and the earth shook....

It's a cool evening in African terms. We pull up to the church on our moto, wipe the dust off our faces and clothes. We walk into the church 20 minutes late, but were early.  I know a lot of latin and seminole friends that would love this place! There is a childrens outreach scheduled, we have popcorn ready for 100, but only have about 20 kids. We are thankful for the 20 we have.  The drums are pounding, and the kids are dancing.  Within minutes, the 20 became 50, growing to 100 and filling up to nearly 200 kids! The drums continued to beat, the children were dancing and singing.  We sat in amazement as these children showed us how it's done.  As I sat on my plastic lawn chair at the head of the church (a place of honor that I am still not 100% comfortable with), I could feel the concrete foundation shaking under my orange dirt covered shoes from the dancing children.  The dust rose up from the floor causing a dense haze, the room started to heat up, the noise increased to a level that reached nearly all of Yako. Keep in mind, we have no speakers, no mics, no sound systems. This is the praise of small children.

Mark 10:14

¹⁴ When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

Kids showed a missionary tonight how to worship God. We had skits, song and dance, and a message delivered by one of our orphan boys from Les Ailes De Refuge!  It was another African night that will forever live in our hearts!

Our first care package!

Many thanks to our small group back in Florida!! We received our very first care package. It was great timing as we were just getting over being sick. This definitely brightened our day!!

Toys for Tots Visits the Orphanage

We had the priviledge of having US Marines with the Toys for Tots program come out to Yako this week to distribute toys to children at our orphanage and school.



A whole new dance!!!

It's been a bumpy start! Christmas day Amy and Delaney became quite ill from caring for some very sick little babies at the orphanage.  We had to learn that our bodies from the United States have never seen some of the sicknesses that lurk in the deserts of Africa. Knowing this now, we understand that we need time to adapt. Amy and Delaney fought very hard for over 2 weeks of extreme illness, dizziness, weakness. The good part was that God had us scheduled in the capital city of Ouagadougou. We were able to find a doctor which was suggested by some local missionaries here in "Ouaga". We were very happy to meet Dr. Peter. He is from Belgium, he makes house visits, and he runs the youth department at the international church here in the capital. All monies made from his house visits goes directly to helping sick children out in the villages!  To say the least, we love this guy!!!! Evan and Delaney are out with their family tonight! Amazing how God provides in so many ways. Needless to say, the girls are feeling much better.

We actually were able to go out today after our language lessons. We went to the forest reserve here which is across the street from the house where we are staying in the capital.  We had to laugh when we realized how accurate Disney's Animal Kingdom recreates the real deal. Wasn't sure if the park looked like Disney, or is it the other way around? Well, they had water, they had green, they had a small area of GRASS!!!! First grass we have walked on since arriving on Dec. 20th.

There was a concert going on in the park with several small children, as we approached several of the kids spotted us and broke away from the concert to come teach us some of the latest African dance moves.  My moves amazed them, Delaney's moves........... not so much. It will take time.  Much like our life, they had us dancing a whole new dance.  As you can see in the picture, they love to greet, talk with, and have their photo taken by the "nassara" (white people).  What an opportunity! We are so privileged. Wherever we go, we are being surrounded with need, love and grace. Amazing how it all fits together like a perfectly designed puzzle. And because of the support from all our friends a family, we all get to be a part in God's puzzle.

I must mention a need that we REALLY need help with.  The orphanage is in desperate need of a passenger van.  We currently can only take a handful of just older children to any activity. They have to pile in the back of our old work truck and hold on for dear life. We haven't lost any yet. We can also use the van for medical outreach, bringing much needed care by bringing medical crews out to the villages.  This would also serve as a mode of transportation to get missionaries and short term mission trips from the airport in the capital back to Yako.  You can certainly see the great impact a church, some individuals or a business could make to a group of orphans and to entire villages in Africa. If you would like to help by making a donation or by fund-raising, please e-mail us at reachburkina@gmail.com.  We are reaching Burkina by the sacrifices being made in the United States. We appreciate all of you, every person in this huge puzzle.

Walking in faith!
Mike