them.

The Schaeffer Family

We then went to the Bobo market. It was crazy. The people are all over you there. Everyone sees white skin and instantly dollar signs register in their heads. It made my skin crawl to have so many people poking you, rubbing up against you and trying to get your attention. I just wanted to get out of there, but the kids loved it. We bought some stuff, but we ready to get out of there because of the pushy people. They followed us all the way to the van and were reaching in to try to sell us stuff. It was quite the experience.

Leaving the Bobo market

We went to visit a group of believers who meet for discipleship on Thursday nights in Sakabi here near Bobo. 11 men came to faith just two weeks ago. They sang a bunch and we were welcomed by the former village chief Timothy (He had to give it up b/c of his faith). We met in his courtyard (Toby Hull wrote an article about him in the April aLife). There were about 40 people there as we sang and prayed together and Toby showed a "storying" video (tells the story of the Bible in 80 minutes). It is amazing to feel the connection between believers who live in such a different world and speak a different language. God is using Timothy and the new believers in Sakabi.

This is how our team liked to ride around town. They were pointed at a
lot and heard a lot of "too baboo," which means, "white person" in Jula.

Day 4 (June 18) - Samorogouan to Bobo

After a surprisingly cool night, we woke up with the roosters and donkeys around 6AM. We finished painting and finished the hanger on the front of the house until about 2PM. We had lunch at Samson's house. He is a policeman and one of the believers in Samorogouan. We were served rice and sauce (soon to become all too familiar to us). The sauce had goat meat in it (Carl and Jay saw it butchered). It wasn't bad. We greeted the school director, thanking him for allowing us to stay there. Greeting is a big deal in Burkinabe culture. Everyone shakes everyone else's hand when you come and when you leave. It shows respect and honor. We greeted the former owner of the land on which the church was built. He was very glad to visit with us. We gave two soccer balls (one for the church and one for the village) and they loved them. The believers gave to us as a gift a sheep (we named him "Yum Yum"). This gift is worth almost a month's wages. It is humbling to receive such a big gift from those who have so little. We tied him on the trailer and headed back to Bobo - all ready for a shower, but feeling glad to have been able to serve them. The people are all so gracious and hospitable. On the way home, we bought 10 mangoes for about 20 cents. We were glad to get back to the guest house and clean up. Some were feeling the effects of the rice and sauce (aka diarrhea). But, everyone maintained a great attitude. We have an awesome team. We thank God for being able to visit and serve in our "adopted" village.

Look at that pot of rice! We hardly made a dent in it.
The Burkinabe people are so generous for having so little.

Yum Yum!

Roadside mango buying.

Day 3 (June 17) - Samorogouan via Badara

We got up early (breakfast @ 7AM) and loaded up for our overnight trip to Samorogouan. The roads are rutted and bumpy (no pavement once you leave Bobo). We stopped at Badara to greet the believers at our church there and meet Pastor Tychique and his family. They were very gracious and served us tea. We prayed with them then "asked for the road." We arrived in Samorogouan at 11AM and set up to sleep in the school there. We went to the new pastor's house and began setting up to paint and work. We had an incredible thunderstorm, but thankfully we were already pretty much set up to work inside so we got to work painting.

Meeting with the believers in Badara.

Pastor Tychique and his family.

Incredible winds just ahead of a thunderstorm in Samorogouan.

Here is the pastor's house in Samorogouan that we paid for! They will also use it as the church until they build one. This was taken as we began work.

This is a "before" picture inside the house. This was taken while we were waiting out a driving rainstorm.

Here is an "after" picture of the outside of the house (Just finishing up painting the front doors - 6 people at one time! All our girls - way to work together, ladies!)

Here is the "after" picture of the inside of the house after we painted all of it a nice yellow. It really brightened the place up. Our team did a great job. Everyone worked very hard and made a big difference.

We put a "hanger" (as Kevin calls it) on the front of the house. They will have church outside under it when it isn't raining and it will be a front porch and deck (They will later pour a concrete slab) when the church is built. I think our next project for our youth should be raising the money for the church.

This is our team along with Pastor Francois and his family (of our Banzon Alliance Church). He has been overseeing the Samorogouan church until they get a pastor in two weeks. He spoke at the evangelism (3.5 hours!) where about 800 people came and 5 men accepted Christ. We are joined by Alliance missionaries Kevin Oberg, Toby Hull, Andrew Schaeffer (and his twin sons, Paul and David), Miley & Emily (college students with Global Ventures serving 2 months with the Schaeffers - Emily goes to Malone - Jessica's alma mater!) as well as Kevin & Bonnie's sons, Daniel and Jacob. This is our Samorogouan "bush" team.

People at the evangelism in Samorogouan (about 800 of them - Praise God!)