• Truck breakdown. I just found out that the truck that should have taken the spare parts up a couple of weeks ago has broken down and is still stuck in Ouaga. We are trying to find another truck this morning.
• Financing. We thank God that we have received about £19,000 so far, but we still need about another £5,000 to cover all the costs.
• Teams. The first team arrives tomorrow - Billy and Patrick from Hatteras Island.

Posted by Keith at 09:45 AM

November 06, 2008

Please pray for us and these activities in the coming months. I will add other activities as I get details.

Of course, I also continue to work with local pastors in evangelism, community development, the school in Gorom-Gorom, and in developing partnerships with churches in the UK, France, and US. See here for more.

Itinerary

• November 5: Arrive in Ouagadougou.
  
• Nov 10: Head north to Gorom-Gorom.
  
• Nov 10-Dec 5: Well-drilling, pump repair, and evangelism: with FiA and teams from the US and UK.
  
• December 13-17: Conference for local Fulani believers from the north of Burkina. At the Ministry Centre in Gorom-Gorom.
  
• Dec 23-26: Christmas: celebrations and outreach.
  
• January 1-3: Prayer Starting the year with three-days of personal prayer.
  
• Jan 4-7: Village Evangelism: Visiting villages for personal evangelism.
  
• Jan 14-22: Visitors: Team from Glenwood Church to look at the school and plan for building.
  
• Feb 1-Mar 19: Trainees: two young guys from Horizons coming for a Gap Year placement.
  
• February 6-22: Evangelism:
  
  • 6: Village “G”
    
  • 8-9: Markoye
    
  • 12: Gorom-Gorom
    
  • 13: Village “Y”
    
  • 14 : Deou
    
  • 15: Oursi
    
  • 20: Village “M”
    
  • 21-22 : Tasmakat
  
  
• Feb 26-27 : Christian workers seminar. Gathering pastors and workers from around the province, for some training (with Andy Clarke of World Horizons) and to look at developing mission strategies for our area (me).
  
• Mar 2-6: Horizons-Sahel Annual Conference: in Bobo-Dioulasso, BF. With Horizons personnel from Burkina, Mali, and Niger.
  
• March 19: Return to UK.
  

Posted by Keith at 04:50 PM

November 05, 2008

I arrived back in Burkina Faso at about 03.30 this morning.

One of my bags failed to arrive, so dealing with that meant that it was 4.30 by the time I got to bed. On my way from the airport, the bouncy Burkinabe taxi-driver happily informed me that Obama had won the US election. I am tired and woozy, but glad to be back.

Looking Back
The last two months have been busy and have gone by very quickly. These last couple of weeks have been so busy that I haven't had time to write anything here. Sorry about that.

It has been good to see many of you. Thank you for all your encouragement and support. A number of things are coming into place as I start the Acacia Partnership Trust and develop partnerships between churches here and in Burkina Faso.

Looking Forward
I will be in Burkina Faso now until March. My priorities during this time:

• Well-drilling. Starts in a weeks time for a month, with teams from the UK and US.
• The Christian school in Gorom-Gorom. It has opened in rented accommodation. We need to get plans for building underway, and facilitate the good running and development of the class, including ensuring the children get a meal every day.
• Ongoing evangelism and discipleship. We hope to have a conference for local Fulani believers, mission training for Christians working in the region, a weekend for pastors’ wives, and much, much more...
• Encouraging pastors. Visiting isolated pastors to encourage them and work with them in ministry.
• Church partnerships. We now have six churches (2 in the UK, 2 in France, and 2 in the US) partnered with the pastors in northern Burkina Faso. I want to help develop these relationships.
• Teams. Apart from the well-drilling teams, there are potentially three or four other teams interested in, or committed to coming out.

You can click here to see my itinerary and dates in Burkina Faso for the coming months.

Prayer Needs
This all threatens to be too much, so please pray for Seydou, Pierre, and myself in the coming months.:

• Time, space, and determination to keep prayer and my walk with Christ at the centre of things.
• God’s blessing on all we are doing.
• Grace and strength and wisdom to be able to do it all well.
• God’s blessing on Seydou and Pierre and the other local pastors and Christians as they carry the work forward.
• God's peace and presence in our home life.
• Financial provision for all we are doing, and for development of the Ministry Centre in Gorom-Gorom.
• Rapid approval of our application to be set up as a charity in the UK, and for the personnel we need to be able to manage the work we are doing.

Many thanks.

Posted by Keith at 04:18 PM

September 24, 2008

This is my family in Gorom-Gorom. As usual you can click on photos to enlarge.

Left: Pierre and Asetu and children. / Right: Seydou and Monique and children.

Home

This is our home. Seydou's house is to the left, Pierre's to the right, mine is at the back, and the meeting place is in the middle. Of course, this is also our Ministry Centre - the "Centre Missionnaire Interdenominationelle de l'Oudalan". I might write more about our vision for the Ministry Centre in coming days.

This is our meeting place, where we get together to relax, eat, chat, and pray. We also have the Fulani cell group here.

And a couple of photos of me - one with a nervous-looking child, and one with Seydou.

Me outside the door of my house. The left-hand door is to a store room. My "office" - a mat shelter - fell down during the rains, so I now have a completely "open-plan" office...

Posted by Keith at 07:25 AM

September 14, 2008

In November, we will be drilling 6 wells, and repairing 5 other pumps in remote and dry areas in the sahel area of northern Burkina Faso.

Teams will be coming out from Glenwood Church and from Hatteras Island Christian Fellowship to join us as we work with Friends in Action to provide water to these areas. We will be working in Gorom-Gorom (on the grounds of the school we are building), Deou, Lila, Tasmakat, Coffalboy, and Cekol Koba.

Here is a short video of the work of Friends in Action in Burkina:

Please pray as we prepare for this work. Thank you.

We have so far raised about £16,000, but we estimate we need about another £7,000. If you want to support this work, please send money to:

UK
Gorom-Gorom Well-drilling,
World Horizons:
North Dock
Llanelli
Carms SA15 2LF

USA
Gorom-Gorom Well-drilling,
World Horizons:
PO Box 17721,
Richmond,
VA 23226
USA

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina wells pumps oudalan sahel well-drilling water

Posted by Keith at 05:50 PM

September 06, 2008

So there we were, praying for rain, and the good Lord sending good rain. And suddenly it is time to leave Gorom-Gorom... and how am I going to get out...?

Last week trucks were stuck at Ferelol unable to get to Gorom, because there was so much water. And about 15 huge articulated lorries that had managed to get through were clogging the narrow roads around Gorom market, waiting for the road to Markoye to open. (The trucks' contents are a mystery - some say they are full of cigarettes on their way across the desert. Others mutter rumours of dark conspiracies.)

So anyway, Pierre said that Elijah prayed and closed the heavens for three and a half years. So maybe I should go for three and a half days - just enough to let me get to Ouaga, without disrupting the season...

I prayed, and that is what we got. Three and a half days without rain. Ferelol was almost dry. Yalogo was deceptively full and strong, but we made it through. We got to Ouaga without problem.

And that night it rained.

I dunno. Maybe there is something in this prayer thing...

Posted by Keith at 06:47 AM

September 05, 2008

I woke at 1am, with a strong sense that God had just spoken to me clearly through two dreams.

I'm not used to that happening, and I was somewhat disturbed, especially since the meaning of the dreams was itself disturbing. In one, we were building a bridge, and Someone was trying to stop our work, and setting the Christians against one another.

I went outside to pray. It was a dark and moonless night, and the rain had just stopped. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I began pacing across the yard, praying as I went.

And bumped into Pierre.

I grabbed Pierre and told him my dreams. He looked at me. Then he said: "my wife has just had a dream of two Christians fighting in a tree, and they fell..."

We spent an hour praying, and went to bed.

Later that day, Pastor Adama came to visit, and told us that his wife had had a dream that night of the Christians on a journey together, and a mob arriving to attack them.

We are encouraged. God is at work and he is speaking to us. If Someone is bothered, that's fine with us.

Please continue to pray.

Thank you.

Posted by Keith at 06:24 AM

September 02, 2008

This is the season of annoying insects. The rains bring lots of joy and blessing, but also lots of beasties, not unlike the plagues of Egypt:

The "Night Crawlers".
It is almost impossible to do any kind of work by light at night during the rainy season, since any light draws battling hoards of bugs of every size hurling themselves ferociously at your flesh, eyes, and computer screen. The mantis-like monstrosity opposite is an interesting-looking visitor, but when you are trying to read, and it insists on trying to fly into your ear, or crawl inside your shirt, it is distinctly less interesting. One evening I was out and had left my light on by mistake, and came home to find my room swarming with all kinds of interesting bugs. It took about a week to encourage them all to move out.

Blister Beetles.
Nasty little creatures, these. When they bite you – thankfully not very often – the skin swells up in a big blister. There is a liquid inside the blister which burns painfully. And – here’s the wicked bit – if the blister bursts, and the liquid gets onto your skin somewhere else, that also swells up in the same way. I had one in my trousers last year.

Enough said.

Crickets and Locusts.
It’s quite fun watching the chickens in the morning, as they switch and dart after the crickets like a chase scene from Tom and Jerry, looking for – to them and John the Baptist at least – a tasty breakfast. But these crickets and their bodybuilder big brothers, the locusts, are a curse on the land. After three or four months of hard work in the fields, it is devastating to see your fields of millet ravaged by a swarm of these beasts. Year after year, it is like a passage from the Hebrew scriptures – “what the drought left, the birds ate, and what the birds left, the locusts snapped up for elevenses.” Steve has even written a book based around the things.

Mosquitoes.
Worst of all. It’s not enough that they whine in your ears as you are trying to sleep, or that they nibble at any exposed flesh, leaving you scratching furiously for the duration of the rainy season. On top of that, they have to go and inject you with a parasite that kills a million people each year. This last three months, almost daily we hear the hee-haw of the Gorom-Gorom ambulance collecting serious cases of malaria from the villages to bring to hospital. Most of us in Gorom have had less serious cases which we treat ourselves with doses of whatever we can afford. Forget rabid lions, or gorillas with machine guns, the mosquito is probably the most dangerous animal in the world.

You are welcome to come and visit. But you might want to wait until the rains have finished...

Posted by Keith at 01:00 PM

August 27, 2008

We are planning to open a Christian primary school in Gorom-Gorom this year. The school is aimed at providing quality education in a healthy social and spiritual environment for the poorest in Gorom-Gorom.

School to Open in Rented Accommodation Oct 2008!
We plan to build the school over the coming year. In the meantime, we plan to open the school this October in rented accommodation. We will take in year 1 this year, and add a class each year until we have a full school.

• The Official Stuff. The school dossier is about ready for submission to the government. Pastor Daniel has officially informed the local authorities of the school opening, and begun informing parents of the school starting this Oct.

• Teachers. The national church is looking at sending a teacher from a nearby Christian school to come as the head teacher for the Gorom-Gorom school. If this happens it would be good, as it is a similar area with similar issues, so he would be aware of the context. Please pray for the right person.

• Temporary School Room. For the first year, we are renting a nearby house. The house itself will also serve as a home for the head teacher, and the class will be in a shelter outside. Before October, we need to repair the house, improve the toilets, and (if possible) to put a water supply in.

• School Design. We are still working on possible designs for the final school building. We want to build something that will have a positive impact academically, socially, aesthetically, and environmentally. Please pray for the right design.

• Finances:

• We have already received quite a good sum towards building the school. Although the final cost of the school building can’t be calculated until we have the final design, we estimate that we still need quite a bit more. When I have more details, I will post them here.
  
• Because we are aiming at helping the poorest children, we know that parental contributions will not cover the costs of salaries and of running the school. We are looking at how to help cover the costs. Please pray for wisdom and for God’s supply.
  
• We are getting started on making the furniture for this class - ie up to 20 children's desks, which can each seat 2 children, a desk and chair for the teacher, and a cupboard. My estimate is that this may come to a total of about £1000.
  
• School meals: we also want to supply a midday meal for all the children, and are looking at the most efficient, cost-effective, and beneficial way to do this.
  

More soon...

Information and Donating
* For more information about the vision for the school, go HERE.
* If you would like to help in any way with the school, you can give online HERE, or see HERE for how to send money by post.

Thank you.

Posted by Keith at 01:05 PM

August 25, 2008

Hi.

I'm off to Deou in about an hour. Things are going really well here. A few points:

* Yesterday we baptised 7 people in an inter-church service in a local rainy season pool. Those baptised included four Fulani, two Songhai, and a Gourma. It was a time of great joy.

* The two new Fulani believers are making progress with Christ, and have been coming regularly to meet with local Christians. We were preaching this week in the market at Korizena, and found a lot of interest in the gospel.

* I have been to visit the pastors at Markoye and Essakane last week. There is an increasing unity among the churches here, and I believe we are seeing the blessing of that unity. We are planning a number of inter-church activities for the winter including a conference for Fulani believers, a training time for Christians, and a weekend for pastors's wives.

* Please pray for Safi, a lady who has a badly infected foot. We are helping her get treatment, but it seems likely the foot may have to be amputated.

Thanks for your prayers.

Posted by Keith at 11:13 AM

August 24, 2008

I shoved Clint Eastwood away. A fire came into his eyes, and he struck me on the side of the head.

I felt something tapping my foot, and Clint’s face dissolved as I awoke to find Pastor John grinning at me through the mosquito net: “It’s 6 o’ clock – time for prayer!”

Disorientated, bleary-eyed, and a little relieved, I looked around me. Bodies everywhere...

Didier and Odile and their 4 children, and Seydou and I were scattered around the mud floor of Tasmakat church. The cool, damp morning air that follows a night-time storm hung through the open gaps of the doors and windows. The church members had sacrificially built and roofed the church, but not had the money to put doors and windows in.

................................................................................

The night before, we had all hooked up our mosquito nets outside as usual, and bedded down for the night. But only a couple of hours later, a wind came up announcing the coming storm.

We hurriedly picked up our beds and moved into the church, looking for key points to hang our nets. But before we could bed down again, the rain came hurtling down, the strong wind whipping sheets of water through the open gaps. In a few moments, half the church floor was soaked, and a small group of white-skinned Christians were huddled laughing in the one corner of the church that remained relatively un-touched by the rain.

The rain turned to hail, and everyone hunted around desperately for a shirt, as the temperature dropped rapidly to cold.

Eventually the wind dropped, and everyone began again to look for a less-than-soaking spot to spend the rest of the night.

..................................................................................

Everyone was sleepy that day.

When telling the tale of our disturbed night to a Fulani friend, he said with humour:

“It’s your own fault! We Fulani have a proverb: ‘When the bird sings for the rain, it falls on his own head.’ You prayed for rain, so you can’t complain!”

Posted by Keith at 06:44 PM

August 18, 2008

“Are there any white people who are arrogant?” asked Pierre. He stood up from hoeing John’s field, grimacing with the discomfort in his back.

“Hah!” I said. “We white people are the experts at arrogance!”

“But I’ve never seen a proud white person,” Pierre insisted. “You are here helping us work in the field. I’ve never seen an Arab come to help the Muslims work their fields.”

“Ah,” said Jean-Marc, “but we are proud of working in the field!”

“It’s true,” I agreed. “There are white people who will come here to Africa, and work 10 minutes in the field. They will take film of their 10 minutes, and use it to show people back at home how humble they are, how they suffered, and boast about how hard they worked to help the poor Africans.”

Pierre laughed.

“What is more,” I said, “they will want to preach, even though they never do any evangelism at home. Though they know nothing of suffering for Christ, and they live lives of comfortable half-heartedness, they think that because they are rich and white and have lots of Christian books, they can teach you what it means to be a follower of Christ. They will do a 2-week “mission”, often living in comfortable hotels, and just coming out of their air-conditioning to preach for a few hours, and have their photo taken holding a little African baby. They will return home and boast humbly about how they preached to the poor Africans, and talk about how wretched your lives are, and how blessed we are to be American or British or French.”

