Greetings from Burkina Faso! I’ve been to the desert and back! It was a great African road trip (over 3000 miles roundtrip)! I really enjoyed Niger despite it being ranked (on the HDI) as the least developed nation in the world (a few spots below Burkina). Our trip was not without incident yet it was blessed and well planned by the Lord. In Ouagadougou and Niamey (the capitals of Burkina and Niger), the truck underwent some maintenance work causing us to be delayed a couple days in each country. However the delay was not a waste because we got to hang out with many in our mission family. Sam was also able to recover from a slight illness. From that point on we had no health problems and had almost perfectly uneventful travel (aside from getting stuck in the sand for half and hour, being taken to the police station after refusing to pay a bribe, and the A/C going out a few hours from our return to Ouaga – so maybe that’s a big “almost”).
One theme of the trip would be fellowship with, and hospitality from, our Christian family. Nearly everywhere we went on the trip we were met with open doors and delightful dinner tables. We were hardly roughing it as expected (we were well stocked with granola bars, tuna packs, and peanut butter). As best as I can count, we stayed the night with six different families (some multiple nights) and were fed 24 meals over about three and a half weeks. Still, I didn’t feel like a bum but more like a member of a large, generous family. I think I can now better relate to the instructions Jesus gave his 12 disciples as he sent them out as the first missionaries. He told them “that they should take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belt.” (Mark 6:8) In that situation I believe they were expected to rely on the hospitality of non-Christians. How much more should we expect Christian hospitality? In fact it was commanded: “Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it” (Hebrews 13:1-2). Sam has commented that it seems wherever we go we seem to find great folks in the missionary community. It’s true. I’m very blessed to have the relationships I have here. I thank God for them and their hospitality.
As for the research portion of the trip, we investigated seven groups, but the three furthest east were the most striking. It was not terribly surprising to find that the people around Lake Chad are almost completely untouched by the Gospel. We learned of only 6 believers among the two Kanuri groups and 0 believers among the Buduma. The difficulties in taking the Gospel to this area are obvious. Just getting there much less living there is an enormous challenge. It is a 23-hour drive from the capital (with some stretches of terrible road) and the landscape is very dry and barren. Yet these people need the Gospel so desperately. I know God can equip His ministers even for such a difficult task as this. Let us pray that He will do just that.
The coming weeks will be fairly busy. First I’ve got to write up the reports on our research. Next week we plan to attend a Thanksgiving celebration for the whole missionary community in Bobo. Two days after that I will fly to Lomé, Togo for a 3-day conference. Soon after arriving back we expect to receive two volunteers on December 10th and then a couple more on the 20th. I thank God that it’s a good busy.
Praise God for:
* the heath, safety, and good information that God provided on our trip through Niger.
* the many hospitable families who took care of us and encouraged us on the trip.
* Sam (a fine traveling mate) and the other volunteers coming in December.
Please pray for:
* God to make a way for the Gospel to reach the peoples of the Lake Chad Basin.
* the conference in Togo to be beneficial and refreshing (the name of the conference is “Re-new”).
* our preparations for, and the coming of, the volunteers in December.
As always, thanks so much for you thoughts and prayers. I am encouraged by you despite the distance between us. Note: Amazingly we now have high-speed internet access in Bobo (Praise the Lord!). This means you will benefit by getting to see more pictures on the blog.
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