May 06, 2008
Banquet for Africa
I arrived in the USA yesterday, where I will be for the next month or so, speaking at different churches - see my itinerary here.
This Thursday (8th), I will be speaking at a Banquet for Africa, here in Richmond, VA, organised by World Horizons.
I will be sharing about the ministry in Burkina Faso, and particularly for the vision for the school we will be building in Gorom-Gorom. We also hope to raise funds on the evening for the school. Please pray for this event.
Thank you.
April 10, 2008
Brief Update from Gorom-Gorom
I spoke on the phone to Seydou yesterday. Here are a few items for prayer:
* A young man, S, has said he wants to follow Christ. Please pray for him as he pursues what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.
* A pastor, P, has said he wants to move to the region to start work in one of the Songhai villages. Please pray for him and his family as they prepare to move.
* Gold has been found in a nearby town, and this has started a gold rush. It has also drawn bandits to the area. One of the pastors was stopped by bandits recently, robbed, and beaten up a bit because they didn't believe he only had the £5 that he was carrying. Please pray for protection and security.
Thanks
April 08, 2008
Home sweet home on Google Earth
Google Earth must have updated its satellite images of Gorom-Gorom in the last month or so, as my home there can now be seen!
Here is the northern section of Gorom-Gorom. By zooming in, I can tell that the picture must have been taken during the first half of 2007, because my house is not yet finished, and just at the bottom of the picture below, the flood victims from 2006 are in their blue UNICEF tarpaulin tent camp following the flood of 2006.
There is a photo of Steve and me sitting on the rock at Tondi Kara here, and of course, pictures of Gorom-Gorom, including the market, and a photo taken from Tondi Kara here.
This is my home, as seen on Google Earth. Looks dry doesn't it...
The photo below was taken maybe a couple of months later. That's Seydou's house on the left, the meeting place in the middle, and my house at the back. Pierre's house is just out of shot to the right:
I haven't worked out how to upload photos to Google Earth yet, nor how to send you a link to my house. (Simple instructions, anyone...?) But if you go to 14°26'56.5"N, and 0°13'40.2"W, that's where you will find me...
March 12, 2008
Back to the UK
I am now back in the UK. I will be out of Burkina for four months. I am based at home in Cardiff, but will be travelling a lot, including spending most of the month of May in the USA. I will put my itinerary up here soon. But first I need to get a holiday...
The Last Days
We had a great time with the last few days evangelism. In the villages we went to, people were very welcoming, with hundreds coming to see the Jesus film and hear the preaching of the good news of Christ. At one village, after we had finished, two guys came up and started insulting us and the way of Christ. But they were then told off by the other villagers. Most of the people seemed keen to hear the message of forgiveness and new life in Christ.
Wells, Soccer, School
* Wells. We now have a date for the well drilling. We will be drilling six wells and repairing about 5 in the month of November. These will be in various villages around our region. They will cost about £3500 each, and we are raising funds for that.
* Soccer. Ian from my church came out to talk with Pastor Adama about the idea of doing a "soccer school" - training kids in football, and training church guys as trainers. Soccer is great for building relationships and breaking down barriers. We are planning this camp for Sep 2009.
* School Plans are forging ahead for us to build a primary school in Gorom-Gorom, and so we are raising funds for that too. The school will be run by the church, but open to people from all backgrounds, and will particularly aim to reach the poorer local community. Burkina has one of the lowest literacy and school enrolment rates in the world, so this is key. We hope to have the school built by Oct 2009. But in the meantime, we plan to open it in a rented room in Oct 2008. I will write more on this soon.
De Dub Dub Dub
I have had a young English guy, David, with me for a couple of weeks, and it has been great to have him around. Pierre asked him to teach him to say grace in English, so David playfully tried to teach him "Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub." Pierre found this hilarious, but could only manage "De dub dub dub". So whenever he wanted to ask Dave to pray, he would just say "de dub dub dub", and that now meant " It's your turn to pray!"
March 01, 2008
Heading (to my other) home soon
In about a week I will be on my way back to the UK for a few months.
In the meantime I am off tomorrow to Tasmakat and Chofalboy for a couple of days. These are two villages where we hope to drill wells later this year. For these two days we are going to show the Jesus film and announce the good news of the love of God in Christ. Thanks for your prayers.
Hope to see you soon.
February 27, 2008
Four Weddings and a Fanta
“The time has now come for everyone to raise their glasses in a toast. But first of all, I want to ask those on the top table to raise your – er, well, as we don’t have any glasses – to raise your bottles, to toast the married couple.”
Everyone raised their Fanta bottles, and we celebrated Steve getting “married” for the fourth time.
Four weddings would make Steve a good Muslim– it’s just that in his case each one was to the same woman (you can see photos and read about the others here and here). This time, the whole wedding and reception was arranged in 24 hours, a feat I believe not accomplished for the original wedding in London.
We were in Markoye, near Gorom-Gorom, where Steve had started his life in Africa with me and my friends. This was his first return since his marriage, and he came with his new wife, Charlie. So Pastor Adama of Markoye decided we should celebrate their wedding once more. The church there bought Charlie a new outfit and nice blue Fulani shoes. I was invited to preach and so had the privilege as a single person of telling the married couple how to live. And then I got to pray for them and bless them. The church was filled with Muslim friends who came to celebrate with us, and afterwards we had a feast of goat meat and spaghetti. And Fanta.
It was great.
February 03, 2008
The times they are a changing…
For years we have been sharing the good news of Christ, with little fruit. For years I have also been praying and working to see the churches come together to work as one for the kingdom of God. I am convinced that God’s desire is for his people to be united (Jn 17:20,21), and that his blessing follows when they are (Ps 133).
Now there seems to be a shift. There seems to be a new openness to the gospel, and a few local people have recently decided to follow Jesus. Last year, the joint efforts for the flood relief, and the children’s camp were the first significant steps in bringing the churches together. This week, we had a seminar together, and afterwards 24 of us from the different churches went out two-by-two to share the good news of Christ with our neighbours. We found a welcome for the message of Christ. At least two people gave their lives to Christ and came to church on Sunday. And on Tuesday, we had an Agape meal for the pastors of the different churches, together with their wives.
Gorom-Gorom Mission Team
Now, Pierre, Pascal, Michel, Seydou, and myself have started the “Gorom-Gorom Mission Team” (“GMT”) – an interdenominational group representing the four church / mission groups in Gorom, to plan how we can work together more for God’s kingdom. It is such a privilege to work with these good friends and committed men of God. I couldn't choose better co-workers.
The verse that has been with us over the last few weeks has been Prov 10:5 – “he who sleeps during harvest is a despicable son.” We are being called to work.
So we have committed ourselves, apart from our own church / mission activities, to a joint programme:
• To hold a weekly inter-church Fulani cell group.