“Arrogance is our speciality.”

“May God have mercy on us.”

Posted by Keith at 12:41 PM

August 16, 2008

Hi Everyone

I think Burkina has been having problems with its email servers. I sent lots of emails, but have had no replies. If you have sent an email in the last month and not had a reply, please send again. Thanks.

Also, I unfortunately only realised when i got to Gorom that the laptop I was kindly given has no internal modem. So I am back in the sweaty and temperamental Gorom cybercafe.

However, things are going well. We had a great time with Didier aand Odile and family from Nantes - more about that later. Also, a young Fulani man gave his life to Christ this week. I am now quite tired and taking a couple of days off before the busyness of my last couple of weeks here. Much to do for the school, the well-drilling, aand many other things. Your prayers are much appreciated.

I am now much better after a few days of illness - so thanks if you prayed for me!

God bless you!

Posted by Keith at 01:08 PM

“You have brought judgement on us!” said Pastor John with a smile.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Your visitors have come all the way from France to help us in our fields and to help us preach the gospel. There are loads of villages here on or doorstep that don’t have the gospel, and we haven’t reached them yet. That you should come all this way to help us do what is on our doorstep brings judgement on us.”

“Hmph!” I replied. “But you have brought a worse judgement on us!”

John looked enquiringly at me.

“We sit there in our comfortable lives with all our money and possessions. We come here for a short time, then return to our comfort.

I know you pastored a church of over 300 people, and that you had good fields, and that you church members did a lot to help you too. You left all that to come to Tasmakat with your whole family, in order to bring the love of God to the Fulani here. Here you have no Christians, no-one to support you, and no good fields. You and your family have accepted hardship and suffering not just for a few weeks, but for years for the sake of Christ and the people here.

We only follow Christ as far as it doesn’t disrupt our comfort for too long.

Your life and commitment brings judgement on us and our half-heartedness."

****************************************************

Jesus looked at those who had accepted suffering and loss for the sake of following him, and said to them:

“Blessed are you who are poor, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to you.” (Lk 6:20)

Posted by Keith at 12:46 PM

August 07, 2008

A few photos of the last couple of weeks in Gorom-Gorom and Tasmakat. Photos by Pedro and Jean-Marc:

1. Keith in his office:

2. Seydou and Jean-Marc hanging on for dear life in the back of Keith's truck:

3. Pedro washing Pastor John's feet as part of a commitment of the two churches to each other:

4. Pierre trying to get a signal:

5. Preparing the evening meal:

Posted by Keith at 10:59 PM

August 06, 2008

We were sitting on mats and rickety stick chairs under the stars. Rosalie was stirring the millet, cooking over an open fire, and Pastor John’s children were singing songs about Jesus.

John used to pastor a church of over 300 people. But he chose to leave, with his wife and children, to move to Tasmakat where there are no Christians, and where he has no support, because he believes God wants to use him to reach the Fulani here. His wife is completely supportive. His children, who have no toys or comforts, love Jesus, and are fun, respectful, and hard working. We commented on it, and John, who was obviously really pleased, told us the following story:

“We had been in Tasmakat several months. One day my children said ‘Papa, it is a long time since we had rice. Can we have some please?’ I told them I didn’t have any money to buy rice.

The next day I was going to Gorom-Gorom to see Pastor Daniel. Before I left, one of my children came and said ‘I had a dream last night, and I saw someone give you money to buy rice. But the money he gave you was more than the cost of a sack of rice.’ Another of my children came to me and said ‘I had a dream last night and saw you coming back home with a sheep.’

I told them. ‘You pray. I need to go to Gorom.’ We Africans don’t give much respect to children, and I just didn’t want to discourage them. But when I arrived at Gorom, Pastor Daniel handed me an envelope. He said it was from the national church’s internal mission programme, and they had just phoned him to tell him to give it to me. I opened the envelope, and there was 50,000cfa (£50) inside!

I bought a sack of rice, two sheep, some cooking oil, and some beans.

When I got home, my children were so happy, they spent the night laughing and singing.

And, in my heart, I too was laughing.”

Posted by Keith at 10:32 AM

Am back in Ouaga for a couple of days. Had a great time in Tasmakat with Pedro and Jean-Marc, and they flew out last night. Tasmakat had no internet and no phone coverage for most of our stay.

I will tell you more about the Tasmakat visit over the coming days, but please pray for a young Fulani man, A, who gave his life to Christ, following our preaching at the market. He has been coming regularly to visit the pastor since, and seems to be serious in his desire to walk with Jesus. Please also pray for village B, near Tasmakat, which we visited, and where is a lot of interest in the good news of Christ.

I am feeling a bit under the weather with sweats, dizzyness, headaches, and general weakness, and would appreciate your prayers for strength and health.

More visitors - Didier, Odile, and famly - arrived from Nantes last night, and we head up to Gorom-Gorom on Friday, all being well.

Posted by Keith at 09:51 AM

July 27, 2008

I am in Tasmakat for a week with Pedro and Jean-Marc from St Etienne, visiting Pastor John and his wife Elisabeth and their seven children.

We had a good rain on Friday night and Sat morning, which was desperately needed. So, on Saturday, we spent a few hours helping John with his field. While we waited in the church for it to stop raining, John told us about the series of dreams he had when he was at Bible school, that led him to Tasmakat.

John said: “When we finally got to the place they were giving us for the church, I said: ‘This looks the same as what we saw in the dreams, but it can’t be the right place, because there is supposed to be an abandoned house here.’ When they heard that, they laughed.” He paused.

“Come with me” he said. He took us outside to the middle of the church land, and scraped away the top layer of sand. A circle of bricks became clear. “This is where the abandoned house was. Only the foundation was left. But it is a witness that this is the place God has sent us to. Even when it’s hard, we remember how God has led us, and we call on him to help us, knowing that he will open people’s hearts. We know he wants to bless this village.”

God is giving John favour with local people. Each day people come for prayer. An old Fulani man brings his son, who has severe mental difficulties. The old man himself has previously been healed through prayer, but has not yet decided to follow Jesus. But he acknowledges the power of Jesus. A young girl has decided to follow Jesus, but her family want to marry her to a Muslim man. She doesn’t want to marry him, but wants to honour her parents, and she asks for prayer for a way out.

I have had to come back unexpectedly to Gorom-Gorom for a day, as we have had a spate of punctured tyres, which can’t be fixed in Tasmakat. I have left Pedro and Jean-Marc in Tasmakat with Jean. Tomorrow morning I will return, with Pierre and Seydou, and we will spend the morning at the market, telling the good news of Jesus the Messiah:

“God’s kingdom is close to you!”

Posted by Keith at 07:35 PM

July 20, 2008

“Yimbe Saouga ndeman hikka, tilay” said the hitch-hiker as we approached the village of Saouga. “The people of Saouga will be forced to plough this year.”

Saouga is the village where the road to Gorom-Gorom gets cut off each year during rainy season, the swelling river rushing over the road, often up to chest-height.

The people of Saouga have made a killing each year by helping people through the river – at a price. They have been renowned for their lack of pity for those without the money or willingness to pay, since they know there is no alternative – (although, they sometimes have shown surprising kindness.) A number of men have discovered this to be a more profitable way of spending the rainy season than working the fields.

But this year the Burkina Faso government has built a bridge over the river at Saouga...

Everyone is happy about the bridge at Saouga – except the people of Saouga, who will be forced to plough this year...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.
Back in Gorom-Gorom, Pierre tells me of going to town to ask for a field to work. People looked at him in amazement, and asked “Where are you from...?” Apparently people are abandoning field work more and more because they are just not getting anything from it.

After one or two years of poor harvests, you might still believe that it is just a bad patch and hope that things will get better. But when year after year you invest time and energy over three months to plough, sow, and weed a field by hand, and then the rains fail at the end, leaving you with nothing, you begin to lose that hope.

Inconvenient Truth
A minority of people will continue, in the face of increasingly overwhelming evidence, to refuse the fact of climate change and the role of human activity in it. It could be argued that the testimonies from locals that the rains have been getting worse over the last 20 years, is just a case of “it was better in the old days”. The observations of more extreme weather, including the increased frequency of drought and flood, could be a blip. But the abandonment of fields worked over generations speaks of the reluctantly-accepted, and life-changing reality of a changing climate.

The people of Saouga will be forced to plough this year. But what of next year? And the year after that? Alternative activities here are scarce. What options do they have?

"La Vie Chere"
And, all the time, food prices are increasing. At this time of year, when millet is scarce and rises in price, people have often bought rice instead. People can’t do that anymore. Last year, a sack of rice was about £16. This year it is over £20. That is a huge price rise when, for example, new teachers earn maybe £35/month.

There have been demonstrations and riots in Burkina Faso because of the struggle people are having with “la vie chere”. The government has taken tax off basic foodstuffs, but people blame the government for the price rises. They of course don’t understand the role that gambling on international markets, the rich world fling with biofuel, or the growth of the middle class in China, have on their food prices.

If people abandon their unproductive fields, to try other alternatives, they will of course have to buy all their food. But what work can they find here to earn enough to feed their families?

Life Goes On
For us, climate change is still largely a cause for academic discussion or bad jokes. Price rises may mean inconvenience. For those in Gorom-Gorom, they are massive threats.

Yet, people carry on with life, less troubled by the coming storm than we westerners are by the fact that we have to pay more to fill up our car. They have seen famine and drought and know what it is to go without, and to trust God in those times.

In this morning’s 6am prayer meeting, Seydou was encouraging us with Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34. In Europe and the US, we rarely if ever have had to actually put these verses into practise in the way these guys do on a regular basis:

“Do not worry about what you will eat, drink, or wear... but first get hold of God’s reign and righteousness, and he’ll take care of these other things as well.”

Tags: africa sahel burkina burkina faso saouga travel bridge flood poverty

Posted by Keith at 10:00 AM

July 16, 2008

I got back to Gorom-Gorom on Saturday and am busy catching up with everyone and planning for the future weeks and months.

* There was rain last week, so people have been out in the fields. But there has been no rain since I got here, so it is uncomfortably hot and humid.

* Unfortunately I don’t have internet access from home for the moment, which is a hassle, but the internet cafe in town which had closed down is up and running again, so that’s where I am now. It does mean my email contact will be less regular.

* It’s good to see Seydou and Pierre and Pascal and friends again. Pastor Michel has had a motorbike accident and broken his leg, and he is down in Ouaga recovering. The Fulani believers continue to grow in Christ, and to meet together for prayer each morning.

* Seydou, Pierre, and I hope to go to Yengerento on Friday to visit some Fulani friends, and then at the weekend I head back to Ouaga to meet Peter and a friend coming in from France for a couple of weeks.

I will write more soon...

Posted by Keith at 09:43 AM

July 09, 2008

Finally arrived at Ouaga 4.5 hours late, at 1.00 in the morning.

After a 3 hour delay in London, an extra hour delay in Tripoli, the most efficient part of the journey was my arrival in Ouaga - I was off the plane, through immigration, collected my bags, and out of customs in about 15 mins.

Steve and Charlie are here. It's good to be back.

... although, apparently, there are likely to be more riots tomorrow by university students. Please pray for peace.

Posted by Keith at 12:43 PM

June 27, 2008

I return to Burkina Faso in about a week.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone again. This is a photo of Mousa, one of Yusufi's children, with a lamb of which he is particularly proud.

Rains
It is the start of the rainy season now. Please pray for good rains this year. When I spoke to Seydou recently he was saying the rains haven't yet started.

The rains of course make travel difficult, and I have quite a bit of travelling to do, with two teams coming out from France during the next couple of months.

School
During the two months, we will also be continuing to move things forward for the school. We plan to open the school this year with just year 1, and to do that in a rented yard, while we design and build the school over the coming year. We have the yard, and will start recruiting students in the next few weeks.

Overload
In the meantime, I still have quite a lot to do before I go. The work is growing quickly, which is great. We have the well-drilling coming up in November, and several church partnerships running, with more possibly developing. We are planning a soccer camp for next year. And of course the ongoing work with the pastors as we reach out among the Fulani, Tamacheq, and Songhai peoples.

However, we do we need to get the structures in place to allow it to grow. In particular please pray that we can find an administrator to help me with all the practical workload.

Many thanks

Posted by Keith at 07:47 AM

May 27, 2008

I am now on Hatteras Island, with Billy and my good friends at HICF.

HICF have supported me generously over the last 5 years since the Lord led us together, and they are now partnered with Pastor Samuel and the church in Deou. A team from HICF visited Deou and Lila last year, and the church is also getting behind the well-drilling programme that we have for that area later this year.

It's great to be here again, and good to have a few slower days after the last 3 weeks of travelling and speaking engagements. On Friday I head to Tennessee to Pastor Lon and the First Baptist Church of Madisonville.

(If you want to support the well-drilling programme, please send money via World Horizons, with a covering letter saying the gift is for wells via the Burkina Faso Sahel Account.)

Posted by Keith at 05:57 PM

May 06, 2008

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.

Posted by Keith at 04:49 PM

May 02, 2008

I am in the process of setting up a charity called the Acacia Partnership Trust, to help facilitate the work in Burkina Faso, and the church partnerships.

The website just has a holding page for the moment, but we are working on it...

Posted by Keith at 02:47 PM

April 10, 2008

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

Posted by Keith at 07:32 AM

April 08, 2008

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...

Posted by Keith at 04:20 PM

March 12, 2008

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!"

Posted by Keith at 09:23 PM

March 01, 2008

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.

Posted by Keith at 10:05 PM

February 27, 2008

“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.

Posted by Keith at 11:18 AM

February 03, 2008

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.

Posted by Keith at 06:08 PM

January 31, 2008

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.

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.

Posted by Keith at 10:25 PM

January 23, 2008

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

Posted by Keith at 06:37 PM

January 18, 2008

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

Posted by Keith at 11:44 AM

January 17, 2008

"...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

Posted by Keith at 04:48 PM

January 16, 2008

"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

Posted by Keith at 04:04 PM

January 09, 2008

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"

Posted by Keith at 03:15 PM

December 28, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 08:13 PM

December 23, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 09:08 PM

December 17, 2007

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!”

Posted by Keith at 07:33 PM

December 13, 2007

“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…

Posted by Keith at 08:35 PM

December 05, 2007

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...

Posted by Keith at 10:10 AM

November 30, 2007

“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

Posted by Keith at 06:21 AM

November 16, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 11:36 PM

November 11, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 03:06 PM

November 10, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 07:29 PM

October 24, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 09:25 AM

October 22, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 04:06 PM

October 11, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 05:46 PM

September 16, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 11:56 AM

September 15, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 12:53 PM

September 13, 2007

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:

Posted by Keith at 07:00 PM

September 08, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 02:14 PM

September 06, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 02:43 PM

August 31, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 05:48 PM

August 29, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 01:58 PM

August 14, 2007

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Posted by Keith at 12:13 PM

August 12, 2007

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...

Posted by Keith at 07:13 PM

August 08, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 09:59 AM

August 03, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 08:49 AM

July 29, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 11:33 PM

July 20, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 07:50 AM

June 27, 2007

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.

Posted by Keith at 07:23 PM

February 26, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 05:51 PM

February 14, 2007

“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

Posted by Keith at 04:48 PM

February 04, 2007

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 09:57 PM

January 29, 2007

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

Posted by Keith at 02:40 PM

January 19, 2007

It was a dusty day at the camel races.

The harmattan wind was in full swing, filling the air with the fine yellow dust that blocks the sun and makes the day decidedly chilly - relatively speaking of course. The races were part of the annual Festicham festival at the start of every year in Gorom-Gorom, where the traditional cultures of the Tamacheq, Fulani, and Songhai peoples of the area are celebrated.

some more photos of Tamacheqs and their camels...

