Burkina newsletter #30

Greetings from Burkina Faso! A couple weeks ago I did some research among the Zaorsé people. We knew there were many Baptist churches among them but needed to update our statistics. I was pleased to learn that there are 57 Baptist churches and almost 5,000 believers among an ethnic group of only about 28,000 people. That’s simply amazing! Unfortunately there is no other people group in Burkina in which we have seen similar results from Baptist work. So of course we look at this example and try to learn some secrets of this spiritual success. Ultimately we know that God gets all credit and glory for the fruit that has been seen there. Yet if we look at the missionary dealings among the Zaorsé we notice that this is one of the places where we had the longest, sustained presence of full-time missionaries. Our team’s main purpose is to connect churches and short-term teams with unengaged people groups. We are truly thankful for the churches who are answering this call and God is using them. However this strategy has come about largely because there are not enough full-time, long-term missionaries to get the Gospel to the plethora of unreached people groups. Still the ideal is long-term, sustained ministry. So I just want to take this opportunity to challenge each of you to consider and pray about your role in the Great Commission. The Lord uses all sorts of people in all sorts of roles: prayers, givers, senders, short-term and long-term missionaries. All are necessary and important. May the Lord guide and use us all.

The other big happening over the last couple weeks was Southside Baptist’s (Lufkin TX) ministry among the Sambla people. Although the team was somewhat hindered by a little sickness, still the love of God was shared. New relationships were built and old relationships were strengthened. The team also picked up a little language. Please continue to pray for the Sambla people.

Before taking on their current role on the Engagement Team, my supervisors, David and Tami Wood, were the leaders of the Marensé team (during my first term). The Marensé are a small people group found in north-central Burkina. Part of the ministry that some of the team members took part in was to begin the translation of the New Testament into Marensé. Even after full-time missionaries left their area, Marensé believers continued the project. The Marensé New Testament has just recently been completed and has now been printed. Several former Journeymen from the Marensé team (some of my very good friends) are thus coming back to help dedicate and distribute the New Testament. The first of the team members will arrive tomorrow (the 17^th) and most will be gone by the 1^st of November. That is what I’ll be up to the next couple weeks.

Immediately after that I’ll be taking a four day vacation/adventure to northern Burkina to see some dunes, camels, and other deserty stuff. I’ll be joined by several of my good friends working here in Burkina (peace corps and orphanage workers) and one of the former Marensé team members.

Praise God for:

* the many churches and believers among the Zaorsé people.
* the completion of the New Testament in Marensé.
* Southside Baptist’s dedication to reaching the Sambla for Christ.

Please pray for:

* God’s direction in your own life concerning how He can use you in the Great Commission.
* the upcoming dedication and distribution of the Marensé New Testament. Pray that there would be many opportunities to share the Truth and that many would accept it.
* a safe and enjoyable vacation/adventure to the north.

As always thanks so much for your continued prayers and support. I also want to inform you of a new website for viewing some of my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/kerrylspencer. I plan to update the pics periodically. Enjoy. God bless!

Final thought:

Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don’t “feel called” to the mission field. We don’t need a call; we need a kick in the pants!

~ Jim Elliott

Pics from the Western Karaboro

Just another example of African ingenuity. This is a load of cloth strapped on the back (and front) of the moto with a couple strips of rubber. This belongs to a merchant who came to sell his cloth in the market. [All these photos are courtesy of David Myers - superstar volunteer.]
Nice silhouette of some palm trees at sunset in the Western Karaboro village of Tengrela.
Kid holding up a tree? No he's (or she's) watching the Jesus film. See photo below.
One of several groups we showed the Jesus film to last week. You can't quite see it but the film is being shown on a small portable DVD player (on a chair behind the limb). We usually show the film at night but decided to squeeze in a matinee under the mango tree.
We did a lot of praying for the needs of the Western Karaboro. The word got out and many people can to us to be prayed for. Others were brought - like this young boy, who has some leg problems (you can really tell when he walks). If you look closely you can see a couple leather pouches hanging around his neck. These amulets are given - for a price - by the local witchdoctor. They are supposed help the boy or protect him from whatever spirits might be causing his problems. The people were surprised and delighted that our prayers were free! Please join us in praying for the Western Karaboro to know the love, power, and grace of Jesus Christ.

