I hate goodbyes...shhhh...just go

After a long bus ride TK and I are now with the other HandsOn'ers in Niamey for debriefing. The photos provided here are ones taken with people as we were saying goodbye to them yesterday when we left our apartment in Ouaga.

This is Kader who came with our friend and language teacher Yaya on behalf of the church to say goodbye and give us a gift. I can't really talk to him that much, but I'm really encouraged by his family and the role he plays in the church.










This is Mariam, and she's a hoot. She's a Bissa woman who has been coming to literacy class. She cracks me up and all I can say is that if you know who Madea is... this is her sister. Pray for her and her family to come to know the Lord through the stories of God's word she hears at literacy.










On Sunday night, Albert performed at a Baptist Youth Conference and we got to see it all. I wish I could upload the video of all the people jumping on stage to dance- hilarious. It was hard to say goodbye to Albert and Vivian, they're great.










These are the two men that we spent the most time with in Africa- Yaya our Bissa believer friend on the right, and Adama, the one that we have asked you to pray for so much. It will be strange not seeing these guys everyday, and especially not being bossed around by Adama. Pray that the Lord will use our time with here to encourage Yaya in his faith and to bring Adama to Himself.










BYE SHAFTO'S! I'll miss each member of this family greatly. I couldn't have asked for better supervisors, and I feel like I was just a part of their family for the past four months. Fortunately, they call Wilmington home in the States, so I'll be able to see them on their next furlow. Damin zinda (another day).

Garango

We have had our trip to Garango, the town in the heart of Bissa Land, postponed twice, but this week we spent five days there. We mainly spent time resting and encouraging the few Baptist believers there. We stayed with Cesar, the pastor (and whose voice is on the tract and many audios we've been using the past four months) and his wife Awa and little girl Rebeka who are in the picture below. They are great.













I also will ask you all to pray for the family of Bernard, Ishmael, Bukari, and another family. The latter family is one whose father died several years ago. Naana, Silvie, Romeal, Gaspar, Elian, Rochelle, Esther, and three other whose names I can't remember. Romeal and Gaspar are young men. Pray that they would be serious about the Lord and emerge as leaders for their family and in the community as a witness for Christ. Also pray for the girls of the family, especially Silvie. She is the oldest and is very passionate about the Lord. She just made my heart warm. She is strong in that she is well into marrying age, but she refuses to marry anyone who is not a Protestant Christian man. This is a harder thing than it is in our society, and she is remaining faithful, so I just ask that you pray for her joy and sufficiency to be in Christ and for her to remain strong.

There are three small mountains that stand next to Garango, so one morning we climbed the top to enjoy the view around the Sahel. The dust was cleared pretty well that day, so we could see fairly far.

Other people to pray for...with a big praise

This is the Banse family. They are a Bissa family in the non-loti with whom we've been sharing alot. We've shared stories on tape, had the children over for the Jesus film, and tried to discuss some with them (though our Bissa is bad and they speak the dialect we don't know). Since our communication is not so clear, we can never really know what kind of impact we're having on people without someone to translate. On Saturday, our friend Rodolphe, a Bissa believer who is also a Banse, went with us to greet the family and talk with the boys about what we've shared with them. After speaking with the oldest son Hamado for a while, Rodophe said, and quite calmly, "Okay, he says that he is ready to pray to follow Jesus." WHAT!?! Hallelujah! So we left from there to go to the Christian bookstore downtown to buy a French Bible and also a book on following Jesus and one titled "Me, the Son of an Imam" because the Banse family is very entrenched in Islam.

Below are picture of me with the whole of the family. Hamado is the one holding the books. Pray that he would be truly good soil, that his profession of faith would be sincere, that he would read and be encouraged and filled with passion by God's word, and that he would be discipled and led to baptism and the church. Also pray that he would be an influence on the other boys of the family and the family as a whole. The boys' names are Sharif, Omar, Abdul Kaduz, and Elias. The girls' names are Acetu, Azarato, Awa, and, of course, Naana (mom) whose name I don't know because it would be inappropriate to ask. Pray that the Lord turns the family by His grace to all know and serve him.



















P.S. Notice the bunny in picture 1 and notice Naana Banse's arm around me with smile in picture 2

People to Pray for

I have already mentioned the two university English students named Lemin and Dramane that we met at School Radio. We have now met with them two times other than at school radio, and we are definitely going to meet with them once more in this last week. Every time we meet, they ask excellent questions about the faith...Jesus's identity as God and the Son of God, the relationship of faith and works, polygomy (especially if you become a Christian after multiple marriages), protection from witch doctors...