• To meet together for an hour of prayer each week.
• To meet together the first Saturday of each month for a morning of prayer, and an afternoon of evangelism.
• To support each other’s mission activities.
• To work together in all other activities that will benefit the region and bring the blessing of the kingdom of God.
The Fulani cell is going well, and our first day of prayer and evangelism yesterday was excellent. Our prayer is that, after years of sowing with tears, we might now begin to reap with songs of joy. Please pray for us in this, for increasing unity and love among us, and for the grace of Christ to be poured out on Gorom-Gorom.
January 31, 2008
Pierre and Asetu
Meet Pierre and Asetu and family. They have been with us in our yard for a few weeks now, and we are really pleased to have them here. Pierre is from the Gourma tribe, and his wife is Mossi, but they both speak good Fulfulde. Pierre is a qualified pastor, and had a church south of here. But his passion is evangelism, and he feels called to work among the Fulani, so moved up to join us in Gorom-Gorom.
Left: Back row: Asetu, holding Deborah, Lanssala, Berta, Pierre
Front row: Naomi, Denise, Samuel.
Right: Olivia with Pierre’s camels, Obil (1Chron 27:30) and Eliezer (Gen 15:2)
Pierre told me recently that several months ago, his daughter Berta had a dream in which she saw that the family were going to move from the village where they were living. “But”, she said, “I will move first, followed by mum, and dad will only come later.” It was several weeks later that their leaders asked them to think about moving to Gorom-Gorom. And it happened exactly as Berta saw it.
We believe that God has brought the family here at this time to join us in his work. Please pray for Pierre and family as they continue to settle in, and as we seek to work together for God's purposes.
Thank you.
January 23, 2008
The onward march of technology
It has finally happened: I now have internet access from my mud hut!
Yes, I am posting this from home. We still can’t get running water, but we now have electricity and a phone line in our yard. I must confess I was in two minds about it, having lived 15 years without either. But with the growth in my work, and the development of our yard as a ministry centre, my “woodless construction” mud hut has become “mission HQ”. The need to be more in contact with people around the world has made communication a priority. So, my computer, printer, and phone are now – somewhat sadly – part of my life in Gorom-Gorom.
We got plugged into the town electricity supply just before Christmas. They came to install the phone yesterday. It connects wirelessly with the phone tower on the other side of town, and for this it needs its own power, supplied by a small solar panel that charges its own battery. So, even if the town electricity fails, I should still be good for a few hours of email, as long as my computer battery lasts.
All of which makes me wonder whether it might be time to leave Gorom-Gorom, and move somewhere a bit more remote…
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso telephone gorom-gorom technology internet communication
January 18, 2008
Food and Water Supplies in Lila
This is Lila, one of the Fulani villages where we want to drill a well. Pastor Samuel has an open invitation to teach the gospel there, and it is the village we spent the night with the team from Hatteras Island.
About 700+ people get their water at these hand-dug water-holes, the same wells that are used to water hundreds of cows, sheep, and goats.
The same village has these unusual grain stores, built from stone, with mud "cement" to hold the stones together.
A couple of Fulani girls at the wells:
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells grain store sahel water
January 17, 2008
"The poor and needy search for water..."
"...I the Lord will answer them..." (Is 41:17)
I am just back from a flying 4-day trip looking at possible well-drilling sites in half a dozen villages around Gorom-Gorom. I was accompanied by Chuck from Friends in Action, a Christian well-drilling ministry working in Burkina Faso, and Steve, from my home church Glenwood, in Cardiff.
As you can imagine, water is a major need in the sahel, and there were many more villages than we could possibly help. So, we were focusing on villages with major needs, where pastors in the area are already working. We visited about six villages, all in real need of good protected water supplies.
Deou was perhaps the most striking need. The town used to have springs flowing years ago, but over the last few years, the pumps in half the town have dried up. People end up walking up to 14km in hot season to find water.
We took apart one of the broken pumps, pulling out the pipes, and checking the underground water levels and flow capacity. Locals came to help us, and others sat by watching. We announced that the following morning we would be pumping out water to check the flow, and told the women to come with their water jugs, which they did by the dozen. An opportunity not to be missed – normally having to walk miles to find water, and then wait ages before your time to pump physically to get it, here was water free and at no effort! Steve’s best efforts to distribute God’s gift fairly were thwarted by the scrum that developed as each person sought and fought for their turn. It was mostly good-natured though, and brought many laughs for all involved.
We hope to be able to return later in the year to drill six wells in these villages, and put pumps there. We are trying to find money for this. Each well/pump will cost about £3000. In addition, we saw many pumps in need of repair, and we would like to help get them working again. If you would like to help finance these, please send money via World Horizons, with a covering letter saying the gift is for wells via the Burkina Faso Sahel Account.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water
January 16, 2008
Gorom-Gorom Camel Festival
"Where is everyone…?"
I was back in town and trying to track people down to sort out a programme for our well-drilling research, and to pursue our request for a phone line, and various other needs. Strangely all the offices were shut, and the town was quiet. Finally someone told me:
“Everyone’s gone to the camel racing”
Of course.
Friday was Gorom-Gorom’s annual “Festicham” festival, with camel racing and horse racing, and exhibitions of local craft and culture. We arrived late, during the second heats of camel races. The whole town seemed to be there, along with a couple of government ministers, accompanying police guards, and a bunch of Italians who apparently finance the whole thing. Dust filled the air, kicked up by hundreds of hooves of various sizes, and thousands of feet.
A few photos...
Who knows, next year, maybe Pierre and I can enter on his camels, Obil and Eliezer...
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom gorom-gorom horse racing sahel camel camels race festicham tuareg tamacheq camel race
January 09, 2008
Gando school
One of my projects for the coming year is - with the help of my home church in Cardiff - to help fulfil the vision of Pastor Daniel, of the church in Gorom-Gorom, to build a Christian primary school in the town.
We have been looking at alternative designs for building a school that would be more student-friendly, aesthetic, and environmentally positive than the cement-brick “ovens” in which classes are often 
held. So, on Saturday, I took Pastor Daniel down to Gando, a village near Tenkodogo, to look at the Gando school. The school, designed and built by Francis Kéré (right), won the 2004 Aga Khan prize for architecture. We wanted to see if we could rifle any good ideas.
It was about 200km each way, so we left at 6am to give us time to have a good look, and get back before sunset. It turned out that Kéré, born in Gando, but now living in Germany, had come back to the village for the holidays, and had not yet returned. He kindly offered to give us the guided tour. Kéré is very modest about his achievements, emphasising that the whole exercise has been an experiment, and that by building in phases, he is trying different approaches and learning as he goes. He has been very helpful as we think about how we might proceed in Gorom-Gorom.
