Northern Burkina: There and Back Again

Hello, ALL! Well, it has now been 2 weeks since my adventure to northern Burkina, and I don't want any more time to pass for fear that I will begin to forget! First, I want to thank my wonderful wife, Tracy, for being willing to care for our girls while I was gone those 4 days. During that time Maleah was sick and then Grace. We had our first water outage. There was a deluge one night that seeped water into the house. Etc. I also want to thank Ms. Lynn Kennedy and family for their love and support as well as our guards, Gabriel and André, who were also a huge help. One thing that hit me several days after my return was that with obedience comes sacrifice. Not only sacrifice on the part of the person being obedient but also on the part of others. God kept us. God richly blessed our time up north visiting a ministry based in that region. And alongside those blessings, there were sacrifices made by multiple people. So, maybe sometimes one could say that when we are obedient to something God is leading us to do, it doesn't mean that it is going to be a bed of roses or a stroll in the park (or any other like expression). It may be hard on your spouse. It may be hard on your children. It may be hard on you. Oh God, help us to be obedient to Your voice and help us to experience your grace as we walk it out! 

OK, now that I shared that... at the start of my adventure, I had the opportunity to experience my first Burkina bus trip. Initially, when Ms. Lynn told me that I would be taking a bus to meet Pastor Patrice Hien and his wife, Celine, in Ouaga, I envisioned a small, tightly packed bus stacked high on top with luggage, no A/C, etc. Well, to my surprise, it was a very large comfortable bus with A/C and even a DVD player in the front for movies (which were not good, but the fact of it was still pretty cool). We stopped a few times for pick ups and breaks. Below are a couple of pics of our stops. Merchants kinda mob the door with many of the same items to sell passengers as they step out. Needless to say, I stayed put. The stops were maybe 5 minutes long, and I did NOT want to be left behind. However, I sat really close to door and so was able to takes some shots of the action. Oh, and here is a picture of what I envisioned I was going to travel in. Please note the man's head on the top right. Yes, he is traveling the scenic way - mounted on his moto!

Below is the bus station in Ouaga. The bus on the left was my mine.

That first night as well as the night we returned from up north, the Hiens and I stayed at the Shattering Darkness Ouaga rental home. In the room in which I slept I found this picture with a message written by Holli Bundy, a dear friend of ours from our home church in Vivian. Holli was a part of the 2014 FBC Vivian short-term mission team that served in Burkina this past January. It was such a blessing and encouragement to see and read her loving message! 

Below are some pics I took along the way. I especially love the one with the Telecel ad painted on the side of the home. You see this a lot here. People's homes become billboards. 

Below is an example of a small store or boutique.

You can bet this former Vermonter was lovin' the mountains, though it look closer to the western US than the Green Mountain State. 

As we traveled, some point not only the landscape change but so did the culture of its inhabitants. For instance, Pastor Patrice commented that folks there work their fields with long handled tools standing upright. Down south, even just an few hours south of where we were, people do almost all their work bent over with short tools instead. He explained that one possible reason for this is the difference in the type of soil that is worked. Up north it is sandier, whereas down south it is very hard. Up north, you see a lot more livestock, whether they are bovine, sheep, or goats. There is less farming and more shepherding there. You also get to see camels as evidenced by the pics below. Please note the Xs or + signs on the one camel's neck which, like a brand, designate ownership.

Pastor Patrice and I were invited to participate in a thanks-giving service that a northern-based ministry hosted. He had invited not only us but several other pastors who shared in Word and in song. Bro. Patrice preached a message from 1 Thes. 5:16-17, which says, "16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" (NASB).

Before the message, I had the honor of sharing a testimony of thanks and also of reading a Scripture, Psalm 103... IN FRENCH! It was my first time to do so, and it was a JOY! (I did receive quite a bit of help from the Hiens before the reading - THANK YOU, PATRICE AND CELINE!). 

1. I thanked God for giving me life. (My mom was told by her doctor she would not have any children.) 

2. I thanked God for salvation. (God saved me from a prodigal lifestyle that nearly killed me.) 

3. I thanked God for His call to ministry. (For years I ran from it until finally realizing and accepting that God's ways are so insurmountably better than my own.) 

4. And, I thanked God for His blessings of my wife, Tracy, and our girls, Maleah and Grace. (God brought Tracy and I together at just the right time in our lives and, at just he right time, blessed us with two precious daughters.) 

What a gift from God our short time up north was! On the way home, I got sick from something I ate while in Ouaga. It was a fairly miserable trip back to Diebougou from there. It was short lived, however, praise the Lord. I felt much better the next morning. By Saturday, all of us were healthy again. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS DURING THAT TIME!!! God helped Tracy through some definite challenges, and God blessed my visit up north and helped me make it home without having to stay extra time in Ouaga to visit a clinic and/or for recovery. Thank you for ministering with us and to us in prayer!!!

WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO THANKFUL FOR YOU!