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom gorom-gorom oudalan sahel camel camels race festicham tuareg tamacheq camel race

Posted by Keith at 07:41 PM

January 08, 2007

I have been really busy with the second phase of our response to the flood in Gorom-Gorom that left thousands homeless.

Phase 1 was emergency aid, including food, mosquito nets, blankets, and mats.

Phase 2 - rebuilding
We have now moved on to help some of the most vulnerable people rebuild their homes. We have identified about 30 of the most needy people - mostly widows and other elderly people who have no-one to help them. While others have started building for themselves, these are the people who would remain homeless for years unless something was done for them. They have been mostly sleeping under mat shelters suffering with the cold season.

The need to build was urgent not only because of the cold, but also because of the shortage of water for building. We have now nearly finished 12 houses, and are as yet the only people to have started building to help people, although other agencies have plans to start soon. We are building simple homes of two models: one is a mud and cement structure with a metal roof. The other is a woodless construction as a joint venture with the Development Workshop.

Woodless Constructions
These are fascinating buildings built entirely of mud - even the roof. They are not only environmentally friendly because they do not use up scarce wood supplies. They also have a better internal temperature - staying warmer in the cold season, and cooler in hot season than houses with the tin roof. And they seem to resist the rain better than other mud brick constructions. We would have liked to do all our buildings in this style, but some very practical limitations prevented that. However, we hope that those we do build will also promote awareness of the benefits of this model.

Thank you again to those of you who by your generosity have enabled us to take these actions. Our team for organising and overseeing the rebuilding is a small group of volunteers from the local church in Gorom. Please pray for us as we continue to try to serve faithfully. Thank you. I will post photos with more information soon.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina flood building woodless construction sahel emergency housing aid

Posted by Keith at 07:18 PM

December 29, 2006

A few photos for you of Christmas day in Gorom-Gorom:
1. Church celebration. Christmas in Gorom is a Christian celebration, and it starts with a service at church on the evening of the 24th. No tinsel, no Slade, no fir trees, no crackers, no heap of expensive presents. But a joyful celebration of the coming of the Son of God.
2. The Christmas family photo. These are the 14 people who officially live in our yard – me with Seydou and Moumouni and their wives, children and a few extras.

3. Carving the Christmas joint. As usual, a sheep was dispatched for the celebrations, with bits shared with neighbours, and the head kept for Boxing Day.
4. Serving dinner. Oli, back from college, helps out with serving dinner.

5. Work carries on. Most of the brick-makers and other workers for the houses we are building for the flood victims, are Muslims. Their festival is Tabaski on 30th Dec, so they were keen to keep working on the 25th to earn money for their own celebration.
6. Church dance. Back to church for a meal together, and an exuberant dance, with the drums thumping out a joyful, passionate call to celebrate.

7. Silent Night. At the end of the day, after the celebrations, everyone retires early because of the cold, and Gorom-Gorom becomes still.

May 2007 be a peaceful year for us all. May you know the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came that we might know the full meaning of life.

Posted by Keith at 07:21 PM

December 13, 2006

Christmas is coming apparently. However, in Gorom-Gorom, there is no sign as yet of the approach of Christmas, apart from the increase in price of sheep at the market.

So it was a shock to get to Ouaga and find at the traffic lights that, alongside the usual paper hankies and cellphone cards, inflatable Father Christmases are now also available for sale!

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina christmas father christmas sahel

Posted by Keith at 08:56 PM

While in Deou with Pastor Samuel who works there, I followed his children one evening to the pump to get water.

Deou has a lack of water. There used to be a natural spring there but now it has dried up. Around town there are several pumps sitting idle that no longer give water. The good pumps that do work are of course swamped with people. It is now cold season, so it is not so bad, but Samuel was saying that in hot season, fights break out over who is next in line, and you can be waiting all night to get your turn.

Usually he would send his boys with the donkey and cart, but his donkey died recently, so it was up to the lads to take the place of the donkey too. They made a game of it, but it was no small job – and of course the cart would be a lot heavier on the way home.

After a fifteen minute trek out of town, and one large thorn which went straight through my sandal and painfully into my foot, we got to the pump. Fortunately on this occasion, there weren’t too many people waiting, although there was still quite a pile of yellow plastic canisters waiting to be filled. The moon was already up, and the evening disappearing when we got there.

Young boys were pumping strenuously to keep the water flowing, with a little brother struggling to swap the canisters over when one filled up, each time the older boys haranguing him for being so slow or inattentive. Other boys sat on the wall waiting their turn. It was beginning to turn cold – pleasantly so for me, but less comfortable for the boys.

After half an hour, I limped my way (carefully) back, leaving the boys there – it looked like they would be an hour or two yet…

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina deou water pump sahel

Posted by Keith at 08:31 PM

December 12, 2006

Here are a few photos from my few days at Markoye, north-east of Gorom-Gorom.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos markoye sahel

Posted by Keith at 10:45 PM

December 08, 2006

Flood Response - Phase 2
We are now starting Phase 2 of our response to the flood that destroyed half the houses in Gorom-Gorom. Phase 1 was emergency relief for those affected. Phase 2 is helping people rebuild their homes. I will write more about this shortly – we appreciate your prayers. Thank you.

Deou
I have just come back from 3 days in Deou, visiting the pastor and his family there. They are a lovely family, and very committed to serving God in an isolated and difficult place. I hope to be able to find ways to encourage them and further equip them in their ministry there.

Deou is an interesting place, a small Islamic market town with Mossi and Fulani, surrounded by rocky outcrops sitting on an otherwise flat plain. The pastor was telling me about the hyena that lives in one of those outcrops and comes and seizes his goats from time to time.

The name Deou sounds like the Fulani word for “up high” (“dow”), which can also mean “up in heaven”. This once led, in my early days learning Fulfulde, to an embarrassing discussion when one of my staunchly Muslim friends was trying to convince me that Jesus is alive up in heaven, and I was confusedly denying it, because I thought he was saying “Jesus lives in Deou!”

A Baobab Falls
But did anyone outside Burkina hear it? The baobab, according to lefaso.net, is Professor Joseph Ki-Zerbo, who died this week, aged 84. He was a historian and political activist who campaigned for African independance in the 1950's, and who remained active in the Burkinabe opposition until August of this year. He taught also in universities in France and Africa, and published a tome on the history of Africa. In 1997, he won the "Alternative Nobel Peace Prize".

His name might not mean much to you. But for Burkina Faso he was a part of recent history.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina deou flood hyena goats gorom-gorom ki-zerbo joseph ki-zerbo

Posted by Keith at 08:44 PM

November 29, 2006

I was recently the victim of a sudden attack of comment spam.

Few of my blog posts are sparkling enough to get more than one or two comments (thank you both!). So, when I saw that one of my posts had 40 comments, I suspected it was probably not an animated discussion of my observations about giant tortoises.

Sure enough, some spammer had filled my comment box with links meant to tempt you to look for cheap viagra or photos of bikini-clad ladies.

Having such poor internet access here in Gorom, I was forced to ask my long-suffering colleague, Steve, to delete the unwanted comments for me (thanks Steve!). I have also taken the precaution of closing comments for the time being to stop this happening again…

You’re Looking Old!

This was another unwanted comment, made twice by different people in the last few days here in Burkina. Apparently, my beard is significantly whiter than when I was here a couple of years ago. The comment was probably meant as a compliment, and might have been joined by the other unwanted compliment: “You’re looking fat!”

You can make up your own mind from these photos of me from 2003 in the rice field, and this week in Gorom. Maybe on this occasion it is just as well the comment section is closed…

Kind and encouraging comments however can still be sent by email or SMS…

Posted by Keith at 07:22 PM

November 17, 2006

Meet Maxwell, the giant tortoise that lives at Steve’s compound.

Steve has been getting a bit fed up with him. Not only does he continually escape from his enclosure by knocking the wall over, but he has started biting, and even charging his captors, ramming their shins with his hard shell.

We were discussing the fact that, with Steve’s forthcoming marriage, he was wanting to get rid of Maxwell, the irritating tortoise. The following conversation ensues, started by Aminata, a Fulani woman:

Aminata: Women are also irritating!
Keith: Oh? Which is more irritating, a giant tortoise or a woman?
A: They are as irritating as each other!
K: Are all women irritating? Even you?
A: Of course! A woman is like a deep hole – no matter how much you put into it, it never fills up. Even if you provide for the woman for many years, the day you don’t have enough for her, you’d better watch out!
K: So, is it better for a man not to marry…?
A: Hah! Even a chair is of more worth than an unmarried man!

The three unmarried men in the yard look bemused…

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina djibo tortoise women men marriage

Posted by Keith at 07:58 PM

November 14, 2006

Home sweet home
Work on our yard in Gorom is apparently making progress. These photos were from a couple of weeks ago before I went to Niamey.


This photo shows the yard looking towards the north. The house I am staying in is on the far left, half-hidden under the acacia tree... The house on the right is where Seydou and Monique and family live. And in the middle is Seydou’s trusty steed, the Yamaha DT 125, which I first bought for my ministry in 1991, and which Seydou is still using.

This photo, looking towards the south, shows the work starting on the new house we are building. Pastor Moumouni is hoping to move in here once it is finished. This photo was taken on Sat 28 Oct. Seydou is using his donkey cart to fetch water for the construction.

This photo was taken 6 days later on the 3 Nov. Work has continued since then, and apparently now they are ready to put the roof on.

Mobile again
I hope to head up to Djibo tomorrow with Steve and a young Aussie called Carl, and then across to Gorom on Saturday. We will – if we get the paperwork finished – be travelling in a vehicle I have just bought with the generous help of friends in the UK. I hope to be travelling a lot to visit the pastors in the region over the coming months, so this will be a great help – no more waiting hours at the side of the road for a lift with urinating goats, no more balancing precariously on top of swaying millet trucks….

It is 4-wheel drive, of course, and there is plenty of room to carry Fulani, local pastors… and even visitors from “white-man’s country”…

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom gorom-gorom building house

Posted by Keith at 07:00 PM

November 04, 2006

Click on the links here for updates on the following subjects:

Continue reading "Update on Gorom-Gorom flood and emergency aid"

Posted by Keith at 09:19 PM

October 30, 2006

I have arrived in Gorom-Gorom at last. The journey to Dori was easy, with the new tarmac road, but the last 56km from Dori to Gorom was hard. I sat by the road from 6.30am till 10.30 waiting for a vehicle to pass. Finally I climbed on top of a truck carrying millet along with about 30 others. The road to Gorom is in a fairly bad state after the rains, and the truck was swaying precariously whenever it hit a hole or bump (so, most of the way…). But we arrived safely. I have a lot of travelling to do over the coming weeks, so please pray I can get a vehicle to help me.

Contact info…
I am hoping to get online once a week to email and update my blog, but we will have to see if this works in practice… This will of course mean a delay in getting a reply, so please be patient…

My mobile phone number has changed from the one I had in June. It seems that because I hadn’t used it for nearly 4 months, Celtel sold the number to someone else. Ho-hum. Anyway, if you know me, email me to ask me for the number – but be warned that only Orange network customers seem to be able to reach me from the UK at the moment!

Effects of the flood
Yesterday I went for a walk around Gorom to talk with people and see how things are in town following the floods. I have written more about that and posted pictures here. It was hard seeing the devastation, but good to be back out among people here again.

Life in Gorom
I am staying in the yard I bought as a ministry base for our work in the province. It is my first time to stay here. Seydou and Monique are living here along with “W”, the young man who was thrown out of his family for becoming a Christian. We are in the process of building another house on the land at the moment, for Pastor Moumouni to live in, as he prepares to move to Gorom. It is so good to be back in Gorom, and to be with my friends here again.

The coming week will be fairly busy:
Mon: Visit local political and NGO authorities, meet with Pastor Pascal
Tue: Meet with Pastor Adama from Markoye; visit the broken dam
Wed: Nothing planned yet!
Thur: Gorom market day - seeing people
Fri: Distribution of mats and blankets (postponed from earlier)
Sat: Ouaga
Sun: Niamey for Horizons-Sahel conference, and meet up with Steve.

Thanks for your prayers!

Posted by Keith at 10:17 PM

October 26, 2006

So I leave Ouaga today on the new tarmac road up to Dori, where I will spend the night before continuing to Gorom tomorrow.

I have finally managed to get my mobile phone to work - it took about 3 days to get everything sorted out. It turns out I only seem to be able to receive texts from the UK if they are sent via Orange! This should work while I am in Gorom too, so if you want to text me, you know what to do...

I will be glad to get out of the city. There are always important admin things to do here. They have to be done, but it drives me potty. I can't wait to get back up north. Of course, this will be an emotional time for me, seeing all my friends who have lost their homes to the flood. It will also be a busy time as I continue to seek how to respond to the various calls on my time. But it will be great to see Seydou and Monique, Pascal, Daniel, Pierre, Yusufi, and others again.

I will only be in Gorom a week or so at this time, before travelling to Niamey in Niger, where we have our annual gathering for all the World Horizons people in West Africa. Steve should be there, back from visiting his fiancee in Cambodia, and hopefully we will travel back to Burkina together.

Thanks for your prayers.

Posted by Keith at 07:58 AM

October 21, 2006

Life has been very busy these last few weeks, so I have not had time to write much in the way of updates.

Arrival in Burkina Faso
I have however now arrived in Ouaga, once more with the help of Afriqiyah. My continuing observation of Tripoli airport reveals the warnings of the dangers of drugs have disappeared, and been replaced with an ATM. Apart from that, not much change - the internet café and vast Samsung televisions still stand quiet, and the souvenir shop and duty free shop never seem to draw any interest from the weary transit passengers.

I was met at the airport at 12.30 this morning by Sibidi and by Peter, which was lovely. It’s great to be back. It is quite hot and humid, and this afternoon Ouaga had a sudden downpour.

Communication
Today has been a fairly relaxed day, mostly trying to sort out communication for the coming months. This time, I have brought my laptop with me, to help me with some aspects of work and communication. The mission office where I am staying for the next few days has just got broadband, and they are kindly letting me use that while here. That means I can even Skype while here… although there is stiff competition for the only access point to the broadband connection, so I can only grab it as and when it’s available.

I have also got a dial-up account sorted for when I move up north, which means hopefully I should be able to blog from time to time.

My mobile unfortunately is not working here at the moment, but good old Sibidi is working on getting that sorted out for me.

Plans
My plan is to spend a few days here in Ouaga, sorting out some practical stuff, then head up to Gorom. Monday is apparently a national holiday, as it is the end of Ramadan. There is still some doubt as to whether it will be Monday or Tuesday – depending presumably on when the imam sees the moon. So I hope that doesn’t delay me too much.

I am eager now to get up north and see how everyone is doing – I will be speaking to Seydou and Daniel tomorrow to find out the latest. Please pray for me as I head up – I know it will be hard seeing so many friends homeless following the flood, and need God’s wisdom to know how to respond and encourage people.

Thanks. More soon…

Posted by Keith at 07:18 PM

September 12, 2006

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help
• More Photos

The latest food distribution went well again on Saturday, for which we thank God.

We have now found a source for mosquito nets at a special "social" price for the emergency relief, for which we are thankful. For large nets, already treated with insecticide, we will be paying about $2/net rather than the commercial price of $6. We are buying 1000 for distribution later this week.

Apparently the national Burkina press have also heard about our work and have been up to interview the team in Gorom!

Please pray that we can continue to respond effectively to the need. Many thanks.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 01:36 PM

September 06, 2006

While I was in Burkina Faso this year, I bought a copy of the national telephone directory to bring home to the UK with me. This is a photo of it - containing all the land-line telephone numbers in the whole country - lying on top of the phone book for my home town of Cardiff in Wales...