Phase 1 (2001)
This is the prize-winning building, seen above. Almost all materials and work is local - mostly earth and rock, both in ready supply. The walls are made from pressed mud bricks, with a measure of cement mixed in, using the brick press. The bricks are resistant, but need to be protected from the rain - in this case by the suspended tin roof.
Two adjoining classrooms had different floors – one cement, one dammed earth. The dammed earth seemed visibly to be resisting better. The ceiling of the classrooms was made by lying bricks on top of rows of metal bars, providing insulation and allowing air flow. The tin sheet roof is suspended over the brick ceiling by a metal frame, protecting the building from rain, and allowing air flow. Kéré says that they have not had any problems with the wind, even during very high winds that knocked down trees.
There are inter-class spaces, themselves classroom-sized, and could be eventually bricked in if necessary to form extra classes. However, they are freely used by children for their own study, and offer a place of shelter outside. Kéré has been experimenting with window designs that cut down on dust, and that can be opened fully (as shutters) to allow more air flow at other times.
Continue reading "Gando school"
December 28, 2007
I (nearly) get a wife
I was offered a wife this week.
One of my older Fulani friends had been concerned for some time that I don’t yet have a wife… especially given how old I am. He really wanted to help me, because I have apparently been so kind to him in the past. But he knew that I only want to marry a Christian. He has obviously given a lot of thought to this, and he said he sees that the way of Jesus is good.
So he came up with – to his mind, at least – the obvious solution: he offered to give his daughter to follow the way of Jesus, and to give her to me to marry.
A kind thought, but one I have had to – with agonising attempts at culturally-sensitive appreciation, combined with culturally-inappropriate directness – decline.
Nevertheless, it was an opportunity also to talk again about the way of Jesus, and to challenge him that, if the way of Jesus is as good as he sees, he should give himself to follow too.
December 23, 2007
Happy Christmas!
We are getting ready to celebrate Christmas in Gorom-Gorom.
Pierre and his two camels arrived on Friday, so the family is all together – 5 adults, 10 children, 2 friends, 2 camels, and an assortment of donkeys, goats, chickens, and pigeons. A full moon overhead, lots of twinkling, twinkling little stars, and a fair smattering of shepherds, mangers, and even the occasional wise man.
We will have a “family celebration” tomorrow evening, with guinea fowl, loads of rice, fizzy drinks, and “white man’s ears” (prawn crackers – becoming a favourite Christmas tradition in our home). Then to church for an all-nighter, with lots of singing, coffee, sketches, laughter, and general rejoicing at Jesus’ birth.
On the 25th, we will kill our Christmas sheep (if Seydou can track down any left after Tabaski), return to church for a short service and long meal, followed by exhuberant dancing by the Mossi Christians.
I will try and post photos.
I hope yours is fun. Enjoy.
December 17, 2007
Sunday – Day of Rest...
7.00 Village Trip.
After a quick breakfast, Pierre, Seydou, and I head out to a small village 13km away where a group of new Christians is gathering. Among the group is Amadu, the son of the imam. It is the first time he has managed to get away to come to church.
His father had taught him the Quran, but Amadu said that following the preaching of the gospel, he had seen four things that made him want to follow Jesus:
1. The names and honour given to Jesus in the Quran showed him Jesus was unlike anyone else.
2. He saw no-one else who did the miracles that Jesus did.
3. He saw no-one else who had risen from the dead.
4. He saw nowhere else he could get assurance of forgiveness for sin.
We have a short time to encourage the Christians, briefly visit the local families, who give us 2 chickens and a large calabash full of peanuts, then we head back to Pierre’s village.
10.00 Church in Pierre’s village.
About 11 adults, including 4 local Fulani believers are gathered together. It is Pierre’s last Sunday as he prepares to move up to Gorom, so we spend a lot of time encouraging the believers and praying for them. They in turn pray for Pierre and take up an offering for him. It is an emotional time, straining the limits of pulaaku, by which Fulani are not supposed to show emotion. They will miss Pierre.
While they wait for the new pastor, the school head teacher will continue to lead the church.
14.30 Move to Gorom-Gorom
After church, all the believers have lunch together, and then we load up the truck with most of Pierre’s belongings and his wife and four children. Two of his children are already in Gorom. Pierre will follow in a few days with his two camels and the rest of his belongings.
We arrive in Gorom at about 16.00, unload the truck, and move Pierre’s family into their new home. The two daughters already in Gorom are trying hard not to show how excited they are to have mum there. Monique wanders around checking that everyone is okay and has everything they need.
17.00 An Evening Off
I have a much-needed wash and sit down to rest. The weekend has been great, but tiring. I am looking forward to a relaxing evening, maybe doing the Guardian Weekly cryptic crossword…
A voice comes out of nowhere…
“Kok kok! A hebi beero!” “Hello! You have a visitor!”
December 13, 2007
Update from Gorom-Gorom
“I hope you are going to preach to us as well…?”
It is not an invitation that we often expect, least of all perhaps from an Islamic religious teacher… Yet, it was the village imam who was talking. He had heard that we used to preach at the market in Gorom-Gorom, but had never heard us. So when pastors John, Adama, and myself were in his village, he gathered his friends and invited us to tell them about Jesus. We accepted the invitation!
Muslims and Christians in Burkina Faso get on well and generally live peaceably together. But even so, it is rare for such an open invitation.
After we had finished, and were about to leave, the imam sent some of the boys of his family to surreptitiously sneak a chicken into our truck as a gift.
Nomad of the Sahel
I am not managing to post much at the moment. Life has been very busy and I have been on the move a lot around the area without internet or phone access. During my first month back in Burkina, I managed to spend one whole day in Gorom-Gorom!
I had a great time visiting all the pastors in the province over the last week, and came across many encouraging and many difficult situations.
Other events of this week:
• One pastor has just been kicked out of his rented accommodation. Another had his watermelon crop destroyed by someone in the night a few weeks ago..
• Another pastor has been visited by someone from a nearby village who has had a dream of Jesus and wants to know more.
• A Fulani in another village has just given his life to Christ, and is regularly visiting the other Christians
Please pray for the pastors here in all they face, and for me as I seek to encourage and help them as we work together. Thank you.
Tomorrow I am off to be chauffeur at a friend’s wedding, and on my way back hope to begin helping Pastor Pierre move from his village to Gorom-Gorom, where he will live with Seydou and Monique and myself. Hopefully he and his family and camels will all be with us in time for us to celebrate Christmas together.
In the meantime, we now have electricity in our home, after 15 years of living without it! We were hoping to get a phone line as well this week, but are still waiting…
More soon…
December 05, 2007
On the road again
I am heading off again for a week visiting the pastors in the north-east of Burkina Faso, so am out of email and phone contact till about the 12th.
