Greetings! This is my pre-departure email newsletter to my Burkina supporters. I'd like to share with you all about what I will be doing in the coming months and years. First, I want to thank you in advance for you interest and support while I am in Burkina. I am happy to have this medium through which to share about what is going on and to relay prayer requests to you. Besides the email newsletter, I am hoping to use an internet site, kerryspencer.blogspot.com, to share some pictures that may give you a better glimpse of what life is like in Burkina Faso. I may also post all of my newsletters on that site as well. Of course, I'll let you know how I'll be using that site as time goes on. Also, feel free to pass this on to others or suggest others to be added to the list.
For those of you who I have not been in touch with over last few years, I can briefly summarize that time for you. I returned home from Burkina in September 2002. In November 2002, I accepted what I thought was the interim youth minister position at my home church, Hardinsburg Baptist. Soon after that I began studying at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. I was able to commute and carry out both of those responsibilities at the same time. After two and a half years I received my MA in Missiology (missions). Also during that time, I was blessed to be able to spend 6 weeks in China and to take our youth group to Ecuador for a week. After more than three years, I have recently resigned as youth minister in anticipation of leaving for Burkina. My departure date is March 2nd.
So, what will I be doing in Burkina Faso? A number of things. I will be joining some old friends who I knew from my first tour of duty there. David and Tami Wood will be my supervisors as I join "Project DELTA," which is part of the larger West Africa Engagement Team. Here is our official statement: "The purpose of the Engagement Team is to help the 'unengaged' become the bride of Christ. Unengaged peoples are those who have little or no Christian witness among them. To fulfill our task, we must identify and research these groups and develop and implement a plan to ensure they have access to the Gospel. Our current data indicate 327 West African people groups with a total population of 16,702,288 who are less than 2% Christian and have no outside Christian witness. As a team, we will lead other Evangelicals (both locally and internationally) to 'engage' these people groups with the Gospel."
What does that mean practically? At first, my work will begin based out of Burkina's second largest city, Bobo-Dioulasso, which is simply referred to as Bobo. I will begin my term by studying the Jula language for a couple months. Burkina's national language is French but Jula is the dominant local language. Still, I suspect I will be doing most of my work in French, of which I have a very rudimentary yet generally functional grasp. After this short time of language study I will be taking part in the research phase of our task. The basic purpose of the research will be to determine the status of Christianity among a particular people group and to gain some basic info that will assist others in reaching them with the Gospel. Just to clarify, a people group is defined as a group of people who have a distinct history, language, and culture. Amazingly, Burkina has around 65 different people groups. Thus, I will be researching a number of these groups, one at a time. This research will frequently take me out of Bobo into various parts of the western end of the country. Based on the findings of the research, our team is responsible for developing a strategy to reach the particularly "unengaged" people groups. That will include recruiting other Christians to come share the Gospel with them. As volunteer missionaries arrive, I will help to coordinate them in this task. I am told that after a year or so of research I may be able to move out of Bobo, to live among a particular people group (to be determined later). The goal will simply be to seek to make an impact among them for the Gospel. All of this, of course, is theory. Only God knows what I'll really be doing, but this is what I've been told to expect. By the way, this time around I will be known as an "ISCer." ISC stands for International Service Corps. That's just another one of the IMB's labels. My commitment is for 2 years, but that may be extended to 3 years. I am very exciting about whatever the future holds. I look forward to being able to share with you some of my experiences. I find it humbling that so many of you would take an interest in my life and would support me with your prayers. I pray that what I write to you will be of some benefit and that it gives glory to God. Here are a couple things you can be praying about as my departure day (March 2) draws near.
Prayer requests:
� Pray that God will prepare me and my loved ones for parting.
� Pray for God to lead my church are the youth as they are searching for my successor.
Thanks so much for your desire to keep up with me over the next 2 or 3 years. I look forward to being in touch and hope you will do the same. Take care and God bless!
kerry spencer
