Christmas photos

Some of our missionary community (plus some visitors) at our Christmas party in Ouagadougou.
Nativity scene mural inside a Catholic church in Kaya - Burkina Faso.
Christmas peppers. Hey they're red and green right? Like those Christmas M&Ms.
The Burkina Christmas flower. That's what I'm calling it.

Christmas tree salesman in our capital.

Burkina newsletter #33

Seasons Greetings from Burkina Faso! FBC Pearland had a very successful vision trip. After seeing some of the many needs here they left feeling a strong leading to come back and do some discipleship training and evangelism with a specific focus on the Dogosé people. We are very thankful for their visit and their concern for the unreached peoples of Burkina Faso. Please pray that God would continue to guide them as they ponder and prepare for their future ministry here.

Currently the four ladies from Bartlett Baptist are living and ministering among the Vigué people. Bartlett is what we call an Engaging Church. What that means is they have chosen to have a long-term ministry among a people group even when missionaries (like me and the Woods) have left the area. Therefore they are responsible for developing their own strategies and taking care of their own logistics (such as transportation/food/translation/money matters/etc.). That is a huge undertaking. As part of preparing for the future we are allowing them to experience most of this trip without our involvement (we’ll join them near the end of their stay). It is hard to leave them on their own but that is part of the weaning process. The Vigué (who claim to be 100% Muslim) just celebrated one of the most important Islamic holidays, Tabaski (also know as Eid al-Adha in much of the world). The team from Bartlett will soon be celebrating Christmas and will have a chance to explain the significance of this holy day for Christians. Please pray for the Lord to open the eyes of the Vigué to the light of Jesus Christ.

The fact that we are not out with the Bartlett team works out well as we have two more volunteers coming in tonight. Wade Whynot is a former volunteer who is coming back with his special friend Sherida. We will be traveling around some and of course spending Christmas together. Our Christmas plans are to celebrate with Pastor Dénis and his church in the morning and then have a dinner with some fellow missionaries that evening.

I recently did a little traveling with William Haun who is an excellent photographer and a serious computer nerd (he knows I love him). He is one of the folks responsible for a lot of what you may have seen at www.gowestafrica.com. If you’ve not been there lately you should check it out – it’s got a new look. I also highly recommend his site www.haunsinafrica.com. His wife, who’s studying to be a doctor, is a spending a few months interning at our hospital in Nalerigu, Ghana. Thus you can find some pretty incredible surgery photos (my personal favorite being the finger amputation slideshow – posted Dec. 11). For those of you with weaker stomachs there are also many great non-surgical photos. You can even find a few references and photos of me (posts begin Dec. 13). While I’m giving you some websites – I’ve recently added some more photos to my page: http://picasaweb.google.com/kerrylspencer.

Praise God for:

* FBC Pearland and Bartlett Baptist – for their service among the unreached of Burkina Faso.
* the safety and health the Lord has given us in recent weeks.
* sending His Son Jesus Christ to “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

Please pray for:

* FBC Pearland as they prepare for future ministry in Burkina.
* Bartlett Baptist as they share Christmas with the Vigué people.
* the Vigué people - that the Lord would “open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18).
* Wade, Sherida, and us as we travel and minister together.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support. I pray you are making time to go beyond all the superfluity of the Christmas season to the foundation: celebrating the miraculous birth of the Son of God, God-Himself, Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!

Final thought:

When I give I give myself.

~ Walt Whitman

Just pics

Red dragonfly.

Waterfalls as the sun falls near Banfora.

Old-timer.

Young Fulani gal.

Burkina newsletter #32

Greetings from Burkina Faso! This past month we hosted another volunteer team on a vision trip to see the reality of lostness among the Komono and Dogosé peoples. A group from the Bifork Association of churches in northern Texas spent several days among these people and, as we have been, were overwhelmed by the needs they saw: physical and spiritual. They are now processing what they saw and are trying to discern how the Lord is leading them to respond to those needs. Please pray for God’s guidance for them. Similarly, another church from Texas (FBC Pearland) arrives tonight and will have a similar vision trip. The only difference is we plan to expose them to several different people groups. They will appreciate your prayers for guidance as well.

As most of you (those who live in the States) are in the midst of another Christmas season, I ask you to ponder places and peoples who have no Christmas season. It is not only that they do not have the cultural trappings of the holiday: Santa and the reindeer, candy canes, snowmen, Christmas trees, or multi-colored lights, for that would be no great shame. But they don’t have a celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Though many have heard of Jesus, and the Muslims even acknowledge Him as a great prophet, they do not know him as Savior and Lord. This is the reality for the majority of people in this country and in many countries around the world. And for people groups like the Vigue, there may not be a single person who has reason to celebrate Christmas this year. That is a tragedy. One that we want to change. That is why Bartlett Baptist church has already sent four teams to minister among the Vigue. That is why several ladies from that church have decided to spend this Christmas with the Vigue – to share the message of Christmas and salvation with them. As you celebrate Jesus’ birth this year, please pray for those who are not celebrating. And consider how God might use you to minister to them. Let us be thankful that we have something to celebrate – eternal life with the Lord, through the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Praise God for:

* sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to seek and to save the lost.
* the Bifork Association, FBC Pearland, and Bartlett Baptist churches – for their interest in and commitment to the unengaged peoples of the world.

Please pray for:

* God to guide those from Bifork Association and FBC Pearland as they seek how the may serve Him in Burkina Faso.
* Bartlett Baptist church as they continue to minister among the Vigue.
* the Vigue people – that some would finally come to accept Jesus as Savior.

As always – thanks so much for your prayers and support. You may find some new photos at picasaweb.google.com/kerrylspencer. May your Christmas be joyous and heartfelt!

Final thought (as a Christmas bonus – an extra quote):

When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs?

~ G.K Chesterton

There has been only one Christmas – the rest are anniversaries.
~ W.J. Cameron