However, during this week, I hope to get electricity and a phone line at home in Gorom!
More soon...
November 30, 2007
Making friends
“I am the main man in this village, and if anyone here wants to follow Jesus, I will not stop him,” Hamidou said to us as we were about to leave.
The night before, Hamidou, Pastor Samuel, Billy, and I had been lying out on the mats under the stars with a group of men from Hamidou’s small Fulani village just outside Deou where Samuel is pastor. We had come to spend a day and a night getting to know Samuel’s Fulani friends there, and had been talking of all kinds of things, including the good news of Christ. Hamidou and Samuel have known each other for a long time, and when Hamidou invited us to stay, a large group of men gathered at his home to welcome us among their scattered huts among the cows.
Friendships Without Borders
Billy had come with a small team from Hatteras Island Christian Fellowship, where he is pastor in North Carolina. They have been praying for and supporting the work here for several years and have become good friends. So it was great to have them come to visit for a couple of weeks. Deou was a challenging place for them to come to – with unusual food, untreated water, pit toilets, draining heat, foreign language, and different culture, all in an unreached Muslim context. Yet, through the stretching times and across the differences, God has been building real friendships between these two groups of people from such very different communities.
There were many highlights of the trip, including playing games with the children, helping Samuel put a roof on his house, joining Samuel in preaching at market, and climbing the hill behind Deou to pray for the town stretched out below us almost as if we had travelled through time to a village in Biblical times. But the visit to Hamidou’s village was the high point for me. The good news of Christ had never been heard there before, and yet these Muslim men were welcoming the story of Christ. There was no big evangelistic campaign, no music or drama, and no emotional altar call. There was just a group of men sitting under a simple shelter and sharing their stories and faith in God with one another.
Samuel and his lovely family have been persevering in a difficult situation for several years now, and it was a privilege to be able to get alongside him in his efforts to bring the grace and love of Christ to his community. Short-term mission teams can never begin to do what he is doing there. But we do have resources that can support him in his mission. And we can always – if we are willing – be challenged and changed by such trips, to see our lives differently and be led deeper into God’s heart as we see it lived out by families such as Samuel's.
We need this challenge, and the witness of committed African Christians, as we seek to work out lives of faith in 21st century post-modern society.
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso deou
November 16, 2007
Bani
Bani is a small town on the way from Ouagadougou to Gorom-Gorom. It looks interesting, and has an interesting story. A series of seven fascinating mud-brick mosques are scattered around the town, several on hill tops, standing out against the sky as you approach. I was told the mosques are laid out in the same pattern as in Mecca, though I have not been able to confirm this.
Bani is home to a community of an unusual Islamic sect - considered heretical by mainline Muslims. The story, as it has been told to me by "H", one of its former disciples, goes like this:
The Story of Bani
The man who started the community at Bani went to Mecca, but became disillusioned with the commercialisation of the pilgrimage, and with compromise in Islam in general. He preached at Mecca, calling people to repent. When he came back, Al Hadji Bani, as he became known, started fasting, only eating fruit, and only at night. He began preaching, calling people to "stop sinning, look after you family, read the Quran, and pray". Among his followers, he got rid of the tribal and animistic customs and practices that were against faith, such as the use of amulets. He went to other villages where they had idols, and destroyed them.
Hi followers claim he had dreams and revelations about the mosques - about where they should be built. He claimed he was a prophet sent by God, and people started following him, and fasting in the same way as him. They would chant all night, reciting the Islamic creed that there is no God but Alla. "H" reports that evil spirits appeared to some, causing them to go mad.
Things Fall Apart
After 2 years, there was a change. Al hadji Bani stopped coming to the Muslim prayers, and started his own prayers. He said God had shown him that the 5 daily prayers were now to become just three. He then started taking many wives.
"H" says that Al hadji Bani then started claiming that he was Jesus returned, and that Bani was the new Mecca, and that Muslims should now pray facing Bani rather than Mecca. This was in 1989, and it was at this time that "H", along with many others, became disillusioned and left the community.
When peope began to leave, and prayers were not answered, Al Hadji Bani called people to confess their sins. Those who confessed to committing adultery were made to lie in the sun from 08.00 till 13.00. When the time came that they were allowed to go home, one young man was left - and was found dead in the morning. The police were called in, and Al Hadji Bani was arrested.
Bani Today
He is out of prison now, but the community is much diminished. Many of the mosques are falling down. But the villagers welcome tourists, and you are invited to go into the main mosque, which is still standing, and is an impressive structure. Inside are 100 columns, which are said to stand for the 100 names of God.
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso bani mosque architecture islam
November 11, 2007
WEBSITE UPDATED !
I have finally updated my website. Let me know what you think, or if you see any problems. Particularly check out:
- MY WORK: now reflecting this newer phase of ministry, including community development and church partnerships as well as evangelism and social ministry among the unreached Fulani.
- THE SAHEL: info and pictures on the north of Burkina Faso and some of the towns there like Gorom-Gorom, Markoye, and Deou
- PHOTOS: completely new sets of photos of Burkina Faso, the Fulani, and my life there.
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso photos gorom-gorom fulani missions ministry missionary website
November 10, 2007
Back in Burkina Faso
I arrived back in Burkina Faso at 3.30 this morning with Air Maroc. I have a few days before a team of friends arrive from N.Carolina to head up to Deou.
I have just re-vamped my photos pages: see here, and am in the process of doing the rest of my website, which I hope to upload tomorrow, so check back soon, and tell me what you think.
In the meantime, check out the Free Rice website. For every question you answer right, the site gives 10 grains of rice to the hungry. So far they have generated enough rice to feed 50,000 people for one day. The BBC reported on it today. Check it out.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso photos gorom-gorom fulani free rice
October 24, 2007
I need your ideas
I am setting up a charity to facilitate the work I am doing in Burkina Faso, and I need a name for it - can you help with ideas/ suggestions?
The charity will partner churches in Burkina Faso and churches in the west, with each contributing to the other:
1. Mission in Burkina Faso: serving the Burkina church's commitment to evangelism, community development, poverty relief, education etc
2. Mission in the west: the western church growing through the input and example of the Burkina church, and through engagement in God's purposes.
I need a name
So I'd like a name that carries these ideas of transformation, partnership etc, ideally with some evocative, creative flair.
Here are some (more or less serious...) ideas I've had, with which I'm not totally happy:
- PACT (Partnering as Community Transformation).
- Burkina Link / Burkina Faso Link / Sahel Link
- Burkina Vision/...
- The Burkina Partnership/...
- Sahel Path
- Transformation for All
- Two Hands. (from the Fulani proverb; "juude didi lootundurta de laaba" - "two hands wash each other clean".)
