Overdrive

It has been an amazing month! It is like the mission has hit a whole new gear! We have gone from being busy, to being overwhelmed with opportunities. God seems to have opened the flood gates, and we are on the white water raft ride of our lives! (minus the raft….. and the river).  This month has been filled with heart ache and joy. We have gotten to witness dancing of victories and cries of anguish. But one thing has been constant, God was there for all of it. We wish we could just download all that we do, so you could witness, hear, and feel the great reward we get to experience daily here in Africa.

We started with a distribution of grain to many new widows. They were so excited to see us that they would literally dance upon our arrival. One of the new widows could not dance though. Disease had left her handicapped and alone. Someone allows this woman to live in an abandoned building in their courtyard, but beyond that, she has nothing. She lives in a pile of garbage, unable to walk or even speak very well. Her name is Minata Sakara. If you have ever tried to seek out  who Jesus meant when he spoke of the least of these in Matthew 25:40, I am certain that Minata was specifically on His mind. Amy and I are also convinced that women like her are one of the reasons why God sent us here.

We had two special medical clinics this month. The first one was in the village of Gourpoly, which is fairly remote, and in need of help.  We showed up, and about 2000 people did also. We had a doctor here from Pennsylvania on a short term mission trip, and together with our nurses, treated over 200 kids for various injuries and ailments.  The second special clinic was held in the village of Kabo. This village is 13 Kilometers outside of yako, and is a place that is dear to Amy and I. This was a cursed village that God has begun to move in. Christ has been working his way into the hearts of the residents of Kabo one after the other. Over 1500 people showed up, and about 250 kids treated! We had another doctor and a nurse visiting us from Pembroke Pines and two nurses from the Christian Missionary Alliance with us. Working together with our nurses, we filed through the patients, and saw them all! Meanwhile my department was to keep the crowds occupied. So, games, dance offs, and a bible club for the kids! I was Goliath in a skit we did for the kids, and they seemed to laugh a little to loudly for my liking when I took the stone in the middle of my forehead. But kids and adults alike were given the gospel, and many were saved.  We followed it up with an evangelism the next night, Amazing would not begin to explain the response. I was a happy dad, when Delaney, my 16 year old daughter started the evening off with prayer in front of the entire crowd.

We have had great reports on the girl Pauline we found near death of kidney failure. She continues to heal.  Then in Doure , where we hold medical clinics every Thursday, a mother showed up with her 10 year old daughter named Catherine from the village of Arbole. Catherines stomach was swollen, and she had a lump on her side. After inspection, we felt that we needed to bring her to a clinic about 2 hrs north of us. We had blood tests, and then we were sent down to the capital for some scans. We have sadly begun our battle against Cancer with young Catherine. Chemo will begin on next week, and once the Tumors that have attached themselves to her kidneys shrink, she will have surgery followed by more treatments.  The picture shows Pauline on my left, and Catherine on my right. Victories and heartaches, we have become intimate with both.

So much more, but will end with this. I was back out in the bush, drilling wells. We received a very generous gift for Amy and I to go dig a well. This is an incredible tool to meet people at their need. Working through the local pastors and churches. Finding the need, giving the community water, and Christ. Another hole in the ground, another village impacted by Christ!

Making Memories

We just dropped off loved ones at the airport last night. Mike's brother Jeff, our niece Olivia, our daughter Haley and Kelsey's dad, Joe, arrived two weeks ago. Those two weeks flew by!!

Then again, so much happened during such a brief stay. Four new babies came to the orphanage, we had a widow distribution, a sponsorship gift distribution. We visited both children sponsored by Jeff's and Joe's families, went out to children's homes to take pictures for sponsorship, and Jeff spoke at two different churches. There were elephant adventures, baobab adventures and moto adventures. We played with children, held babies and had a movie night with the kids. We ate chicken and fish under flashlights, negotiated purchases at the market and had african fabric turned into custom fit clothing. This just covers some of the highlights! And although I can describe what happened in a two week period, it is harder to describe the feelings and changes of the heart that some of these experiences evoked.

I think it is best captured in some of these photos.

On the way to distribute grain to widows

Delaney, Haley & Mike with Poko, one of our widows

Village Bible Club

Joe vs. The Baobab

Haley loving on one of our toddlers

Elephant sighting!