The phone book has been very useful during this time of trying to organise the relief aid for Gorom-Gorom, as I have been able to find people and organisations to call to try and get help. I usually call Burkina from my computer using Skype. Although there is a slight delay, it is an excellent way of keeping in contact. I was talking to the pastor in Gorom-Gorom a couple of days ago about Friday's food distribution, and he asked me to pass on thanks to everyone for their prayers and help. Thank you.

Broadband and Mobile Phones
Apparently a few of my friends in parts of Ouagadougou now have Broadband! (Although I'm not sure that translates into quite the same speeds as the broadband we have here...).

Mobile telephone coverage is also expanding rapidly, and I am trying to get hold of a few second-hand mobile phones as people upgrade to newer models, to give to my friends and key contacts around Gorom-Gorom. Gorom is covered by a mobile network, and being able to get hold of Seydou or one of the pastors without having to leave a message and call back several hours later will be so helpful in co-ordinating relief efforts like this.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina telephone gorom phone book communication telecommunication gorom-gorom mobiles

Posted by Keith at 09:33 AM

September 04, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help
• Photos

Update
The second food aid distribution on Friday again went very well, and we have been asked to pass on the appreciation of the people of Gorom-Gorom for the help given. This is the hungriest time of year anyway, and the losses from the flood have added to people's hardship as they were still struggling to recover from the food crisis of 2004-5. The food aid at this time is a huge help for people. Thus the team on the ground have decided to do another distribution this coming Friday.

A new and more accurate assessment has increased the figure for the number of families affected to about 800. We have found about 600 "two-place" mosquito nets, and are hoping to find more so that we will be able to give at least one net per family. Daniel, Andy, and team are meeting this afternoon together with Red Cross and local authority representatives to look at the priorities for the coming weeks.

We are still looking for plastic sheets or similar to bring up to Gorom, before people have to leave the classroooms at the start of the school year in two weeks time. It looks like we may now have someone in Ouaga to help us find these and other needs, which will be a huge help - and a relief for me, as I have been trying to track them down from here in the UK, which is not easy!

In the News
In weeks where Lebanon, Ethiopian, and other crises have been at the centre of media attention, Gorom-Gorom has not of course been in the news. I did a press release here in the UK, which got picked up by some of the local news and Christian media. Inspire magazine picked up on it, and you can read their article online.

Travels
I am off to the US tomorrow for two weeks to meet up with the World Horizons people there as well as the good people of Hatteras Island Christian Fellowship, who have been supporting our work for the past few years. I think these are important meetings as I move into this new phase of life and ministry for the coming years.

But I will also need to be keeping a hand on developments in Gorom, which will be less easy while travelling. Please pray that God blesses this time and helps me accomplish all I need to do.

Many thanks

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 03:55 PM

September 01, 2006

Following the floods in Gorom-Gorom that destroyed half the town and made thousands homeless, we have begun our relief effort for the local population.
Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help
• More Photos

Update
These are photos from last Friday's food aid distribution. The top photo shows the distribution happening at one of the five selected sites, at the bus station. The bottom photo shows the grain being collected. Each family received 13kg of grain, and people came with their own bowls, sacks, buckets, or cloth to collect it.

The second distribution is happening today. Please pray for Andy, Daniel, and team as they continue to seek to respond to this situation with the love and wisdom of God.

Our previous food aid distribution was sorghum, which is eaten locally, but we are responding to requests from the local population to bring millet instead, as this is more useful to them.

Please pray for today's distribution, that it goes as well as last week's, and that this helps vulnerable people to find some stability in the crisis.

Next Steps
We are trying to find a good quantity of mosquito nets at reasonable prices to purchase in Ouagadougou and bring up. Malaria is a big problem at this time of year.

IRIN reports that, as well as mosquito nets, temporary shelter is a big need. People currently sheltering in schools will need to move out shortly to make way for the new school year. Tents are hard to find - Red Cross have only been able to provide 15 of an estimated 330 needed. We want to investigate other possibilities too.

Please pray as we try to respond to the most urgent needs, that we can identify those needs and respond appropriately.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 08:52 AM

August 28, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

Update
Our first food aid distribution was completed on Friday, and was a success, thanks to the hard work, forethought, and effectiveness of our team on the ground.

We were able to distribute 107 sacks of sorghum, giving 800 families food for a few days. The distribution was carried out in each of the five sectors of town, overseen by Daniel, Andy, Altine, and others from the church, working through representatives of the sector where the distribution was being carried out. Representatives of local authorities and the Red Cross were also present, and the whole operation has run smoothly and with good co-operation between the various groups.

We are now preparing for a second distribution this Friday, and are looking at purchasing mosquito nets as the next phase. Because of the water, there are a lot of malaria mosquitos around, and many people are suffering. We are therefore also looking at how to help people with essential medical treatment for malaria and other needs.

I want to thank Daniel, Andy and Laura, Altine, and the others of our team on the ground for the great work they are doing. Please pray for them as they continue to work at the sharp end of this work. Pray that people will retain dignity as well as being helped in their suffering. And please also pray that God will be honoured and that people will give thanks to him and recognise him as their rock and source of help.

Thank you

More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 08:07 AM

August 23, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

The pictures show Gorom-Gorom before and after the flood.

Update
Things are happening quite quickly, now thankfully. Because of the delay in being able to collect the money, our distribution has been put back to Friday. But this will work well, as we are co-ordinating with Christian Aid and others who are doing similar distributions on Monday and today, Wednesday, to ensure that everyone in need is covered.

Members of my home church, Glenwood Church, have made a very generous contribution to the work, and Samartian's Purse and Food for the Hungry are also supporting us in our efforts.

Personal stories from Gorom-Gorom
Via Andy in Gorom:
"Everybody says thank God that this flood happened during the day. It seems like most people were able to get their family and belongings out of the houses before they fell in. But some weren't able to save anything, "not even a spoon," as my neighbor Ibrahim said. These would include people who were out of town during the catastrophe, including our Mossi neighbors, and the owner of the corner store, Adrouhaman (called "Alfa"), who lost everything in his store, including an expensive stock of cement and paint."

"Amadou the mason... worked all morning to protect his courtyard and his neighbors' by digging channels and building bulwarks of earth. In the end, the water levels raised too high... by which time he was too exhausted to get anything out of the house, even a change of clothes. He spent the following week wearing the same pair of shorts and torn shirt--here it's important to note that grown men don't wear shorts in public here, and people take pride in their clothing being clean and in good shape. His baby died two days after the flood, "still on his mother's back." He says it was malaria, but he thinks that being exposed to the cold and wet may of brought on the illness. "I don't understand why God would do this," he said."

More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 12:11 PM

August 21, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

Update
A very busy day today, and it's getting late, so I'll write more tomorrow. We have had a number of significant gifts today through my home church and through an aid agency, which I will tell you about very soon.

The guys were finally able to collect the £4000 I sent out, and the first part of this will be used for a grain distribution this coming Friday.

Please pray for good collaboration with the authorities, for the right help to reach the right people, for us to be able to steward these gifts well, and for God to touch the hearts of people.

Thank you

Photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 10:43 PM

August 19, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

Update
We have come up with an initial budget for the immediate response to the crisis in Gorom-Gorom and area. We estimate we need about $170,000 (about £90,000) for everything for 700 households in Gorom-Gorom, and 200 in the surrounding area. This is for food, temporary shelter (tents), and household provisions (blankets, medicines, mats, mosquito nets, clothes etc). We are looking for all the help we can get.

Now that food distribution will be starting, we are beginning to think of shelter, other provisions, and to mosquito nets. As it is the rainy season, there are lots of malaria-carrying mosquitos breeding in the water. Malaria kills 1 million people a year, 90% of the victims being in Africa - see this series on malaria I did last year.

So mosquito nets are a major need. As Andy says:
"We sure could use them. Lots of water. Lots of mosquitos. Lots of sick, unhappy people."

The most expensive and difficult part of this is the tents. We don't know where to get hold of these, and certainly don't have the money for them. We are in discussion with several aid agencies to see whether they might be able to help us with this. Please pray for this. Thank you.

Update
* Red Cross have just announced that they are allocating $47,941 (about £25000) from the Federation’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) to respond to the needs in Gorom-Gorom, "or to replenish disaster preparedness stocks distributed to the affected population." Pray still for a good link-up. I have contacted them to try and co-ordinate.

* We have been told that "plastic sheets", rather than tents may be a more readily available solution for temporary shelter, so need to look into this.

More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 05:21 PM

August 18, 2006

Background

• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

Update
The latest figures for those affected by the flood, following a more accurate census by local authorities gives the following figures for the town of Gorom-Gorom (not including villages outside the town):

• 697 households have been displaced by the flood, consisting of 5514 people
• 943 houses, 7 shops, and 20 grain stores have been destroyed by the rain

Our £4000 has not yet been collected, since the post-office at Gorom-Gorom did not have enough cash. The road from the capital is now open however, so Andy and Pastor Daniel hope to get the money on Monday morning. I spoke to the head of the post-office, and he assures me this should be possible.

Christian Aid are also starting a relief effort through their partner in Gorom-Gorom, UCEC-Sahel. Andy and Daniel will be co-ordinating with them. I am in contact with Peace Corps workers Andy and Laura's parents in the US, and we are also in touch with a number of other agencies to look at different possibilities. Andy is working on an estimate of the needs and budget for us to present an action plan to possible partners. Please pray for good communication and co-ordination between us all.

More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 03:22 PM

August 17, 2006

This is part 2 of a number of posts where I will share a bit about the vision for my continuing work in Burkina, and some thoughts about mission and the church today.

“Joseph” had a dream from God. He is a tailor from the Mossi people, and is a Christian. He used to come to Gorom-Gorom occasionally to work, and would then return his home town. One day he had a dream in which God showed him a pile of money and a Fulani New Testament. God told him to make his choice – would he work for money, or for the word of God among the Fulani? Based on that dream he moved to Gorom, learned the Fulani language, and is using his tailoring business to support himself and his family in sharing the gospel.

“Isaac” is also Mossi, a pastor working in the north of Burkina. There are no local church-goers in his town. Some missionaries helped him start a small grain bank. He buys grain when it is cheap, and when the price rises, he sells it at a slight profit, but below the commercial rate, and keeps some in reserve for people in particular need. Thus he supports himself, brings a little stability to the volatile grain market, and helps those in need. His wife also helps support him by making and selling soap. He has learned one of the local languages, and does evangelism and AIDS awareness seminars in local villages.

“Sambo” is another Mossi pastor who speaks Fulfulde, working in a remote town in the Burkina Sahel, with a handful of poor Christians, in his church, who are unable to support him financially. He works a field, but, as a “foreigner” the land he has been given is poor quality and unproductive. With a loan, he was able to buy some goats which he uses to try and support himself by fattening them up and selling. He barely makes enough to feed his family, and is frustrated that he doesn’t have the time or resources to do more in evangelism or to help the people in need around him.

Missionaries in their own land
As well as local Christians like Yero, there are increasingly some excellent Burkinabe workers in the north of Burkina, guys who are not local to the area, but who have vision, commitment, and ability. They have proved themselves in their faithful service accepting hardship to serve in this difficult area, and could do so much more if they had a little more resource and training. Many of them have learned local language, but their training as pastors has not really been shaped for the cross-cultural pioneering ministry in which they find themselves.

Serving the servers
What they do NOT need is
a) Dependence upon well-meaning but inappropriate western charity, or
b) Western-style ministry training that repeats the cultural compromise of our own failing churches.

However, with a little hand up, and some additional cross-cultural training, I believe they can become even more effective than they are now.

As outsiders to the region, they do sometimes face issues of cultural prejudice from the Fulani, but, as Isaac is discovering, the love that he is showing people is finding a response in people’s hearts and homes. It is probably more possible for these guys effectively to incarnate Christ to the Fulani than it is for us as white missionaries, because we come from – and are seen as being in - positions of influence and wealth, whereas they serve from a position of weakness and simplicity. The question is how can we most effectively work with them to combine our resources with their availability to bring a positive transformation in their communities.

So, the second area in which I want to be involved in the coming “season” is working with these guys to help them find ways to support themselves in their ministry, and to understand and work through the cross-cultural issues they face as Mossi servants among the Fulani, so that they can become more effective as agents of spiritual and social transformation in the places they live.

Part 1 was here. More soon.

Tags: burkina burkina faso church mission jesus christ missionary ministry africa fulani christianity

Continue reading "The Mission Continues… Part 2: the faithful servants"

Posted by Keith at 10:41 AM

August 16, 2006

Background

• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

Update
Thank you to those of you who have already responded. We have just sent out £4000 ($7500) to help with food aid in the immediate aftermath of the flooding. Andy, Daniel and team are planning a food distribution on Monday. That money will help buy food for maybe 200 families for a month, or 400 families for 2 weeks.

Andy and Daniel and team are doing a great job, and we trust them to decide the best way to use the money. Food is the immediate need, as it was already the hungriest time of the year, before the floods hit, destroying the little reserve people had, and taking many away from work they could do to provide for their families.

We are trying to co-ordinate now for finding mosquito nets, tents, blankets, medicines, and clothes. We are also contacting aid agencies in the hope that they may come and help. Please pray as we seek to find the best response. Any financial help you can give us will also be well-received.

Pastor Pascal
This photo shows Pascal and his wife before the flood, with their home on the left, and their church on the right. This has now all disappeared, washed away by the rain. I spoke to Pascal yesterday - he has found somewhere to stay, and was more concerned about the people sleeping under the stars with no shelter in the middle of rainy season. He asks for your prayers for everyone.

At the same time, people still need rain - the rains started late this year, and so need to continue until the end of September for any hope of a reasonable harvest. Please pray for this, but also that everyone can find shelter quickly. Thank you.

More photos of the flood damage, taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers, can be found here

Background information on Gorom-Gorom here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 05:57 PM

August 15, 2006

Update
Background

• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help

The floods in Gorom have finally made the news - even if it is only in the African media - a week after they happened. You can read more here (English) and here (in French).

Local press in Burkina reports the number of households affected as 877 in Gorom-Gorom. The UN reports the number of people made homeless as 6000 in Gorom, and 4000 in 15 villages to the north of the town.

Injuries and deaths have remained very low, which is a cause for thanks - had the rains come at night when people were asleep inside, these would have been much higher.

Aid Situation
Andy Kostrub of Peace Corps in Gorom-Gorom says: "So far, 10 metric tons of grain, 100 mats, and 100 blankets have been distributed by CONASUR, a government food security agency, to people staying at the shelters. The grain was exhausted within one day." Contributions have also from religious and other organisations, but the total being inadequate to the need. "Action Sociale could not specify any other aid that was on the way, though he said he was in contact with Christian Aid and had received a call from UNICEF. We gather that they are waiting for the international community to act."

"The immediate needs are for food, medicine, mosquito nets, and tents."

Impact of the floods
This photo shows how the water erodes the base of the mud-brick house, causing it eventually to collapse.

"This time of year is normally the hungry season and the peak time for malaria and bronchitis. We expect that disease and hunger will be exacerbated by the displacement and loss of wealth and livelihood brought by the flood. One nurse at the health district is concerned that there has not been a coordinated effort to look after health and hygiene conditions at the places of refuge."

"Electricity, water pumps, telephone, and cell phone service are all functional."

The effect on fields and this year's harvest is not yet clear. Andy is not aware of great problems, but the UN says: "Local authorities reckon the floods will have wiped out harvests affecting thousands of farmers in and around Gorom-Gorom."

Response
I am liaising with Andy and the local pastor, Daniel Kabore of Gorom-Gorom Assemblies of God. Andy says: "We plan on coordinating with the Assembly of God church to do our part in the relief effort. We would like to help assure that emergency supplies reach those in need. Therefore, we’re asking those who are in Ouaga to let us know about the current availability of tents, mosquito nets, blankets, mats, bidons, buckets, clothing, soap, bleach, and medicine for sale or donation, or where we might go looking for them. We are soliciting donations of medicines for treating malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, and basic medical supplies such as alcohol, cotton swabs, syringes, antiseptic and antibiotics. We anticipate that the church will soon be able to accept money donations to purchase and transport food and supplies."