- One Finger... (from the Fulani proverb: "honndu wooturu waawaa birude nagge" - "one finger cannot milk a cow")
- The Sahel Conspiracy...
I was also wondering if there is any way to link it with the "under the acacias" theme...
Any ideas...? Please comment below. All suggestions welcome. Thank you.
October 22, 2007
Kids Camp Video
Here is a short 4 minute video with clips of the Kids Camp run in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso in August. It was run jointly by the churches of Gorom-Gorom, and by Glenwood Church.
This clip is not brilliant quality and it misses so much, but I hope it gives you an idea of the fun we had.
We had planned for about 100 children, and ended up with over 200 - about half from Christian homes, and half from Muslim families. It was excellent! The local Christians and pastors did a great job leading the camp, brilliantly supported by Pete, Maggie, Haoua, and Trudi. And God, of course.
As well as having teaching about Jesus, games, singing, football, and craft work, we also planted trees on the grounds of the new primary school that we are hoping to build. It was a great time.
I'm already looking forward to the next one!
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso video gorom-gorom fulani children kids camp
October 11, 2007
Baptisms in Gorom-Gorom
We had the great joy of baptising five local people recently in a rainy-season pool just outside of Gorom-Gorom, with the cows looking on, and children playing in the water. It was a wonderful day. Among the five who had decided to follow Christ were three friends:
• “B”, a blind Fulani leper, who is very courageous in sharing his faith
• “L”, an intelligent young Tamacheq girl who came top of her school year
• “O”, a Songhai man who uses our donkey cart to support his family
Knowing how much I enjoy "burying" old lives, Pascal asked me to help baptise them, and Pierre and Michel, two pastors from other churches also joined us. There was a great sense of unity and God's presence. Please pray for these five as they go forward with Christ in their new life in him.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso baptism christianity
September 16, 2007
Essakane Part 1: A Gold Mining Village
There really is gold in them there hills…
I go over to Essakane occasionally, about 40km from Gorom-Gorom, to visit the pastor there. It is one of those bizarre and disturbing paradoxes: the least developed region of the 4th poorest country in the world – and there is a rich deposit of gold there. The question is whether that gold will bring any joy or blessing to the region. Or whether – as so often in such cases – it will only be a cause of grief, conflict, degradation and immorality.
The Mixed Blessing of Essakane Gold
Certainly, since gold was discovered in Essakane, the town that sprung up around the gold has seen mixed blessing. The gold drew people from all over West Africa to mine the gold by hand. People dig holes going down to about 30m, then follow the seams of gold, burrowing reportedly up to 60m along, resulting in a network of unsupported tunnels, which of course collapse occasionally, killing those inside, with no hope of recovery. You count the shoes at the hole entrance to see how many people died. Others less courageous or foolhardy just dig down to the “gravel layer” at 7m depth, and others, mostly women, pan the surface rocks in search of an easy find.
Most people find very little of course, barely scratching a living. Nevertheless, in such a poor region, that “little” has been a vital source of income to people struggling to feed their families. And there is of course always the hope that that big find – the lottery win – will be just in that next rock. A few people do get rich quickly that way, but local lore has it that such money is not “blessed” – too often it gets wasted on flashy motorbikes and ghettoblasters and watches and drink, and houses that never get finished before the money runs out again. It is not seen as benefiting the person’s life, family, and community.
Meanwhile, respiratory disease is rife among the diggers. And disease of all kinds prosper in the ramshackle sprawl of temporary shelters with poor or no sanitation, and virtually no water supply. Mat shelters used to be the norm until the fires that occasionally destroyed the readily flammable temporary homes finally prompted people to build in mud brick. And crime, prostitution (with accompanying STDs and HIV, of course), and drug use follow the gold money. There is little sense of community. A local paper described it recently as the “wild west”.
A pretty horrible place, really. Yet people continue to work here, because they often see little alternative. In a good year, people’s fields in the area don’t give enough to feed a family for a year. And good years are rare. So after every harvest, the numbers at Essakane swell again with people seeking to make ends meet.
The Church in Essakane
Pastor Ousseini and his family have a small church in Essakane. The town’s market day is Sunday, so even several of the Christian traders in the area end up going to market rather than church. There are not really enough people in the church to support him, but he refuses to work the gold himself, preferring to trust God to provide. He also goes out to spend time with local people, and help them with their problems, and share the good news of Christ. “If people searched for God with the same fervour with which they search for gold, this town would be a different place,” he says.
And now Gold Fields has moved in to Essakane – the fourth largest gold mining company in the world, apparently. What is that bringing to Essakane...?
More soon.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso sahel gold essakane gold mine mining
September 15, 2007
Recent developments
There have been a few interesting developments in our work recently. Your prayers are appreciated:
1. New Workers for Gorom-Gorom!
It looks like we will be getting two new workers for Gorom-Gorom, an answer to prayer for us:
- The Fulani Pastor. It seems Gorom-Gorom will be getting a Fulani pastor! My good friend “M” is spending time here, and is hoping to move up permanently in the not-too distant future.
- The Evangelist. Another friend, “P”, who is a fulfulde-speaking evangelist, has also just been approved by his church for moving to Gorom-Gorom. He will live with Seydou and me in our yard. P grew up in a Muslim family and so is able to relate to the challenges of local people as they consider the good news of Christ.
Both of these friends will be a huge blessing for the work in Gorom-Gorom and area. Please pray for them as they prepare to move up to join us. Once things are clearer, I will tell you more about them and post their photos here.
2. Baptism.
Pascal is hoping to baptise 3 or 4 local people next Saturday, including: “L”, a young girl who came top of her class and who is hoping to go to the Christian college near Ouaga; “B”, who is blind and has leprosy; and “D”, a Songhai believer from Doumam, who uses our donkey cart to help support himself and his family. Please pray for these and any others as they prepare for this step of commitment to follow Christ.
3. Sharing My Heart With 50 Pastors.
I had a great time with about 50 local pastors from around the region, as we talked and prayed about strategies for our work in this area. It was very encouraging, and there seems to be a lot of new vision and motivation for reaching out with the love of Christ across the cultural barriers, and for working more closely together.
4. Essakane Gold Mining Town.
I spent a few days in Essakane with Ousseini, the pastor there. Essakane is a gold mining town, where people have dug for gold by hand for years, in pretty appalling conditions. Now Gold Fields, the 4th largest gold mining company in the world, have finished their exploration and are discussing the potential investment of $346million to mine the area. Of course, such a move has all kinds of potential consequences, not least that the whole of the Essakane mining village, and perhaps 6 other smaller villages, will need to be completely moved. I will be writing more about Essakane in future posts, but please pray for Ousseini and the church as we seek to find what God requires of us in this situation.