Kelsey & Joe with Frank. This was Joe's first time meeting the child they sponsor.

Jeff with his sponsored child, Mouniratou

Kelsey surrounded by some of our babies

Olivia learns what it's like to be an African mama

At the orphanage with one of the boys, Ferdinand

 

Kelsey returned to the U.S. with them after four months with us. We will miss them all as our house will seem a bit empty. We are excited that Haley is staying here with us for the ext five months. We are happy for the memories made and for the memories we have yet to make.

A Wet Day in the Desert!

 

It all started out just fine! I get a call from  “Friends in Action” leader Mark Collier. He had a group 6 guys coming in from his home town in Northern Ireland, and said that he could use an extra hand. They had 2 wells to drill deep in the bush. Great! Here is the next adventure! Living out in the bush, bad food, hot water to drink, and mosquitos the size of eagles! Sounded good on that day. After a slow start, got on the road a little before 6 am to meet Mark in a village about 5 hours away from Yako. The roads were rough, but passable. One ditch I hit accounted for the two water jugs I had securely attached to my roof rack to go flying off ahead of me. I eventually caught up to them…..

I meet up with him and he starts leading me back into the bush. After about an hour of rough riding, and a fervent prayer to remind myself to bring a kidney belt with me next time, we nearly reached our destination, but there was this large drilling rig stuck down to it’s axles on the path! Yep, our drilling rig. After about 6 hours, 50 Africans 2 winches (one that worked), and 5 blisters from shoveling, the truck began to move. All our excitement was ALMOST loud enough to not hear the loud cracking of the rear differential gear snapping as the truck was trying to climb out of the hole. Well, back to square one. Few more hours and a few more Africans, we were out of the hole, but unable to move. So by 10:00 pm were dropping the rear end of the truck and tearing it apart. Next day we head back to Ouagadougou and do the repairs. Unable to get a rebuilt gear we weld the broken one together and hope for the best.

Next day were back at the site, and putting the truck back together. A crunch here, a knuckle there and were rolling. Behind schedule, but rolling. To make this story shorter, after 7 flat tires, a rear end, a clutch seal and some bad potatoes, we were drilling wells. From 6 a.m. to sometimes 2 a.m. This team flat out worked. Tired beaten up, and talking up a storm (which I could only understand half of with the accent) we got water at the first site after drilling the full 300 feet our rig could handle. Second site we hit great water at 170 feet. This was a village that had NEVER had water! They were walking about 5 km each day just to survive.

I am always amazed at even in the most remote areas of the desert, God had already provided all the water a village would ever need! All we have to do is go and poke a hole in the ground. I am in awe of the work ethic and the compassionate hearts of this team from Northern Ireland. I love those moments that I am certain that I will remember when I am 80 years old. This was certainly one of them.

 

A Special Visit

This past weekend we were able to visit another missionary family in the town of Dano about five hours away. It was definitely nice to see another part of Burkina with a different people group and different landscape. We were excited because we going to see Carine, Cedric and Francoise, who used to live here with us at the orphanage.

When they came to us, they were sick and hungry and had no place to call home. Carine had Cedric as a product of rape. As an unwed mother she was not welcome to stay with her family. Her younger sister Francoise left with her. During their stay with us we cared for Cedric so that Carine could go to sewing school and Francoise could attend 6^th grade. This summer they went back to Dano to mend the relationship with their family and take their rightful place in their father’s courtyard and among their people group. They are doing well and look healthy and happy. Francoise is still in school and Carine has an apprenticeship with a tailor. It was great to see them and spend time with them. It is also comforting knowing that our missionary friends, The Richter’s, live close by and are there for them.

 

The people of this region are called the Dagara. They are primarily animist and have many superstitious beliefs. The mission the Richter’s are a part of has planted numerous village churches. Slowly, but surely converts are putting aside old traditions, burning their idols and fully relying on Christ. Hundreds of babies are also being helped with a milk program and several students have been given the opportunity to attend school. Mike had a chance to go out on Saturday morning with Geoffrey to visit some well sites where he is doing repairs, giving these villages clean, safe drinking water. God is present and at work in Dano.