You can send donations through World Horizons (see here ), the organisation I work with, and we will make sure they arrive promptly.

This photo shows how, with typical sahelian resilience, Gorom people carry on normal life and business as they, at the same time, clear up the mess.

The photos here were taken by Andy and Laura, the Gorom Peace Corps workers - more photos of the flood damage can be found here

Background information on Gorom-Gorom here

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 12:40 PM

August 13, 2006

This page is being updated regularly.
Three people have died, and thousands made homeless following flooding around my "second home" of Gorom-Gorom.

• Latest Update
• Gorom-Gorom
• What Happened
• The Needs
• Response
• How to Help
• Photos

What Happened
About 8 000 people in the region of Gorom-Gorom in northern Burkina Faso have lost their homes because of severe flooding. In Gorom itself, about 700 households were lost, affecting about half of the 12 000 population of the town. Roughly another 200 households in villages outside of Gorom were also destroyed. Many of the people affected are now sheltering in schools or with nearby family.

The disaster struck following a large rain, when 136cm (5.5")of rain fell (nearly half the normal year's rainfall) in 6 hours. A dam broke about 5 miles away, and a tide of water waist-high swept through the region. Several nearby villages were completely destroyed, as well as about half of the houses in Gorom-Gorom. Most houses are built of mud, and would have been simply washed away by the onslaught of water.

Only 3 people have died that we are aware of, fortunately. This is largely because the disaster happened during the day. If it had happened at night, when people were asleep in their houses, the losses would have been much higher.

The water largely flowed away from Gorom within the first two days, but the main road is still virtually impassable, and will remain difficult for the rest of the rainy season. Although health risks have been exacerbated, these are not extreme. It seems that fields and animals have not been badly impacted, but that many small businesses may have lost their stock.

Immediate needs
The immediate need is for food, mosquito nets, soap, buckets, clothing, medicines, mats, tents, and blankets. Mosquito nets are very important as the rains bring mosquitos, which carry malaria. Malaria kills nearly 1 million people in Africa each year.

An initial budget estimate for the immediate response to the crisis in Gorom-Gorom and area is about $170,000 (about £90,000) for everything for 700 households in Gorom-Gorom, and 200 in the surrounding area. This is for food, temporary shelter, and household provisions (blankets, medicines, mats, mosquito nets, clothes etc). We are looking for all the help we can get.

Food can be bought in Gorom-Gorom, and most of the rest of these items can be bought in the capital, Ouagadoudou. The tents or plastic sheets for shelter are the most difficult to get hold of, but are very necessary as the rains continue.

Getting help there is a problem: The only road to Gorom from the capital city remains very difficult throughout the rainy season, but supplies were initially being trucked as far as possible, and food hand carried through chest deep water to the other side, where it was picked up and brought to Gorom.

The village water wells appear to be safe. Sanitation and health risks have been exacerbated but do not appear to be extreme at this time, as the water disperses fairly quickly, and there are dry days often between the rains, allowing the ground to dry out.

Longer-term Needs
The main needs will start after the end of the rainy season, helping people re-build not only their homes, but also their livelihoods:
* Food Aid. If fields and crops will have been affected, food aid may be needed throughout the year. The rains started late this year, and the rains need to carry on until the end of Sep for a reasonable harvest.
* Housing. A simple mud-brick house costs about £100 ($200). However, this is not possible immediately, as it is virtually impossible to build mud-brick houses in the rainy season, which runs from July-Sep. There is also the question as to whether people should build in mud again. Certainly local people will not be able to afford to build for themselves, and even if they could, building in cement would be beyond their means.
* Livelihood. I suspect that people will have lost not only possessions and homes and fields, but possibly their businesses too, and there will be need to help people re-build their lives and communities.

Response
I am liaising with a small group composed of the local pastor (Daniel), an American volunteer worker (Andy), and a local nurse (Altine), who are looking at the best way to respond.

Our initial help has been in Food Aid Distribution, on the 25 August and 1 September, through the local church. We are also looking at finding mosquito nets, soap, tents etc for the next phase, and are trying to contact aid agencies who might be able to help. Members of my home church, Glenwood Church, have made a very generous contribution to the work, and Samartian's Purse and Food for the Hungry are also supporting us in our efforts.

A Gorom-Gorom Crisis Committee with village leaders has been organised, to identify priority needs and resources, gather data, get information to the country's government and to public and private aid organizations, and to request needed assistance.

The initial response of local authorities was impressive. The military and police apparently did a great job in bringing food aid in, but circumstances have made consistent distribution difficult. An initial distribution of 10 metric tons of grain, 100 mats, and 100 blankets was made by CONASUR, a government food security agency to those staying in shelters, but this was finished in one day.

We are co-ordinating with the Crisis Committee, but are unaware of any other response at present by local authorities. Christian Aid and the Red Cross are now also responding, and we are liasing with them.

How to Help APPEAL CLOSING
Update: 24 Oct 2006: The appeal for help for the flood relief effort is closing from 31 Oct 2006. If more help is needed for future developments, I will keep you informed.

If you are wish to support other the rest of our work in Gorom-Gorom, please send cheques made payable to World Horizons to:

USA

Burkina Faso Sahel Account
World Horizons
PO Box 17721,
Richmond,
VA 23226
USA

UK

Burkina Faso Sahel Account
World Horizons
North Dock
Llanelli
Carms SA15 2LF
UK

Thank you.
I will keep you updated as I get news. Please pray. Thank you.

Tags: burkina faso africa burkina photos gorom flood emergency aid crisis gorom-gorom

Posted by Keith at 07:08 AM

July 11, 2006

The face of Osama bin Laden glared down at me from his camel, a kalashnikov gun in his hand.

Fortunately, he was only on the front of a t-shirt of a young boy, who was standing listening as I chatted at Gorom-Gorom market with some friends. Bin Laden is not physically in Burkina Faso, of course - in spite of the occasional local rumour he was hiding out it Deou, a remote market town north of Gorom-Gorom. However, t-shirts with his face are widespread - although not as widely seen now as in 2002. But what does this mean - does he really have so much support here?

"Ada anndi mo, naa?" I asked the boy. "Do you know who he is?"
"Samma Biladden" the boy replied knowledgably.
"Uh-huh, and who is he?"
The boy shrugged. No idea. I asked my friends, who also didn't know. I reminded them of the events of 9-11, which they had heard of on the radio, and they looked with renewed concern at the boy's t-shirt, the boy now squirming with the sudden attention directed at his chest.
"Robel mawdo!" I heard them say with alarm and awe. "He is a major bad guy!"

Wahhabiya Islam and a bit of dress sense
In the period after 9/11, ObL t-shirts were to be seen everywhere, worn around Gorom-Gorom and sold at the market, with ObL in various heroic poses. Like the boy I met, many people who have no idea who ObL is, and who certainly would not support his cause, were trotting round Gorom with his face adorning their chests. If you have no money to buy new clothes, and someone offers you a free t-shirt, what will you say...?

I can only imagine that someone with a lot of money had them made and shipped in, and then distributed or sold very cheaply through the network of Wahhabiya Muslims there. This is the Islamic sect to which ObL belongs. It doesn't imply that the Wahhabiya in Gorom support ObL of course, anymore than the Gorom church receiving t-shirts for distribution with David Beckham on should be seen as England football supporters.

The Wahhabiya are a Sunni sect, a more conservative, and revivalist group than the other Muslim sects in Gorom. (We have 4 altogether, including the Tijaniyya, the Ahmadiyya, and the Qadiriyya). However, the Wahhabiya in Gorom are generally peacable - certainly not extremist or terrorist. But they are fairly new arrivals in Gorom - in the last 10 years - and their particular form of Islam (traditional dress, rejection of the use of charms, way of praying etc) has set them apart and caused some tensions - even arguments - with the other sects.

They are not wealthy, but they do get money from somewhere - for example, to build their mosque (another cause for fall-out with the other Muslims, who claimed there should only be one "Friday mosque" in town). Maybe the same source provided the ObL t-shirts. Maybe they were surplus to requirement - after all, Wahhibiya Muslims don't generally wear t-shirts...

By their clothes shall you know them...?
In any case, most people wearing the t-shirts, like the boy at market, have no idea who ObL is. This is higlighted by this picture of a sweet young mother and friend of ours in Gorom. It might not be obvious, but she is wearing an Osama bin Laden t-shirt, and an Assemblies of God skirt - and with no idea what either of them are! Both were probably given to her.

Sometimes dress can tell you something about the person wearing the clothes. And - whether that is an ObL t-shirt, or a "hoody", that can initially be frightening. But sometimes the reason for what the person is wearing is not what we think, and we can wrongly judge them. Sometimes, the only way to find out is to get past our fear, and to get to know the person and their story.

Clothing doesn't last long here. The ObL t-shirts have by now mostly been worn too thin to last. They have been replaced by ones with President Blaise Compaore (after last year's elections), which will no doubt soon be supplanted by the cast-offs from this year's World Cup. Expect to see Zidane and Beckham and co in Gorom soon. But don't read too much into their popularity...

Tags: burkina burkina faso africa osama bin laden clothes islam wahibiya 9-11 hoodies

Posted by Keith at 01:13 PM

June 25, 2006

The rest of my time in Gorom and Dori went well, with some more interesting meetings and chats with different people, and today I had to try and find a way from Dori to Djibo

Part 1 - Sitting Under the Acacias
At 08.00 I found myself sitting under the acacias by the side of the Dori-Djibo road, hoping for a passing vehicle to pick me up and take me to Djibo. The sun was already beating down, but I had the woman water-seller for company.

By 12.00, I was still sitting there, with no sign of a vehicle going to Djibo. The sun was even hotter, and conversation with my water-selling friend had become increasingly intermittent. There hadn't been a single vehicle.

In discussion with my new friend, we decided I had three options
1. Stay by the road in the hope of a vehicle to Gorgaji, where I could stay the night, then maybe get from there to Arabinda the following day, from where I might get a lift to Djibo.
2, Take the bus to Ouaga and hope to get there in time for the evening bus to Ouahigouya and from there to Djibo - a round trip of 600km for a 200km journey, which should get me there by midnight.
3. Give up and go to Ouaga.
None of them felt particularly right. What should I do...?

Part 2 - Dancing on the stairs
I decided to go for the Ouaga-Ouahigouya-Djibo option, and headed back into town to buy a ticket for the 1pm bus. At 12.20, having bought my ticket I was sat at the bus station, when I spotted the car of the Catholic sisters from Gorom. The driver told me there is a priest going to Djibo today, so I phoned the priest, a lovely guy from Congo called John, who kindly agreed to take me. I re-sold my ticket and sat down again to wait.

While waiting, a Mossi man drives up on his motorbike, whom I knew from more than ten years ago, when he worked with our Horizons team in Ouaga. He is now working in Dori and Gorom area, trying to start a work to help orphans in the area. It feels like meeting him again was the reason for my delayed flight from Dori, and I am excited to see how we may be able to work together again in the future.

Finally John turns up, with a Fulani driver, and we head off on one of the most hair-raising rides I have had in Burkina. During the year the dirt roads deteriorate and become "corrugated" - a surface known in English as "washboard" or in French "escaliers" (stairs). This surface will rattle your car apart unless you are prepared to drive at dangerously fast speed, when the car "dances" over the "stairs", threatening at any minute to dance off the road and tip over. You can guess which option our Fulani driver took...

Anyway, as you can see, we did arrive safely in Djibo, in time for a shower and a meal of chicken and bread with Steve, before catching the second half of Argentina v Mexico. It's great to see Steve, Cris and Irenaldo again, and we have a lot to talk about. Tomorrow we will join the Fulani church here, and I will be able to catch up with the Fulani Christians here before leaving for Ouaga on Monday.

Thanks for your prayers - the answers to prayer and meetings along the journey make the uncertainties and discomfort worthwhile. Thanks too for your emails - sorry I can't answer them all while in the sahel. I will do when I get back.

More soon

Posted by Keith at 12:06 AM

June 21, 2006

Thanks for praying for rain for Djibo. Steve says they have now had a good rain. We didn’t get any of it in Gorom – just the wind and dust that disturbed our night trying to sleep under the stars. Please pray now for rain for Gorom - it is stiflingly hot, and people are longing for a good rain to kick-start the season’s field work.

Gorom-Gorom and Markoye
My time in Gorom and Markoye is going very well – thanks again for your prayers. I have had an excellent time with the pastors here, as well as with Seydou and Monique and others. One Christian here, called Pierre moved to Gorom in 2000 in response to a vision where God offered him the choice between a pile of money or a New Testament in Fulfulde. He has learned Fulfulde, and has put his earnings from his tailoring skills to buy a tv and vcd player, which he uses for evangelism in his workshop.

Seydou and I had a very fruitful and encouraging day in Markoye – though an exhausting one. It was non-stop, from leaving Gorom on the motorbike at 7am until we arrived back home nearly 12 hours later. The road was terrible, and the burning sun reflecting off the sand of the Markoye dunes was draining. But it was great to see the pastor and what God is doing there, to share our hearts for the future, and to walk through the market and meet old friends I haven’t seen for years. The pastor is respected throughout the town for his character and for the work he has done helping people – whether in Aids awareness, food aid, or so many other ways.

Things generally seem to be coming together very well, as I spend time with these excellent guys, and I should be able to tell you about some of our plans soon after I get back to the UK.

I also managed to fit in watching the England-Sweden game in a friend’s yard. England are gathering a bit of a following here – it is quite fun to hear Tuaregs in their turbans extolling Joe Cole’s abilities with the ball, or barefooted kids knocking a ball about on the sandy streets claiming to be Beckham.

The next few days
Tomorrow is market day in Gorom, which is always a fascinating day, and will be an opportunity to catch up with more friends. On Friday I will head back to Dori (if the rain hasn’t cut the road off), then on Saturday try to get to Djibo to catch up with Steve. This will be hard as there is no regular transport, so I will be sitting at the side of the road hoping for a vehicle to come by and pick me up. Since time is short, if I don’t get a lift on Sat, I will just have to head straight to Ouaga on Sunday, so please pray for this. Thanks.

More whenever I can next get to a cyber-café.

Posted by Keith at 10:08 PM

June 18, 2006

I am now in Gorom-Gorom, without cellphone contact as it turns out it is a different network here from the south of the country.

The journey to Dori was surprisingly easy – the previous night’s rain had cooled the air, and the newly-tarmacked road made it a comfortable ride - so different from past experiences of arriving exhausted and covered in red dust. On my way into Bani, with its dramatic mud mosques, I spotted two Fulani girls walking along the road, hair braided, milk pots on their heads – and wearing Arsenal shirts. A few minutes later I received a text message from a friend telling me England had beaten Trinidad 2-0. Is this globalization…?

My meeting with the pastors in Dori went really well. Thank you for praying. I am now trying to see the pastors in Gorom-Gorom and Markoye over the next few days, and will then return to Dori again for another session with the guys there. These are key meetings as we talk and pray about how we can work together in the coming years, and I appreciate your prayers. I think there is a lot of vision and commitment, and I am excited to see where it will all lead.

Seydou and Monique are doing well. “W”, who had been thrown out of his family for becoming a Christian has passed his exams and will pass into his final school year. “B”, a Fulani Christian girls who got baptised this year is also doing well at school and growing in faith. “Yusufi” is doing well, and tells me my cows are in good form.

Tomorrow Seydou and I go to Markoye on his motorbike, planning to come back the same day if rain doesn’t cut the road off.

More soon

Posted by Keith at 10:10 PM

June 14, 2006

Unfortunately I haven't been able to get use of a vehicle, so will be heading north to Dori on the bus tomorrow.