Thank you.
Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso gold baptism missions church
September 13, 2007
Down in Ouaga
Just back in Ouaga. Very tired, and not a little fed up with driving through rivers and swamps and stuff.
A lot has been happening, some exciting, some challenging. I will tell you a bit about it in the coming days.
In the meantime, enjoy the story of Donkey, Dog, and Goat below:
September 08, 2007
Brief update
I had a very interesting couple of days in Essakane gold mining town - more about that when I get back down to Ouaga in a few days.
Also, am excited that several locals are preparing for baptism in a couple of weeks time - please pray for them.
Meanwhile, will be speaking to a group of pastors early next week about strategies for work in this region. Again, your prayers are appreciated.
Thank you
September 06, 2007
Men of a certain age...
The water was only knee-high, but I decided to take up the offer of having my motorbike carried through the current washing across the road at Saouga.
"How much?" I asked.
To my suprise, the young men answered "Oh, whatever you give us is fine."
The people of Saouga have the reputation of charging people heavily for carrying their motorbikes to escape Gorom-Gorom during the rainy season. They know there is often no alternative. So I was taken aback by this unexpected easy-going approach to money.
Nevertheless, I proceeded to wade through the river while my new friends put woods through the wheels of my bike and hauled it to their shouders.
When we got safely to the other side, they put the bike down, and I handed them a well-used note, which they received gladly. Sensing my surprise, one of them kindly explained:
"Si c'est un vieux, nous ne demandons pas de l'argent. Ce que on nous donne est bon."
("If it's an old man, we don't ask for money. What we are given is good.")
So that's it. It's because I am now old that their attitude has changed.
How kind.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina travel motorbike
August 31, 2007
Monique update
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for Monique.
This afternoon we finally had the last of the tests back. They have all turned out negative. Encouraging from one perspective, but she is left with a serious blood pressure problem, which is likely to need medication for the rest of her life. Also her sight has been seriously affected by the various treatments she has undergone, and she is undergoing 3 weeks of treatment for that.
Please continue to pray for her, for healing, control of her blood pressure, and grace for the change in life that her illness will mean.
Thank you.
We head back to Gorom-Gorom tomorrow early morning, hoping the road will be okay. Then I have to carry on to Essakane probably the same day for a few days with the pastor and for other meetings.
August 29, 2007
Keith Update
Just back down in Ouaga for a few days. I have been out of phone and internet contact for a while. So here is a brief update of what’s been going on:
Monique
Seydou and Monique are very good friends of mine, and have been with me in Gorom-Gorom for about 13 years. Monique has been ill since the children’s camp. She has had very high blood pressure and has been treated for that and also for malaria.
She was showing some improvement, but was still very unwell, so Seydou and I have brought her down to Ouaga for further tests. Please pray for her for complete healing, and for understanding of what the root issues are. Thank you.
Deou
Last week I was back in Deou for a few days with Patrick from HIFC in the US. We had a great time with Pastor Samuel and his family. The town is on a plain surrounded by rocky hills, and the rains have transformed the area, making it green.
Deou is a very Muslim town, with the central mosque a focus of the community. The church consists of Samuel and his family and two other families – all “outsiders” - who made us very welcome and showed us typical African generosity. Samuel has good relationships with people in town. In particular there is one old Fulani neighbour who seems very ready to receive teaching in the gospel. Pray for Samuel as he seeks ways forward to reach and bless people, and see the kingdom of God come in Deou.
The church is too small to support Samuel properly. He works hard to provide for his family, working his fields of millet, beans, peanuts, and watermelons, and rearing sheep and goats. But the area is poor for agriculture, and he often gets little from his fields. A hyena in the nearby hills occasionally takes one of his goats, but he is not allowed to kill it because hyenas are protected.
So he often has to decide whether he will feed his family or repair his bike, or put a roof on the guest house. So the bike remains broken, and the guest house roofless. There are several pastors in this kind of situation. Please pray that we can find ways to help them discover more provision for themselves and their ministries.
Travels
August is the height of the rainy season, and normally I don’t try to travel during this time, but this year I have had a lot of travelling to do. Getting in and out of Gorom-Gorom has been hard. Sometimes the water at Goudebo has been neck-high. Finding ways out, and driving through water-logged bush tracks has been tiring and has left me feeling tired and old!
(This is an old picture of Goudebo. I was so focused on getting through or around the water, I didn't even think of taking photos!)
However, the road from Oursi to Deou this time was a nice change. We went across the tops of the dunes, which is normally difficult because of the deep sand. However, the rain has made the sand hard, and covered the dunes with grass, so it was a beautiful drive, with lots of greenery and birds.
More photos later.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso photos deou travel
August 14, 2007
Children's Camp Photos
Here are some photos from the camp. Click on any photo to enlarge.
We held the camp in the local secondary school, with the children sleeping there for the whole week. We ended up with about 250 children instead of the 100 expected, with about even numbers of children from Christian and Muslim homes, and the camp went really well.
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Pete, Maggie, Trudi, Hawa and I were there to support the churches in Gorom-Gorom who were running the camp, and they did a great job. However, with over twice the number of children there than expected, they asked us to look after 105 children from Muslim backgrounds – mostly Fulani, which was great.
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We split our children up into three smaller groups, each one with helpers from the local church, like Bernadette, Norbert, and Wenasso, who were wonderful. Pete did a lot of story-telling and juggling. Maggie did craft with the children, which they loved. Trudi taught them songs. And Hawa translated and generally kept an eye on everything.
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The children heard clearly the message of Jesus, ate well, and clearly had a lot of fun, each going back with small bags and masks which they had coloured themselves. The helpers from the local church will follow them up now. We also spent one afternoon planting 50 trees on the ground of the school that we are hoping to build.
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It was such a privilege to have Muslim families entrust us with their children for a week, and we are so pleased that everything went so well. No-one got really sick –which in the middle of malaria season was quite remarkable. The increased numbers challenged our resources – for food, sleeping space, and meeting space – but we coped somehow, and are already thinking about how we can do it even better next time.
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The journey to and from Gorom-Gorom was challenging – the roads being flooded from the rains. When it came time to leave, we couldn’t actually get out on the direct road – the car after us tried and ended up getting stuck in the middle of a river. So we took the cross-country route out – an extra day’s journey and 100 miles of tiring roads and shallower rivers, but at least we got out! Water came into the car, and it is still drying out 2 days later…
Click here for more photos of the camp, or here for a slide show.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso photos gorom-gorom fulani children kids camp
August 12, 2007
Update
Just back in Ouaga from the Kids Camp in Gorom-Gorom.
I didn't manage to get a connection in Gorom after my last post, so haven't been able to write again. I will write about it tomorrow to tell you more, but just to let you know it was an excellent time! Thank you for all your prayers.