After talking to them for a while last time, we thought it was important to ask where they saw themselves with Christ- whether they had decided to follow Jesus. They stated that these are the most important things and that they cannot say they believe and then decide to turn back. So I told them how happy I was that they see the infinite significance of their decision about Jesus. But I also encouraged them to search God's word and that if they see the truth of it, to respond to the Spirit of God. Please pray for both of them, that the Spirit will indeed open their eyes to the glory of Jesus and that they would trust in him alone.










P.S. After taking this picture, Dramane looked at himself and said, "OH, I'm so blaaack."

For you, Mama

My mom, Joyce, tells me every time that I get to talk to her how much she misses me. Just to let her know that I miss her too, I thought I'd share this photo that I took for her. I'll see you soon, Mama.

P.S. this is a phone booth, convenience store, and gas station all in one...the gasoline is in the glass bottles you see

Church

I don't remember whether I've spoken a lot about church in Africa. I've fellowshipped with several churches since being here, each both unique and similar in its own way. When we are in Ouaga, we have met with a small group called Eglise Baptiste de la Grace. I've enjoyed our times meeting with them, and they have been an encouragement to me even though they are almost all Mossi, so I don't understand anything that's said. I usually just clap to the music and sing the English words if I recognize and know the song (but that's not common). If I can understand in French what passage is being preached on, I'll read along while it's preached. Otherwise, I try to look pensive and not let my mind drift away from the things of God too much. Here is a video of what music is like...




A funny story from church happened a couple of weeks ago. Because we are white men, they like to honor us by asking us to pray. I'm sure if we spoke French or Moure we would be asked to preach quiet often, too. So the other week, I could tell by Pastor Andre's (who is a somewhat awkwardly tall man who always has a giant smile on his face) looks at me that he had just announced that he'd like me to pray over the offering or sermon or ordinance, I can't remember. So, as normal, I began to pray out loud in English knowing that the Lord understands each language and the heart of every man. Now because Pastor Andre does not know English, I suppose he was just waiting for an "Amen" or something that signaled the close of my prayer. He must have confused something I said for that, because while I still had a good amount of prayin' left in me, I heard him say "Amina, barka Wendnaam (Amen, praise/bless God)." So I look up and see that he has moved on and kind of awkwardly sit back done. Some women on the other side of the room looked at me and could tell that I had not finished my prayer. They informed Pastor Andre, who looked over at me with huge eyes that showed he was pretty embarressed and didn't know whether he should let me finish or just keep going. I waved my hands and just said, "Se bon. Se fini. Barka Wendnaam (It's good. It's finished. Praise/bless God)." Fun times at church in Africa.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD...

Here is some weird fruit that we don't know the name of. I didn't want to give it a chance at first, because it looks an awful lot like a fat little artichoke, and I didn't see how it could be sweet, but you know, it was pretty good.










Okay, so sodas in general are better in Africa because they are made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. It's also fun because you almost always drink out of big glass coke bottles. But the best thing I've discovered is a kinda of Fanta I had never heard of... Fanta COCKTAIL. It's really sweet, but really good and it has a little bit of thick fruit gunk at the bottom of the bottle.













La Baguette du Faso. Okay, this is the boulangerie (bread bakery) where we buy our bread. We're not huge on the baguettes, but du pain rond (the round bread) is pretty amazing, especially when warm. I will miss this place.











The best thing are the African donuts that you can buy for really cheap on the side of the road. They are so stinkin' good, and we also put sugar on top of them. I wish I could take a lifetime supply back home with me. They really can't be good for you though. We always eat them so fast that I've never managed to remember to get a picture of them before they're gone.


THE BAD...

Well, this isn't food related while all the rest are, and I had to put something down for "THE UGLY." It's pretty funny to go around and see t-shirts of American celebrities. The most famous are Alicia Keys, 50 Cent, Britney Spears, and professional wrestlers. However, I had to take a picture of this kid in his shirt. Look how sad he looks about his shirt (not really). This is what they should put on the 'Feed the Children' commercials.













THE UGLY...

So here we have roasted catepillars. Jay made me try one on the trip back from Ghana. You know, it really wasn't good at all; no matter how many people tried to say it wasn't that bad, it was. This is a plate of the catepillars that I saw a woman eating one day just like it was a salad. It doesn't taste like chicken.











Last, I really wanted to include a picture of this, but we haven't seen them since the first couple of weeks in Ouaga. Probably the ugliest of all the uglies are the fried goat heads. It might be better there's no picture for those of you with a weak stomach, but just imagine a pretty shabby looking hotdog stand with a grill out front, but instead of dogs, imagine gnarly looking skinned goat heads all fried up. Pretty disgusting.