In Dori I will be meeting on Friday with some local pastors to talk about how we can work together over the coming years. These are wonderful men of God who are key for the work in this region. Please pray for these discussions that God leads us by his Spirit.

Afterwards, I hope to continue to Gorom-Gorom, then to Markoye, and hopefully Djibo - though this last is now looking unlikely without transport. This is quite frustrating, but I trust God will help me see all those I need to. I will definitely catch up with Steve in Ouaga if not before.

It has been hot and humid today, and the skies have just opened up wit a good rain here in Ouaga, preceded by a strong dusty wind and a short powercut.

However, I spoke to Steve on the phone yesterday, and he said Djibo has a real problem with lack of water - please pray for rain there. He and Cristiano and Irenaldo are enjoying the world cup and hoping for an England-Brazil final!

Thanks for your prayers and encouragements. More soon.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso travel sahel

Posted by Keith at 09:48 PM

June 13, 2006

Well, the plane was over 3 hours late, but I finally landed in Ouagadougou to temperatures similar to those I'd left in England. It was 30C - but it was midnight. Daytime temperatures are around 40C - check them out here

I managed, with the kind help of my good friends at SIM, to get quite a lot done today, including - appropriately enough - getting a new SIM card in my mobile phone so I can use it in Burkina.

Unfortunately I still don't have transport. So, if things don't come together tomorrow, I'll be heading north on the bus on Thursday.

More soon.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso travel sahel

Posted by Keith at 09:01 PM

March 17, 2006

Thanks for all your helpful comments on the article "To bribe or not to bribe..." There were some excellent responses.

So, what did I do...?

Well, I didn't pay the bribe.

As a result, I lost the bike, missed a key appointment in the afternoon, and finished the day with very sore feet and a sunburned face. The bike had to be collected and the fine paid the next day.

Burkinabe responses
Interestingly, the first reaction of almost all the Burkinabe I spoke to about it was an astonished:
"But if you'd have just given him a couple of thousand, he'd have let you go!"

"Yes, but if we keep allowing them to make us pay bribes, it will never finish!" I answered the three people in the tourist office. "How will this ever be 'la terre des hommes droits' (land of righteous men - the literal meaning of Burkina Faso) if we keep agreeing to it? We need to fight corruption!" They agreed enthusiatically, though I had the impression they were humouring me somewhat.

"But now you have made yourself suffer!" commiserated the Christian guards outside an office compound. "You will have to walk in the heat, and go all the way to Patte d'Oie to get your bike back. Why didn't you just pay him?"

"It wasn't like this in the time of Sankara (the previous president)" ranted the taxi-driver. "At that time if you tried to take bribes you would be shot! And it's getting worse all the time. But what can we do...?"

"If only you'd called me on my mobile" sympathised my Christian soldier friend, "I'd have come and they'd have let you go. That's what my brother does. We understand each other, the police and us..."

"Ha!" cried the young guy at the coffee stall, "you shouldn't even have stopped. What could he have done...?"

I had the feeling that my "righteous stand" was seen as mere foolishness by all the Burkinabe. So, were they right? Maybe. I don't know, but here are a few thoughts:

It's not about me
I think I was right not to pay the bribe, since this would have been encouraging a corrupt system, by which the powerful exploit the weak for personal gain. It is not me, but the normal Burkinabe who are the true victims of this system, since they are less able to pay.

And there is the real dilemma. Was I not also supporting the system by actually paying the fine for a crime I didn’t commit? Again, I am well able to pay the fine, but what about the many other victims who are less able to?

So, are there ways of making a stand not only against paying the bribe, but against paying the fine? The option of being prepared to “hang out all afternoon” is a great one when you actually have the time. It can make a point without confrontation. Certainly, if everyone took the same personal stance, there would eventually be a change. However the police count on the fact that we rarely have that option, and the "lesser sin" might be to pay the fine rather than disrupt a working day. Sometimes we have to pick our battles.

But maybe there is also a time for confrontation. Maybe there is a time to speak up – not just for myself, but for the others. To speak up, humbly, yes, but clearly, saying that this is not right.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Pr 31:9)

I didn’t do that this time.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso bribery travel ouagadougou mission sahel corruption

Posted by Keith at 10:51 AM

March 11, 2006

Yesterday I was stopped by the police in Ouagadougou.

Just as I was turning the corner at the traffic lights, the lights changed from green to amber. I heard a whistle blow, and knew I was in trouble. I looked up to see a policeman waving me down. I pulled over and he told me I had crashed a red light.

Patiently, but knowing it was a lost cause, I tried to convince him that the lights had changed as I was coming through. He sent me off to see his boss down the road, where I joined a small and growing group of frustrated moped riders trying to get the attention and sympathy of an older, and unsympathetic-looking policeman.

After dealing with the immediate scrum, he turned his attention to me, and gave me a piece of paper with official stamps on it.

"You crashed a red light. You will need to take this paper to the central police compound tomorrow morning at 8am, and pay a fine of 4800cfa (about £5). Then you can get your moped back."

Once more I tried to persuade him that maybe his man had made a mistake. I was careful not to accuse directly, but was trying to give him a way to back down. He drew me aside.

"Look, I want to help you. If you can pay half the price now, I can let you go with your moped. But I can't give you a receipt... In that way we can settle this as friends. But if you need a receipt, you will have to go tomorrow to the police compound, and then you will have to pay the full price..."

What should I do? If I paid now, I knew the money would not go into the proper box. Policemen - like everyone else in Burkina - are using whatever means they have to make ends meet. Their salaries are often barely enough, and the weekend was coming. If I pay the gift to my "friend", am I not sustaining the system of corruption that so weakens the economy of the country?

And yet, would it really be so bad? If I paid now, the money would at least be helping the poorly-paid policeman's family, rather than the over-populated bureaucratic system. I also had a very full programme, and to be deprived of my moped for the rest of the day would throw it into complete chaos. Without wheels, I would be forced to walk in the sun a fair distance to find a taxi to get me where I needed to go. For just £2.50 I would be free to get on with my day, and no-one - except maybe you, dear reader - would know any more about it.

What should I do?
What would you do (honestly)?
And what did I actually do?

Part two can be found here.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso bribery travel ouagadougou mission sahel corruption

Posted by Keith at 05:45 PM

March 08, 2006

Well, I am back in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, and writing this from a very clean and efficient air-conditioned cyber cafe! A bit different from Gorom-Gorom.

On Monday night in Gorom, Steve, Cris and I had a little farewell party with Seydou and Monique and their children and W, who I wrote about a couple of days ago. As a special treat, Monique cooked up spaghetti - known in Fulfulde as "tekketti tubaaku" or "white man's innards". And from somewhere she came up with some prawn crackers - known in Fulfulde as "noppi tubaaku" - or "white man's ears"! Our Tamacheq neighbour was fascinated, and so we subsequently learned the unpronouncable Tamacheq phrase for "white man's ears" which Steve then started teaching the Fulani...

Monique also bought some meat for the feast - very expensive at the moment as animal prices are high. The only affordable meat is chicken - as everyone is trying to get rid of their birds in fear of bird flu. In case you are wondering, she chose goat meat...

It has been great to renew friendship, and to laugh, cry, pray, and serve together again, even for such a short time. Please keep praying for them. Seydou did find work recently, helping a builder, but never actually got paid for it. They are persevering in the faith that they are where God wants them.

The next day we made our way on a rickety old minibus to Dori. That night I headed out into town to buy a torch (75p with batteries), a sachet of waxhing powder (5p), and a roll of toilet paper (30p). As the moon was shining brightly, and the air was cool after a hot dusty day, i flip-flopped my way through the sand into town to look for an internet cafe (30p for 15 mins). Unfortunately both were out of order. But on the way, I passed by several little shops with televisions out on the street, and small crowds standing in the road watching Chelsea v Barcelona on the national Burkina tv channel.

It was another long and dusty ride the next day down to Ouaga, and I have a few more busy days visiting ahead of me. I am looking forward to catching up with more friends, and to talking with my Horizons leader who is coming over from Niger to meet up with me. As well as enjoyable, my time here has been very instructive, and I have a lot to think and pray about as I prepare to return to the uk. I will write more about stuff that has happened, and about vision for the future over the coming months. Thank you for your prayers.

More soon....

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom travel ouagadougou fulani mission sahel

Posted by Keith at 06:15 PM

March 05, 2006

Life has been busy here in Gorom-Gorom. I've not managed to get online all week till now. Yesterday's post was dictated to Steve on his laptop, which he then uploaded for me. A few snapshots from the last few days -

* Relaxing with Yusufi and his family on the sand dune, and sharing Christ with his Fulani neighbours. All my cows are doing well, and I have two new additions.

* Talking with J&S about their new association to help orphans

* Being constantly greeted by children by my Fulani name as I walk along the road: "foofo Diallo Adama!" - and having no idea whose children they are

* Being thanked by everyone for the grain that was sent and distributed. Apparently even the Imam was in the queue to get some

* Suddenly realising I had no idea where my return ticket was, and silently panicking until i found it again

* Being asked several times if I am merried yet, and when the answer comes in the negative being offered various daughters and sisters

* Talking with pastors and Christians about vision for the work here, and sensing that God is at work and speaking

* Seeing seriously ill children whose parents don't have the means to take them to the hospital

* Sweating constatnly in the heat!

On Tuesday we leave Gorom to head to Ouagadougou again. More soon...

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom travel fulani mission sahel

Posted by Keith at 08:44 PM

March 04, 2006

I followed Muusa's older brother Boureima, the village leader, past the sheep to the millet-stalk shelter, where he placed a low, wobbly stool outside the entrance. I perched precariously on it, conscious of the sun beating down on my head, and peered inside. The cool shade of the shelter looked dark in comparison to the glaring sun outside. On either end of the traditional Fulani bed, perched like bookends, were two older Fulani women, Muusa's mother and mother-in-law. Behind them, stretched out on the bed, and half-hidden by one of the bookends, I could just make out the shape of the lower half of Muusa's widow Jelika, with their two-month old girl lying by.

'Salaam aleykum,' I greeted them.
We went on to ask after each other's health, family, children and village. Then there was a pause.
'Mi nani kibaaru Muusa,' I said. (I heard the sad news about Muusa)
I spoke about how I had been looking forward to seeing him again, and how the news of his death had shocked and saddened me.

*

I had first come to know the people of Yengerento years earlier, and we had often visited each other. Whenever we visited they would welcome us, often killing a goat in our honour. They listened attentively whenever I shared the message of Christ, and were always respectful and interested, but they continued diligently in their Muslim prayers five times a day. It was Muusa who seemed most interested, and he used to come regularly to Gorom to visit us. After a few years he prayed to give his life to Christ. He couldn't read, and being the only believer, twenty-five miles from the nearest Christian, was hard for him. He was nervous about sharing his faith with his family. They saw him come to meetings in Gorom, and Fulani Christian gatherings elsewhere, but they never bothered him about it.

Slowly Muusa was growing in faith and becoming part of our little family of Fulani Christians in Gorom. He got on particularly well with Yusufi and Hamadou. In 2003 we went to Yengerento at the villagers' invitation to spend three days preaching the gospel and showing the 'Jesus' film. That was my last time in the village.

During my time in Britain last year I heard that Muusa was ill, but it was a shock when I got to Gorom to hear that he had died.

*

I tried to encourage the women with the assurance that Muusa's life was safe in God's hands. The older women in return, with Fulani stoicism, said that's the way life is and when your time has come, there's nothing you can do about it. 'Crying does no good - it was the will of God.' Jelika just lay silently, almost invisble, in the background. Finally I gave them the little present that I had bought for Muusa and his family - a shirt, some toiletries, some children's clothes and a toy dog. I added a bit of money to help with feeding the children, and then I followed Boureima back past the sheep to where the men of the village were drinking tea.

Muusa left eight children. Seven were his own: Aisetu, Hamsetu, Amadou, Ibra, Oumarou, Mariama and Hajata. The eighth was his grandchild, whose parents had both died: Aissa. Now Boureima, with six of his own children, would have responsibility for an extra nine people. He seemed unfazed by the challenge. As he said, 'Muusa did well; he sowed a lot of seed.'

Shortly before we left, for the twenty-five miles back to Gorom-Gorom, four-year old Mariama came out to say goodbye. She was dressed in one of the children's outfits with the toy dog tied on her back like a baby.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom travel fulani death sahel

Posted by Keith at 09:11 AM

February 27, 2006

There are many encouragements - and a few discouragements - as I continue my travels. On Saturday we went to see B, a Fulani girl who became a Christian in our yard in Gorom-Gorom a few years ago, and she is doing really well in Dori. A few hours later, after a sweaty bus ride to Gorom, i finally arrived home and was able to catch up with Seydou and Monique. They have a young man staying with them, from a Muslim family, who became a Christian and was thrown out by his family. Next year he hopes to do his A-levels, but his family won't pay for him to stay at school.

Walking through the market today took about three hours as I was stopped every few yards to greet people - at least I'm not forgotten... The church's response to the food crisis last year has also had a big impact, and many people even now are saying thank you for the help.

Yusufi came to visit yesterday, and is doing really well. He wants to go to Bible School to study the word of God more, and be equipped to serve God as head of the only Christian family in his village. As a husband of two wives, it is unlikely he will be allowed to have an official role as church leader, but he is effectively the leader of the church in his village. Please pray for him, and ask that God will guide concerning the possibility of Bible school.

Hamadou's wife Wadda gave birth to a little girl called Seyata a week ago, and we went to see them today out in their Fulani hut on the outskirts of Gorom. Mum and daughter are doing well, and dad is expected to arrive any time now.

On the other hand, I have been sadly struck by the number of people I knew here who are no longer with us. Most sad was hearing of the death of M, a Fulani Christian from a village 25 miles from Gorom. He was the only believer in his village and was struggling to grow in Christ there, but really came alive when he got away to the Fulani Chrisitan gatherings around the country. He apparently became very ill and went downhill quickly, and died about 2 weeks ago. Tomorrow Seydou and I will go to his village on Seydou's motorbike to give our condolences to the family. Please pray for this visit and for his family. Thank you.

As internet connection is not good here, I am not yet able to reply to emails, but thank you to those of you who have written.

More soon...

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom travel fulani mission

Posted by Keith at 08:50 PM

February 25, 2006

Steve, Cris and I are now in Dori, in the north-east of Burkina Faso, trying to get to Gorom-Gorom.

Wednesday was market day in Djibo, and I spent the morning down the cattle market, watching the animals and greeting the Fulani herders. Djibo cattle market is big, and fun to watch, with occasional animals making a mad dash to escape bringing some excitement to the proceedings. Afterwards I went to join Steve in his market stall, where we played cassettes of the gospel, and spoke of the message of Christ to the small crowd who came to listen. Interest in the story and message of Jesus seems more alive in Djibo than in Gorom. I have also been encouraged by the number of people who have said they have been listening to me preach over the last months - either on cassettes or on the radio!

The next day we headed out to Boukouma, where we had the Fulani Discipleship Community and rice fields in 2003. Hamadou was there, with his two oldest sons Amadou and Isa. His wife, Wadda, and their youngest, Yunus, had returned to Gorom to her parents to give birth. Apparently she had a little girl on Saturday. Please pray for them.

As we walked around Boukouma, and visited the rice fields with Hamadou, we laughed at the many memories we shared: here Adama fell in the water; here we pulled the cow out of the canal; here we got caught in the sandstorm; here Keith chopped a bit off his finger... Ahhh... the good old days...

Yesterday we sat by the road at Boukouma all day, waiting for a lift to Gorom-Gorom. Finally, at about 4.30pm, a pick-up passed and picked us up to take us to Dori, and we climbed in the back to join a large goat. Half way down the road, the goat proceeded to send forth a stream of urine, causing us to all jump out of the way to save ourselves from being soaked!

Nearly home... This morning we will try to see B, a Fulani Christian girl from Gorom at college here in Dori, then try to find a lift to Gorom. Only 56km to go... More soon....