The journey back was an adventure too - read more here soon...
August 08, 2007
Childrens Camp in Gorom-Gorom
I haven't been able to blog for a while as the internet connection is bad at the moment. Photos will be posted later when the connection is better.
We arrived in Gorom okay, though it meant crossing a few deep waters in our truck - fortunately without problem.
Instead of 100 children for the camp, we have about 250, the majority of whom are from local Muslim families. This has presented challenges - not least for the budget, the food, sleeping room, and meeting place. But we are rejoicing that so many families are happy for their children to spend their week in an evangelical camp. One father came to take his children away in tears; he was angry that his wife had let them come without his permission. But the next day he sent them back to rejoin the camp.
Things are going really well, and we have a great team of local Christians from the local churches as well as Pete, Maggie, Hawa and Trudi. The camp leaders have asked us to work particulary with the kids from Muslim families, and have some wonderful local Christians to help us. We appreciate your prayers for this. A great variety of games, teaching, songs, etc.
Please continue to pray for health for the kids and the team. There is a lot of rain, which is good for the fields, but means there are lots of malaia-carrying mosquitoes around.
Thanks. More soon.
August 03, 2007
Off to Gorom-Gorom
We head off to Gorom-Gorom today for the Kids Camp 6-11.
if we can get there...
Apprently the road is "very difficult", with parts of the road flooded or washed out.
Your prayers are appreciated for our travels and for the camp.
Thanks
July 29, 2007
Arrival in Burkina
The flight from Air Maroc finally landed 2½ hrs late, at 5am on Thursday.
I stumbled blearily to a nearby taxi and headed off to the SIL guest house to grab an hour’s sleep. There I discovered that the delay on the flight had given someone enough time to break the padlock on one of my cases and rummage through to see if there was anything worth stealing. Fortunately they chose the wrong case. They didn’t seem interested in my socks and underpants.
I should be in Gorom-Gorom by now. But I'm not. I was planning to go straight up there to see how things are going, then come back in 3 days to pick up Pete and Maggie, who are coming out to help with the Kids’ Camp. However, I finally decided that would be silly. If not stupid. I am tired from the last month’s work and from the journey. The road to Gorom is cut off at the moment by flooding from the recent rains. It could take me three days to get there. So have decided to take a break in Ouaga and just wait for Pete and Maggie. I have spoken to Seydou, Pascal, and others in Gorom, and things seem to be going ahead okay.
Changing plans has been less straightforward than expected. No space at SIL or the other guest houses. But kind friends have put me up. Have difficulty with email, but good internet access. And it is an unexpected and needed opportunity for a few days rest.
Nice.
July 20, 2007
Education Education Education
1. Education and My Website.
I was recently contacted by Taecanet to ask if they can use a page from my website on their "e-learning website". Apparently, my page "has been chosen by an expert subject teacher to illustrate principles which children need to understand to achieve core curriculum objectives." Wow! Bet you never knew my site was so clever, Certainly I didn't. Well, of course, it is only one page among thousands that they will use, but I am thrilled nevertheless.
Taecanet looks really interesting - it uses "safe and secure web based delivery" of material for both Primary and Secondary schools - go and have a look.
Oh, and the page they want to use...? This one.
2. Education and Burkina Faso
At the same time, I am continuing to investigate how we can help support education in Gorom-Gorom. (The photo shows a classroom in a nearby town - looks a bit different to a school in the UK, doesn't it?) I continue to run an education fund, which exists for two main reasons:
- to help put children through primary school who cannot afford to go. The cost of this is about £30/year (see here)
- to give grants to young girls of secondary school age to go away to a Christian college where they can receive a good academic and spiritual education in a protected environment (see here). Young women like this are vulnerable to the sexual advances of local men if they stay at home. The cost of this is about £450/year. "B" has now finished her schooling, and I am committed to putting at least 3 more girls through college currently, including "L", who recently became a Christian.
We are also looking at the possibility of starting a primary school in the region, and I will let you know as things progress. Education is one of the Millenium goals, and a priority in Burkina, where literacy (according to the 2005 UNDP report) is 12.8%.
(If you want to support this education fund, you can send cheques to World Horizons (in the UK or US) for the "Burkina Faso Sahel Education Fund")
3. Education for All.
My good friend Neil Logue has recently started an initiative called "Education for All" that captures the unseen potential of school refurbishment in the UK to help promote education world-wide, while at the same time helping protect the environment.
Items from the schools, instead of going to landfill, are re-furbished and re-used. EFA aims to provide "materials, equipment or knowledge, to enable local UK and overseas developing school communities to build for themselves sustainable schools and learning environments for their future." It is a great vision, and I hope to link up with them somehow.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso education gorom-gorom schools
June 27, 2007
Wanderer's return
Thanks for your prayers during these last few weeks. I had an excellent time both in France and in Burkina.
France
My visits to the two churches in France were very encouraging and I received a warm welcome everywhere. It was a privilege to spend time sharing fellowship and vision for the work in Burkina Faso with Christians and church leaders in both towns. I hope that we will have groups from both churches come out to visit next year. I also especially enjoyed an evening at a cafe gathering organised by one church, where we spend several hours in friendly but animated discussion with some Arabic Muslims who had come along.
Burkina Faso
The time in Burkina was short, just 10 days, but was very encouraging. Here are a few highlights:
- Barke Alla: Christians in the north of Burkina Faso have formed an inter-denominational association, called "Barke Alla", to work together in evangelism, support for churches in the area, and community development. This is a great encouragement and reflects the growing vision and commitment of the church there. The name "Barke Alla" means "God's blessing" in the three local languages.
- Fulani Christians: Two Fulani who became Christians following the flood in August last year are continuing to follow Christ and are involved regularly in church. The Fulani Christians in Gorom-Gorom have also started a mid-week Fulani cell group in order to pray, worship, and study God's word in their own language. They are from the different churches in Gorom.
- Food Aid: Following on from the joint efforts by the two churches in Gorom-Gorom for the Muslim population there following the floods, they have two further joint ventures planned. One of these is the distribution of further food aid in the coming months, the most vulnerable time, following the failure of last year's harvest. According to Reuters: "A recent OCHA evaluation mission in the Gorom-Gorom commune of Burkina Faso showed that the 6,000 people there would need humanitarian assistance "at least" up to the next harvest in September 2007."
- Kids Camp: The other joint venture is organising a Kids' Camp for local children, to be run with support from my home church, Glenwood Church in Cardiff in August. They expect about 100 children to join the camp for a week.
- Business and Mission: Paul and Tim, from Cardiff, accompanied me on this trip and were a great blessing and encouragement to have along. They were primarily there to look, listen, and learn. But they were also looking at possibilities for what role business might have in supporting the mission of the church and community development, and have come back with lots of interesting ideas.
