Greetings from Burkina Faso! The 17th was a big day. We said goodbye to volunteer Ashley Jackson and welcomed Sam Gowin. These are a couple of interesting folks. Ashley is a 23-year-old banker/university student/pastor’s wife from Seattle who’s had a growing interest in missions. Sam is a 29-year-old former nuclear engineer and current lawyer who’s taking a few months off before seeking a new practice. They are an encouragement to me because they are further evidence that God is drawing individuals from all areas and walks of life into his service. I recently read that “God’s business is our vocation. Everything else is our avocation.” I wasn’t smart enough to know what an “avocation” was, so I looked it up. Turns out it’s basically a hobby. I like that thought. It actually came from James Brown (not the fancy dancer and entertainer) the sports talk show guy. I thank God for Ashley’s and Sam’s interest in spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the nations (Matthew 24:14). I thank God for their willingness to sacrifice (time/money/comfort/relationships) to join us in the task He has given us.
Among other adventures, Ashley joined us for a research trip to the Pana people, another micro-people of only about 7,500 people. The Pana are located on the border with Mali, about a 6-hour drive northeast from Bobo. We had an enjoyable visit among them and even found an entertaining English-speaking university student in the village of Oué (pronounced “way”). Sadly, there is almost no evangelical work among the Pana and we heard of fewer than a handful of believers among them. Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to the Pana.
Sam will be broken into the research task by a little trip to the far side of Niger. We will leave Monday and will travel well over 2,000 miles round-trip. On our way we will research two groups in the east of Burkina (Zerma and Hausa), then two groups in the west of Niger (Mossi and Gourmantche), and we’ll finish with three groups around Lake Chad (Buduma and two kinds of Kanuri peoples). I’m told to expect sand dunes as we go further east toward Lake Chad. Sounds fun huh? Due to the distance we will travel it’s hard to estimate how long we will be gone but we expect the trip to take weeks instead of days (we definitely plan to be back by Thanksgiving). I look forward to the adventure. Though I’ve only recently met Sam I can tell we will do well together.
Sunday is the last day of Ramadan. Monday, the 24th, is one of the most important Muslim holidays of the year. There will be much feasting and celebration among the Muslims of Burkina Faso (more than half the population) and the world. Pray that even at this time God would bring doubts into the minds of many Muslims. Pray that He will draw many into a relationship with Him so they will truly have reason to celebrate.
Praise God for:
* the blessing that Ashley was, and Sam will be, to our team and our ministry.
* continued health, safety, and all around blessed times on our research trips.
Please pray for:
* the God’s guidance and protection on our research trip through Niger.
* God to send more laborers to the Pana and other unengaged people groups in Burkina and around the world.
* Muslims to be able to see the Way the Truth and the Life as their holy month comes to a close.
As always, thanks so much for you prayers and support. God bless!
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