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom travel fulani mission djibo goats

Posted by Keith at 02:36 PM

February 20, 2006

I am in Djibo, and having a great time. In many ways it is just like I have never left.

The plane arrived in Ouaga on Saturday shortly after midnight, and Steve was there to meet me. It was great driving through the streets of Ouaga again, picking up the atmosphere of being back in Burkina. Steve and I chatted until about 2.30am, before hitting the hay, and by 7.00 am I had my first visitors – two Fulani friends, Jodoma and Elie, had come for breakfast. They are at Fulani Bible School in Benin, but were back in Burkina for a few days break. It was great to see them and their enthusiasm for the work of the Lord.

A few hours later, we were on the dusty road to Djibo. It is so good to be back, and to see everyone again, and to sleep in my Fulani hut, or sit under the stars drinking Fulani tea. Church on Sunday was very encouraging. About 25 Fulani adults were there. Not all are yet following Christ, but among them are those who have persevered through mocking, opposition, and hardship, and remained faithful – not unlike Heb 10:32-34. Please keep praying for them. I was pleasantly surprised at how well my Fulfulde came back. No major mistakes – apart from when, instead of encouraging us to look at the 23rd verse, I suggested we study the 23rd scorpion!

Steve, Christiano, and Irenaldo are doing really well. We went out this morning to see the land we are trying to buy for the radio station, and we prayed out there. Steve has put an enormous amount of work into this. We are awaiting two “permissions” – permission to buy the land, and permission to broadcast. There is competition for both, so please pray. It is a great vision.

Thanks for your prayers. More soon. I am having difficulties getting online here.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso travel ouagadougou fulani missions djibo

Posted by Keith at 07:01 PM

February 16, 2006

So, I will hopefully soon be back at Gorom-Gorom, where I lived and worked for nearly 11 years, from 1992-2003.

It is here I have been working to try to see culturally relevant expression of church started among the Fulani in the multi-cultural community there. And it is here we have done famine relief through the local Mossi pastor.

Work and Progress
It is always difficult by post or even phone to get a real idea of how things are progressing, so it will be good to see for myself. I am keen to see how the little group of local Fulani Christians are doing, and to see if they are not only persevering in faith in Christ, but also in relationship with the Mossi church. Pray for them, and that I will be able to encourage them.

I also want to see how people are coping after the food crisis of 2004-5, and its long-term effects of debt, loss of herds, etc. I had a written report this week of the food distribution we did back in September: we apparently helped 300 people with cheap grain, and 280 with free grain. The money from the grain sale will go back into providing an emergency supply for the future. Thank God for what we were able to do, and pray that they will find ways to break out of the slavery of poverty.

Friends
But above all, it will be good to catch up with the many Fulani friends I have in Gorom - both Christian and Muslim. I have written about some of them here - though without using their real names - people like Yusufi, who was baptised shortly before I left Gorom. He lives on a sand-dune a few km from Gorom, with his two wives, who both decided to follow him in the way of Jesus shortly after. And Ali, who believes in Christ, but was not ready to "go public", preferring to point people to the way of Jesus from within the Muslim community. And Ibrahim, who likes to hear about Christ, but has not yet decided to follow him. And many many others with whom I have shared nyiiri and gappal and the strong and sweet sahelian tea. People with whom I have shared life and death, birth ceremonies and burials, weddings and lost cows, the message of Jesus, and laughter.

And of course there are Seydou and Monique, and their children, Oli, Sara, and Timotee, all of whom lived with me for about 8 years.

It will indeed be good to be back home!

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso gorom-gorom discipleship church mission fulani

Posted by Keith at 10:23 AM

February 14, 2006

This picture is the Fulani hut where I will be staying in Djibo. Steve has just had it built for me - or at least as a guest room for any transient visitors, of which I happen to be the first. You can read how it was made, and see photos of the process here.

This picture is the Fulani hut I had as my guest room in Gorom-Gorom (with a younger me in front of it). As you can see, the huts of the Gorom-Gorom Fulani (Gaoob'e) are different from the huts of the Djibo Fulani (Jelgoob'e). One day I will show you how the Gaoob'e make their huts.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso djibo gorom-gorom housing fulani

Posted by Keith at 09:59 PM

On Friday I will arrive in Ouagadougou, on Saturday, I will head north to Djibo, and sometime later in the week, I will head east, stopping off at Boukouma on my way to Gorom-Gorom.

Boukouma and the Fulani Discipleship Community
In the summer of 2003, Steve, Seydou, and I spent 4 months in Boukouma, with a small team of Fulani believers from around the north of Burkina. Some of you may have seen the video. Most of them were fairly new in the faith, quite isolated from other Christians, and experiencing some degree of local antagonism for following Jesus. Having become Christians, they had thus also lost their traditional networks of support, and were struggling provide for themselves.

The goal of the 4 months was to try a holistic approach to discipleship. We lived all together, ate together, prayed and studied together, and worked the fields together. A Danish agency had started a rice project, and we bought fields there, in order to teach the Fulani believers to grow rice. At the end of the year, they went back stronger in their faith, but also with food with which to provide for their families. Although, from what I gather, they all also gave a good part of it away to bless their neighbours and extended family members who had been making life hard for them earlier. Blessing those who persecute you, no less.

During that time, Hamadou's wife and children began also to make progress in the faith. Out of the pressure of their home village, they felt free-er to openly stand for Christ. So Hamadou decided they would stay in Boukouma for the time being. I will stop off to see them, and plan to stay the night with them.

Since I have been away, the Discipling Community has not happened again. But I think Hamadou has continued to work some of the fields, as well as continuing to work his little tailoring business, pedalling his sowing machine down at the little market.

Please pray for Hamadou and his family to continue to grow in Christ, and to be able to continue to provide for their needs. Thank you.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso boukouma discipleship church mission fulani

Posted by Keith at 06:08 PM

February 13, 2006

On Friday I will arrive in Ouagadougou, and on Saturday, I will head north to Djibo.

Djibo is about 125 miles north of Ouagadougou. When you reach Djibo, it feels like you reach the start of the Sahel proper ("sahel" means "shore of the desert"). To the south of Djibo is Mossi territory, to the north is primarily a Fulani area, and the small town of Djibo is the place where the two peoples mix - together with a few Kurumba from scattered villages in the area too.

Djibo Town
I say "small" - I guess Djibo has a population of about 10 000, which has grown up around the large lake and small hills. The weekly cattle market that meets down by the lake brings Fulani in from all the surrounding villages. Many of the herders are standing on one leg watching their animals, or crouching in the dirt discussing prices. This is the literal stock market - where the fall and rise of prices week by week can devastate community life. If the big traders from the city have come, and spent their money, they will be arranging for the animals to be walked down to the capital. (Steve's account of his journey with the herders is well worth a read.)

This is a Muslim area, but there are also a number of Mossi churches there, and even a bible school run by one of the national churches. As well as that, there is a small Fulani congregation, too. When I was starting my work among the Fulani, I visited Paul, a missionary who had been there years. He had arrived just before the famines of the 70's, and his work had been swamped by responding to that need. A small group of Fulani had decided to follow the way of Christ. The week I went to see Paul, the new central market had recently opened, and there was a Tuareg camel race in celebration of President Blaise Compaore visiting Djibo. Paul moved on eventually, but others replaced him, and there is still a Fulani church there.

After more than 10 years in Gorom-Gorom, Steve and I moved to Djibo - although I never actually spent much time there during my year based there. I travelled a lot during that time, and we also did the Fulani Discipling Community at Boukouma, so Djibo never really quite felt like home.

Visiting Djibo
I will arrive in Djibo on the Saturday, and on Sunday morning I have been asked to preach at the Fulani church. I hope I haven't forgotten too much of my Fulfulde in the two years I have now been away. Kiwi missionaries Carl and Sharlene will be there. But I hear they have - at least temporarily - a Fulani pastor from another town to help run the church. His name is Tongooga, and I gather he is on a one-year practical placement from Bible School in Benin. There are some lovely Christians in the Djibo church, some of whom have recently been baptised. And others have joined since I have been away - like Jaynebu.

I am looking forward to seeing all these guys again, and of course my colleague Steve, and our new co-workers Cristiano and Irenaldo from Brazil. Steve seems to be doing a great job, building relationships, integrating into Fulani culture, and sharing Christ with the Fulani, and it will be great to spend time together again. He has of course also been trying to set up the Radio Station in Djibo, so it will be good to see how that is going.

And then there's Ken and Jocelyn, and their team, running a hospital where they provided the excellent surgery and care for thousands who would not otherwise have any chance of survival. And Nikiema Amade, one of the teachers at the Bible School, who used to be pastor in Gorom-Gorom.

Please pray for all these people, serving God faithfully and for God to continue to pour out his blessing and his Holy Spirit on Djibo.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso djibo mossi church mission fulani

Posted by Keith at 10:42 PM

February 10, 2006

On 17 Feb, I will fly back into Ouagadougou for a 3 week visit to Burkina Faso. My first three years in Burkina, I was based in Ouaga, and I have many good memories from there.

My first years in Burkina
When I first moved to Burkina Faso with World Horizons, I lived in Ouaga with a Mossi friend called Dieudonné. The church in Ouaga was dynamic and growing - one church I sometimes attended had a Sunday morning service that lasted about 8 hours on average. But although I lived in Ouaga, I didn't spend all that much time there.

I worked for those first years with a team of Mossi pastors in a campaign called Project Javelin. As a team, we would go from Ouaga to the north-west of Burkina, around Ouahigouya, to bring the message of Christ in Mossi villages there, where there were very few Christians. One such village, unforgettably, was called Rambo. We would turn up in an old English Beford army truck, and move in at a local church or school. After a drink of "zom-kom", we would go and greet the village elders.

During the day, we would be pray, study, and visit local people. In the afternoon, some would cook, and some would set up the equipment for the evening meeting. As night fell, we would turn on the lights and sound system, and play Mossi praise songs. Soon, lights could be seen bobbing in the darkness across the fields as people made their way with lamps or torches to come and see what was happening. The team of pastors would sing, preach, and then we would show the Jesus film. Often, over the course of just a few days in a village, many people would decide to follow Christ, and sometimes a church would start over the course of those few days. They were very exciting times.

And yet, increasingly I felt restless - I knew the Mossi pastors didn't really need me there - they were far better at what they were doing than I could ever be. I wasn't really sure what I was doing there... Finally, it was through Project Javelin that I met the Fulani and was led to move on to work in Gorom-Gorom, where the cultural and language differences prevented the Mossi from reaching the local people, and where there were no local Christians. We gave the evangelism equipment to the pastors and they have carried on with the ministry without us!

It is easy to do missions badly. We can give ourselves an ego boost by going where God is already at work, and see "results" quickly. But usually the church is already doing a good job there. We need to examine our attitudes and motivation about why we are doing mission, and how we are doing it. Are we there to serve, or to feed our own ego? It is easy still to have a "colonialist" attitude towards Africa, whereas we are often actually the ones in need of input from the church in Africa to speak prophetically to challenge our materialism and compromise.

Possibly the western church has two main roles in mission today. Either to work with - and under - local churches to support them in their own ministry. Or to go where the church still does not yet exist - to the hard places, where there is no quick result. Mission must be cross-shaped. A true work of God will involve self-denial, service, and sacrifice. If instead it panders to our ego and feeds spiritual pride, there is something seriously wrong.

Friends
On my arrival in Ouaga this time, I will not have the opportunity to see many people - I arrive one night and leave the following day for Djibo. But on my return I hope to catch up with people - I still have many friends there. There are many pastors who have helped us and worked with us and put up with our white man's ignorance and arrogance and who somehow continue to love us. Pastors like Philippe and his wife Josephine. Philippe was one of the founders of Project Javelin, and now runs a large church and also an evangelical development agency called AEAD, a partner of Tear Fund. I also hope to catch up with some of the young Christians we used to work with, many of whom are now themselves pastors and evangelists. And of course there are some very good missionary friends.

Pray for the church in Ouaga
The church still has a lot of dynamism. But there are dangers too. Unfortunately, with our wealth and influence, we in the west have sometimes exported seminars, books, ministries, and values that reflect our own culture of individualism and materialism rather than the cross-shaped gospel message of Christ. There are some wonderful churches and committed men of God in Ouaga, the sort of men who we need to hear speak prophetically into our own compromised Christianity. There are pockets where the church is, with its limited resources, reaching out it mission to other peoples and nations.

The church among the Mossi has a missionary call. Pray that she will rise increasingly to this calling to send out servants to the peoples and nations around in the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The easy life of the city is a pull that stops many from taking up their cross to follow Christ to the difficult places - just as our own comfort holds us back in the same way. There are churches in Ouaga with 10 or more pastors, yet there are also towns and villages in Burkina without church or pastor. Pray that the Ouaga church presses forward to fulfil her own missionary calling to bless the nations, and that the Lord continues to anoint and equip church leaders there - men like Philippe - to lead the church into the fulness of his purposes.

Tags: africa burkina burkina faso ouagadougou mossi church mission siao

Posted by Keith at 09:45 PM

November 09, 2005

In part 1, I began to tell the story of Yusuf’s struggle to get baptised, and the hesitation of his pastor because of his denomination’s opposition to baptising polygamists.

Several interesting comments were made, generally agreeing that theologically there is no reason why Yusuf should not be baptised. But the issue we faced was how to do that. For Suley to do it would be to dishonour and disobey his leaders. For me to do it would be to undermine the authority of the local church which I am there to serve in Burkina Faso. And to suggest Yusuf goes elsewhere to get baptised assumes the presence of another denomination, an awareness that Yusuf did not possess of such options, and an individualism that is more western than Biblical or African.

The story continues…

In fact, there was another church in the area, and this denomination took the attitude that men with more than one wife could indeed be baptised, without having to send any of them away. They could not of course take any further wives. But they would have to continue to provide for all their wives. (It is interesting to see the proscription in Exodus 21:10 : “If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights...”)

Pastor Suley agreed that the best solution would be to approach pastor Pierre of the other church, and suggest that Yusuf join his church.

I don’t know how many church leaders would be so generous and selfless as to actually suggest that a valuable member of their church should join another church because it would be better for their spiritual growth….?

Pastor Pierre, a Mossi like Suley, was very welcoming. Sitting under the mat shelter in the church yard, a pot of Fulani tea bubbling away in the corner, I translated as he interviewed Yusuf about his faith. Pierre thought he could find someone in the church to translate the Sunday messages into the Fulani language for Yusuf. And he asked me to lead Yusuf through the baptism classes.

Yusuf started coming to the new church, a challenge in itself. The Mossi and Fulani have very different cultures, and a history of conflict and mutual distrust (I wrote about some of these issues here). Often, after a church service, Yusuf and I would sit for ages, discussing why things were done the way they were, and looking at the Bible together. With Pierre and Suley’s agreement, I started a mid-week cell group for the Fulani from both churches, where they could worship and develop an understanding of their faith within Fulani culture. On Thursdays Yusuf would walk into town from his village for the main market, and in the evenings we would meet with the little group. Often Muslim Fulani friends would join us too, as they became interested in the story of Jesus. Yusuf would stay the night with me, and in the morning he would head back to his wives and children. But on Sundays, he would come in again to the Mossi church service, and more discussion afterwards.

The day and night of Yusuf’s baptism was one of the highlights of my life. Read about it here.

Back in his village over the following months, Yusuf worked out how to live out his faith as the only Christian in his village. Little by little he shared what he had found with his family and his neighbours. When I visited him, it was great to hear him telling Fulani parables to his visitors, drawing them in as he asked them questions about the meaning, and leading them to the truths of the gospel from within their own culture. I resisted teaching him the “4 Spiritual Laws” approach to evangelism, as I saw the good news being told among the Fulani more effectively than I would ever be able to.