- New Pastors: A new pastor has moved into Oursi, north of Gorom-Gorom, and is doing well. And up to 4 more pastors are seeking to move into the area. These "pastors" are in reality missionaries, working cross-culturally, and are men of great commitment and vision.
- More Fulani Encouragement: During the trip down from Gorom-Gorom to Ouagadougou, we picked up a young Fulani hitch-hiker. We stopped off to visit a pastor on the way. The young Fulani man asked the pastor a lot about the story of Jesus, and finally said he too wanted to follow Christ. He is now in touch with a Fulani pastor in Ouaga. In Ouagadougou itself, we visited a gathering of Fulani Christians and pastors from different churches, who are meeting to pray and join together to reach out to Fulani throughout Burkina Faso.
It has been a very encouraging time. Please pray for all these things. I hope to be heading out again to Burkina Faso at the end of July for a couple of months.
February 26, 2007
Cheering for Jesus
It's not often I have been clapped for preaching Jesus - let alone had Muslims enthusiastically applauding. Yet this is exactly what happened last week.
A Full Church
I was about to leave to return to Britain for a while, and the 31 houses for the flood victims were just about finished. A ceremony was proposed for "handing over the keys". I wasn't keen, but the rest of the team thought it was a good idea, so I went with the flow. We also decided that after the ceremony we would surprise the beneficiaries with a sack of millet each so they had food to put in their new homes.
On the day, the church was packed. Half of it was filled with 30 of the beneficiaries - elderly and vulnerable local Muslim folk who had lost their homes in the flood and had no-one to help them. The other half was filled with local dignitaries including the Mayor, the Provincial High Commisioner, the Prefect, the Regional heads of the Army and Police, and various other notables.
On such occasions it is normal just to say a few polite words...
Pah.
A God that welcomes the homeless
I spoke first in Fulfulde, and then in French:
"The God who had provided you with houses is a compassionate God, and it is because of Jesus Christ that you have received his compassion. One day, whether we are ruler or poor, black or white, we will leave our houses. But because of Jesus, God has also provided you with a house in heaven, and he invites you to come to Christ to receive the keys."
"Before Jesus went back to heaven, he said he is going to prepare a place for us. When he comes back, if we belong to him, he will take us to be with him before God in heaven."
It was at this point that - while many of the dignitaries appeared somewhat uncomfortable - the less "respectable" half of the congregation started applauding. Of course, they were not really clapping me, but rejoicing in the a God who had seen their suffering and provided an answer. Maybe they were beginning to glimpse "the good news preached to the poor" - the good news that in Jesus God has thrown wide the doors of the kingdom of heaven to welcome them into his family.
The poor often seem to enjoy Jesus' good news more than the rulers, or than we smart, rich and religious folk who are not happy for Jesus to say that just anyone can come in. After all, there are standards, you know.
Great, isn't it?
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina flood building gorom sahel emergency housing aid gorom-gorom jesus kingdom of god
February 14, 2007
Spit on me!
“Adama, spit on me!” came Ousseini’s faint cry behind me just as I was leaving.
Since Adama is my name here, I turned back to Ousseini’s hospital room to respond to the call to spit.
Ousseini
I had been visiting my friends at one of the “tent camps” for the flood victims, some of the people we are building houses for. They had a visitor from Tasmakat, Ousseini, who was lying on a mat on the ground in obvious pain with swollen feet and a very distended stomach. They of course had nothing with which to pay for treatment, so I took him to the hospital, paid for the few pounds of his prescription, and prayed for healing for him in the name of Jesus.
The next day I went to see him. It was then, as I turned to leave the room, that he called me back: “Adama, tuutam!” - “Adama, spit on me!”
Spit and Mission
Islamic religious teachers here are regarded as having healing as part of their role, which usually involves reciting certain Quranic verses, accompanied by light spitting on the ill part of the body (for example see here). So Ousseini was asking me to pray for him again.
I prayed again for healing in the name of Jesus, laying my hand gently on his head. (And not actually spitting in case you were wondering…) And each time I visited him he would hold out his hands and – day by day with slightly more strength – ask me to spit on him.
Today at Gorom-Gorom Hospital
Today I was woken from a well-earned siesta to come and see Ousseini. Gorom-Gorom medical centre was unable to do all needed to help him, and he had to be evacuated to Dori. I came to the hospital and sorted out the ambulance and gave him a bit of money for his treatment when he got there. And prayed for him of course.
The hospital was an emotionally challenging place today. In the next room to Ousseini was a young man crying out in pain, who had apparently been bitten by a rabid dog. Aisha, a Bella lady whose uncle had a distressing-looking fungal growth over a large part of the side of his head called on me to come and look at him. And Amadu, an old man with what looked and sounded suspiciously like TB, also called me in with the now familiar “Adama, come and spit on me!”
Jesus the Healer
The Quran acknowledges that Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, and Muslims here know that he rose alive into heaven. So it is unremarkable to them that healing should be asked for in the name of Jesus.
Please pray for healing for my friends, and that our Lord would stretch out his hand more to heal in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And please pray that people would see and meet the God of love who is revealed in Jesus, and come to him for fullness of life. Thank you.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom-gorom gorom spitting sahel healing Jesus mission spit
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
January 29, 2007
Rebuilding the broken walls
A few photos of the rebuilding work we are doing in Gorom-Gorom after the flood:
1. Most of the 31 houses we are building are like this – built of mud brick with a tin roof, but with tarmac plastering to waterproof it, and a cement “belt” round the bottom to protect the first 40cm from flooding erosion. This was the first one completely finished, and the owner, Diao, has already moved in.
2. We chose the most vulnerable people, like Aisetou here, looking at her house, which is about to have its roof put on.
3. Five of the houses are of woodless construction like this, being built in collaboration with the Development Workshop. The houses need no wood, with even the roof being made entirely of mud bricks, formed into this domed shape.
4. This is one of the teams working on the domed roof of the woodless house. Each brick is placed carefully in its exact location. The whole process is great to watch.
5. Although the work is well over half-way finished now, the Gorom authorities were keen on having a “stone-laying ceremony”. We did this for Alaye’s house which we were about to start building, and the Prefet of Gorom-Gorom, the Mayor’s representative, and the General Secretary for the Province of Oudalan all came. We also happened to have with us this week visitors from my church in Cardiff, Glenwood church, which was the main donor for the flood victims. The brick is being laid by The Secretary General and Peter Cole from Glenwood.
6. Me with Alaye, for whose house the stone was being laid.
Tags: burkina faso africa burkina flood building woodless construction sahel emergency housing aid
January 19, 2007
A Day at the (Camel) Races
It was a dusty day at the camel rac