Burkina newsletter #29

Greetings from Burkina Faso! I’ve spent the past couple weeks mostly with two people groups among whom I’ve never met a Christian: the Vigue and Western Karaboro. We’ve always had a warm reception among the Vigue and our relationships built in Karankasso-Vigue (their primary village) only continue to grow. I’m told that as the Bartlett team left this time they gave the chief a few blown up photos of himself and their past teams. The chief shed tears upon receiving the gift. Each time we leave he tells us that he hates to see us go. We continue to share the Gospel and pray for the Vigue but thus far have not seen fruit. We trust that the Lord has a plan for the Vigue people and ask you to continue to pray for them. Bartlett Baptist has another trip planned for December.

I spent the past week with two volunteers from Compassion Church (Raleigh) among the Western Karaboro and Senara peoples. Unlike the Vigue, the W. Karaboro chief has not welcomed us is the past. We decided to give them another chance instead of shaking the dust off our feet and continuing to another group (Matthew 10:14). In our initial meeting the chief was again cold and inhospitable. He told us that his people are not interested in our religion (we perceive that they are very interested). However, each day that we met with the chief he warmed up to us more and more. We were even allowed to show the Jesus Film twice in two different parts of the village. Our other main ministry was to simply pray for people’s needs. One evening we walked from family to family asking if we could pray for their sicknesses and needs. The people were very open to that, and we prayed for many people. The next day we were planning to do the same only before we started walking around people began coming to us and asking for prayer. We even had a hard time leaving because people just kept coming to be prayed for. Something that struck me is that I recall at least four people who asked us to pray for them because they are constantly afraid or worried. I can only imagine that this is attributed to the evil spirits that are so much a part of their lives. The W. Karaboro and Vigue will each tell you that they are 100% Muslim, but it seems that animism/voodoo/African traditional religion is still the religion which reigns. Through our prayers God has the ability to make His love and power know to the W. Karaboro. Please pray that he does. Another exciting thing about our time with the Karaboro is that we built a good relationship with two nearby pastors who are planning to follow up on the ministry we began. They are also excited about continuing to partner with us and Compassion Church in the future. Praise the Lord for this.

We also spent a few days with an old friend, Pastor Alphonse, and helped him with his ministry among the Senara people. There we also showed the Jesus Film two more times and visited among the people. One young man asked us the question, “If one decides to follow Jesus, will the evil spirits immediately leave him alone.” We of course responded with a “yes.” We spoke with one old man who said he’s almost ready to throw all his idols in the fire and follow Jesus. This is a picture of the kind of radical life-change we hope to see in all the Vigue, W. Karaboro, and Senara. Please continue to pray “that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified.” (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

Up next: The third team from Southside Baptist (Lufkin, TX) arrives on the 3^rd. They will be ministering in a couple Sambla villages. The last time the team was here they saw a man come to receive Christ. Please pray for more of the same. I will likely spend part of my time with the team and part of my time researching.

The apostle Paul wrote, “I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men . . . this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1, 3-4). Here are some ways to do that:

Praise God for:

* opening the door for us to pray and witness to the Western Karaboro (Colossians 4:3).
* new relationships with two local pastors interested in partnering with us to reach the Western Karaboro.
* sending laborers to aid in the harvest (Bartlett Baptist, Compassion Church, Southside Baptist, and others).

Please pray for:

* the seeds of the Gospel sown among the Vigue/W. Karaboro/Senara to grow in people’s hearts and minds (1 Corinthians 3:6).
* the W. Karaboro to give glory to God for His response to our prayers for them.
* God to move in the upcoming time of ministry among the Sambla people.
* success in my next research trip.

As always I thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers for me and the unreached peoples of Burkina Faso. God bless!

Final thought:

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.

~ T.S. Eliot