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February 04, 2007

Friends and Partners

The team from my church, Glenwood in Cardiff, has just returned to Wales. We had an excellent time – it was so encouraging, and a huge personal blessing to have them here. But more than that, it was the next step as we explore the possibilities of a partnership between the two communities – Glenwood and Gorom-Gorom.

The Team
First, meet the excellent people on our team –
1. Becks, who works in community development in Wales, with one of the families in the tent camps in Gorom.
2. Jacqui, a zoologist who spent 5 years in Kenya, visiting the women at a Fulani village.

3. Pete, an engineer, measuring something very clever to do with the dam that burst causing the flood in August.
4. Tal, a paediatric doctor with a new friend.

5. Maggie, a teacher, visiting one of the local schools.
6. And Pete, Maggie’s husband, an evangelist, playing with some of the local children.

The whole time was great - as well as spending time with friends, the team were able to visit the hospital, a school, families in one of the tent camps, and take part in the stone-laying ceremony for the houses we are building. We finished with a camel trek to visit one of my good Fulani friends, where we spent the night under the stars at his village on the sand dunes.

Exploring Partnership
We are praying for God to lead us forward however he will, but there are some key principles that we want to establish from the start. Firstly we want it to be based on relationship rather than on projects. Jesus’ approach to us was not some development project, but to come and share in our lives. It has been awesome spending time with some of the wonderful pastors, Christians, and other friends, building friendships and sharing our hearts together with people like Pascal and Grace, and Adama.

Jesus’ model was also to bring freedom by serving and honouring us, rather than by imposing himself. Whatever we have to offer, whether it be the good news of Christ, or partnership in socio-economic development, we need to learn to serve rather than to come with our ready-made judgements and solutions.

We also recognise that we have at least as much to receive as we have to give – this is undoubtedly a striking experience of anyone who comes to Burkina with an open heart. James said God has chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom. How much we, who are so caught up in the sterility of material prosperity, have to learn about generosity, community, faith, joy and the real meaning of life…

Please pray for us as we seek the Lord’s way forward in this partnership. Thank you.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina travel partnership sahel

Posted by Keith at February 4, 2007 09:57 PM