And then one market day several months later, he and his wives and children all came to town and stayed the night with us. Gently Yusuf told us that he thought his wives were interested in following Christ, and would we interview them please? Hawa clearly had more understanding of the message of Christ than Salimata, but they had both seen the change in Yusuf’s life, and that the way of Jesus was good. They were nervous about the consequences, but both decided they wanted to follow the way their husband had chosen. That day Hawa and Salimata both prayed to give their lives to follow Christ, and to receive life in his name.

Another new beginning, and the story continues. Please pray for Yusuf, Hawa, and Salimata as they seek to live for Christ as ambassadors for the kingdom of God among their neighbours and community. Officially, as a man with more than one wife, Yusuf can never be a church elder. But in practice, he is the most mature believer in a large area, and effectively the founder of the church in his village. In the meantime we look for the day when both his wives also choose to take the step of following Christ through the waters of baptism.

Tags: burkina faso africa polygamy burkina fulani church baptism mission

Posted by Keith at 02:59 PM

October 20, 2005

The pastor wouldn't baptise Yusuf. What should I do now?

To be fair, pastor Suley wanted to baptise Yusuf, but his denomination in Burkina Faso wouldn't baptise polygamists. They insisted that only the first wife was truly the man's wife, and that he should get rid of any subsequent ones.

No-one questioned the reality of Yusuf's faith. He used to be a religious teacher in Islam, and could actually read and understand the Quran in Arabic. He had seen how highly the Quran spoke of Isa al-Masih, ibn Mariyama - Jesus the Messiah, son of Mary, and had discussed with teachers of the "Jesus way" over a period of time. Finally, he came to pray and receive forgiveness in the name of this same Jesus the first Fulani Christian in his village.

I say finally, but that was the start of a long period of discipleship. He testified that straight away he saw changes in his life - he no longer got angry the way he used to, and his character changed as he became a calmer man. But he also had a lifetime's worldview, teaching, and practices to sift through, to see what from his previous life he should retain, and what should change. Since there was no church in his village, could he continue to pray at the mosque, but in the name of Jesus? Could he fast with everyone else during the month of Ramadan? And what about Tabaski, when the Muslims killed sheep in memory of Abraham offering up his son, who was saved by the sheep provided by God? Could he kill a sheep too, in thanks for that event's prophetic fulfilment in Christ's death? Islam and the Quran, he said, had helped him develop a love of God, and had led him towards Christ - what should he think of that now?

So many questions.

He was unfazed by being the only follower of Jesus in his village. He was the head of his household, and a hard worker, whose fields generally gave a good harvest, so he was not dependant on anyone. He read the Bible on his own, switching between Fulfulde and Arabic to check more accurately the meaning. Not everyone understood why he had decided to follow this way, and there were some who ridiculed him. But he was patient and calm, and answered when people asked him. And little by little he tried to explain the Jesus way to his two wives.

Funnily enough, he hadn't even intended to take two wives. He loved his first wife, Hawa, and they had moved some years before to another village to be near a charismatic Islamic teacher who had started a new sect. Yusuf had got disillusioned and had returned home, but Hawa had decided to stay. So, when Yusuf arrived back home, he took another wife, Salimata. Then Hawa came back too. He loved them both, and did his best to treat them both the same, even buying them the same sets of clothes.

When he could, he would walk into the nearest town on Sunday to go to church. Whenever he came, pastor Suley would try and find someone to translate everything into Fulfulde for him. And whenever he could, Suley would get his 50cc moped and head out across the fields and dunes to visit Yusuf. They had no language in common, but they developed a friendship. As Yusuf grew in faith and read his Bible, he started to ask about getting baptised. That's when Suley came to see me to explain that his leaders wouldn't allow him to baptise Yusuf unless he got rid of Salimata. What should we do?

Interestingly, the Bible doesn't actually make such a big deal of polygamy. Yes, it is clear that "one man, one wife" is God's plan for marriage from the beginning, and is the reflection of the relationship between Christ and his one bride, the church. This is the solid foundation for society, and in fact, most polygamous marriages I know have endless problems of arguments, favouritism, and manipulation.

And so, a qualification of eldership is that they have only one wife, unpholding and modelling this good basis of society. And yet, the very fact that that is a qualification for eldership indicates that there must have been other Christians in the 1st century church with more than one wife. They are nowhere told to get rid of any of their wives - they are simply disqualified from eldership. On the other hand, divorce is clearly frowned upon, and to get rid of a wife would have been to bring shame upon her, and maybe to leave her destitute.

Pastor Suley agreed with me that it wouldn't be right to tell Yusuf to send Salimata away. But he also didn't feel it was right to go against his leaders by baptising Yusuf. What then should he do...?

To be continued....

Tags: burkina faso africa polygamy burkina fulani church baptism mission

Posted by Keith at 07:50 AM

October 03, 2005

"By one o’clock, the sun is indeed hammering our heads, and the landscape glares like an overexposed photograph. My water bottle is empty. The others, incredibly, have just one small water bottle between them.

“Diallo, is there a pump ahead?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Not far,” says Diallo. When a Fulani man says “not far”, prepare for a long walk."

(From Steve's latest article published inthe Sunday Times.)

I was once travelling to a Fulani village on my motorbike. I'd only recently bought the bike, and it was my first time on such a sandy route. I now love biking through such terrain and over the sand dunes, but that first time I was very nervous. I had also rashly picked up a hitch-hiker on the way. The bike was sliding all over the place in the sand, and I could feel my travelling companion was getting tense, wondering what he had let himself in for. I was hoping I was almost there, so I stopped on the way to ask a Fulani herder if it was far. Predictable response: "It's not far now."

Trying to get more precise information, I tentatively asked if he knew how many kilometres - expecting that a Fulani "duroowo" would not know the measures. I was surprised

"It's only four kilometres," he replied with confidence.

With renewed courage I pressed on for four more kilometres. And four more. And four more... After 20 km of nervous sliding, we finally arrived at our destination, and I deposited my hitch-hiker. He seemed relieved that he had actually arrived in one piece, without being thrown in the sand by the "tubaaku", who clearly had no idea how to ride a motorbike.

Twenty kilometres... our herder friend's estimate had actually been one-fifth of the real distance. That seems to be a fair estimate of the Fulani perception of distance. If a Fulani tells you how far something is, multiply it by 5.

Now, of course, that perception is largely to do with them being used to walking long distances behind their cattle, as Steve discovered. One Fulani Christian I know used to walk 40km each way, every weekend, just to get to church. (Would you...?) But their mathematics of the distance is interesting. My own theory about that has to do with the way they count money...

The smallest coin in Burkina Faso is the 5cfa coin, which is known in Fulfulde as "mbuudu wooturu" or "one coin". From the days before the Fulani started to learn to read, they could not decipher the numbers on the coin, so money was calculated in mulitples of the "mbuudu wooturu". Thus, 50cfa is "sappo" - "ten". And so on. Transfer that to distance, and Amadu is your uncle.

So, when you come to Burkina, be prepared. That journey, or that nice Fulani blanket you want to buy, may be five times more than you think it is going to be!

Tags: burkina faso africa travel burkina fulani

Posted by Keith at 08:02 AM

September 13, 2005

Some quick updates of good news:

Food Aid: I spoke to the pastor's son in Gorom-Gorom today - the pastor is away for a few days. The food aid we sent has been distributed, and all went well. He will forward photos and a report asap.

Harvest: The rains have continued well, and the harvest will soon be ready. No locusts this year!

Radio station: Things are progressing slowly, but there are promising signs that things are coming together for us to buy land for the radio station.

Steve: My colleague Steve now has two Brazilian co-workers with him, whom he is now introducing to the delights of Djibo. Welcome, Christiano and Irenaldo!

Gorom-Gorom: I spoke to a friend in Burkina today who gave me an encouraging report on the progress of some of the Fulani Christians from the Gorom-Gorom area. It seems they are persevering and growing in faith.

All this is greatly encouraging for me. It is not easy to be so far away when times are hard and there is little news. Thank God for good news!

Like cold water to a weary soul
is good news from a distant land.
(Prov 25:25)

Tags: burkina faso africa aid burkina fulani radio

Posted by Keith at 08:15 PM

August 01, 2005

Thank you to those of you who have responded to the article What is a girl's education worth? Some have expressed interest in helping support others through school in Burkina. I have previously had a fund for this, and am re-opening it:

Education Fund for Burkina Faso
The fund will be used for two things:

1. Providing for orphans and other poor children to go to school. If funds and structure allow, I hope this would include one meal a day. Read about Steve's conversation with my friend Iisaa about his experience at school.

2. Individual grants to enable some girl students, to go on to a Christian college, similar to this one.

If you want to give to this, you can send a gift to World Horizons at the following addresses. On the back of the cheque, and in a convering note, state that it is for "Education Fund in Gorom-Gorom, Burkina Faso":

World Horizons, North Dock, Llanelli, Carms SA15 2LF, UK
World Horizons, PO Box 17721, Richmond, VA 23226, USA

Many thanks.

Tags: burkina faso gorom-gorom africa aid burkina education

Posted by Keith at 06:34 PM

July 18, 2005

So, it seems my car is not worth repairing. Fine. If I can sell it for scrap for a couple of hundred pounds, it will enable me to do something about the following:

A friend in Burkina Faso has been asking me if I could help send his daughter to a Christian school.

She has finished junior school, and is now moving up to "secondary" school (called high school in the US?). There is a local school she could attend. We have helped send a number of orphans to the local junior and secondary schools, who would not otherwise have been able to attend at all. The junior school costs about £20/year, and the secondary school about £50/year (fees, books, materials). Many people cannot afford that much, in an area where most live on less than £1/day.

So she could just go to the local secondary school. But there are a few issues. The teaching level is often not the best there. More significantly, the school is in an area where girls often get pregnant before marriage and at an early age, because of the sexual pressures put upon them by peers.

200 miles away, there is an all-girl Christian college. The girls live in, the teaching is to a higher standard, and the school environment is one of discipleship. Cost : about £400/year all-in.

I really wanted to do this, but I had a few qualms. Is it right to take her away from a situation where there are so few Christians anyway? How could I do this for her, when I can't do it for everyone? Could I afford to?

Then I read this challenging post over at biscotti brain. Apart from the need for stuff like Make Poverty History, which challenges our governments to do the stuff we can't - to change the structures of injustice that oppress the poor - there is also the need for us as Christians, not just to give, but to give sacrificially - and to renounce our self-satisfied materialism. She says: "I am painfully aware that some brother or sister is suffering because I've been content with token giving; because I am so slow in understanding what it is to love as Christ. I am completely convinced that the world could be changed to God's glory if we loved generously, one person at a time. I can't help everyone. I can help someone."

Of course it would be better if Christian children stayed as light among their peers. But there are also times that vulnerable plants need nurturing in a safer, more controlled environment.

Of course I can't help everyone as much as I would like, but that shouldn't stop me helping those I can. And this family mean a lot to me.

Of course I can afford it. I can afford a lot more. It will just cost me a bit more. And I can hopefully continue to do something for the others too - to help put more orphans through school. God, free me from my selfishness.

So, I'll be back on my bike. I'll be fitter. The planet will be a tiny bit healthier. I'll be spending a little bit less on car tax, fuel and insurance. And my little friend will get to go to a Christian college.

Maybe it's good my car broke down.

Posted by Keith at 11:32 PM

July 15, 2005

For those of us visiting Africa from abroad, anti-malarial medicine is an essential. In recent years, lariam or mefloquine has been found to be effective, but unfortunately, has become well-known for its disconcerting side-effects.

Continue reading "Flanders & Swann... and malaria prevention"

Posted by Keith at 08:34 AM

June 23, 2005

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matt 5:45)

Here in Britain, if nowhere else, when we read this, we tend to think sun=good, rain=bad. We even pray for “good weather” for our special events so we won’t be inconvenienced, while at the same time farmers are praying for rain so they may be able to live for the coming year.

Actually, for people in Bible times, as for those in Burkina Faso today, Jesus might have been saying something different. It is true that the sun is a blessing for the light and life it brings, and that it is a symbol of strength and steadfastness. But it is also – for agricultural societies – a hardship. The sun scorches the land, beats upon the labourers, and withers the young plants (Ecc 9:9, Is 58:11, Mat 13:6, Ja 1:11). Having worked in rice fields in the scorching African sun, I can tell you, that the sun shining on you is not always a pleasure. One of the blessings of the new creation is that the sun will no more beat upon us (Rev 7:16).

Rain on the other hand is fundamentally a blessing. (It always irritates me when grumbling Brits complain about the rain. We have such a rich and beautiful country largely because it is so blessed with rain. Who would rather live in the desert?) Look at these verses for example; Deut 11:11-14, 2Chron 7:13, Ps 68:9, Pr 16:15, Ac 14:17. A common threat the Lord uses for judgement is to withhold the rain. The consequence of that is not just a hosepipe ban, but loss of harvest, and famine.

This perception of rain as a life-giving blessing is of course tied to understanding our dependency on the land. In Burkina, among the Mossi, if it rains on your wedding day, it is considered a sign of God’s blessing on your marriage. Because of our prosperity, we have lost sight of rain as a blessing – it has become an inconvenience. And the heat of the sun, instead of suffering, is the blessing of pleasant leisure-time.

So the way we read the verse has not only been inverted, but also watered down of its power – from being about life or suffering, to comment on God bringing times of pleasure or inconvenience. Now, the central theme of this particular passage might still be there: God does good to all, even those who live against his ways, and so therefore should you. But it does maybe reveal a distorted image of our view of God. And maybe there are other passages, where our earthly prosperity has removed us more seriously from a truer understanding of, and obedience to God’s word.

What do you think?

Posted by Keith at 01:02 PM

May 07, 2005

It's May, the hottest month in Gorom-Gorom.

The temperature has been up to about 45C (113F) in the shade so far, and will reach close to 50C (122F) before the end of the month. At night, you sleep outside, with only a pair of shorts between you and the stars. But still the temperature leaves you sweating through the night. You wish you could unbutton your skin and climb out of that, too.

There are many challenges to overcome in taking the gospel to the needy and unreached of the 10-40 widow: spiritual opposition, physical hardship, discouragement, our own apathy... The heat is one more draining element in the battle. It saps the strength and wilts good intention. It acts also as a metaphor of both the spiritual need and the spiritual opposition that we, the church face, as we wimp out of the challenge to take the good news of Jesus to the difficult places on earth.

Please pray for my colleague Steve, as he perseveres in the ministry in Burkina, seeking to bring life to the Fulani. And pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit - both upon the Fulani, and upon the church He sends into all the world.

Now, I don't write poetry.
However...
This is a sort of a poem I wrote a couple of years ago during the hot season. I was sitting sweating in the shade of a mat shelter. It was too hot to do anything, and too hot to do nothing. And so I put my feelings down on paper. It's called: It's turned out sunny again...

Continue reading "It's turned out sunny again (a poem)"

Posted by Keith at 12:33 PM

April 05, 2005

"Bismillah!" The imam stepped back to welcome me into the mosque.

I had gone on one of my 'walkabouts'. On these occasions, I set off to wander around town with no particular plan, just to see whom I might meet, and to share the story of Jesus with those who want to listen.

Although I was by now a familiar sight to locals, visitors from outside villages were often surprised to see a tubaaku, a white man, dressed in the long Muslim robe topped by the ubiquitous turban, ambling round the dusty streets of this small Sahelian town. At times like this, I would often get called into people's homes. Sometimes it would be people who had seen me around or heard me preaching at the market, but who had been too timid to come and talk to me in front of the crowds. Sometimes it would be people with sick children, asking for prayer. Sometimes it would just be the hospitable invitation to an outsider or a friend.

I had been passing the mosque, and the imam was standing in the doorway.

"A salaam aleykum!" I called out in greeting.
"Wa-aleykum a salaam!" he replied. I approached, we shook hands, and we went through the normal greeting sequence, asking after each other's health and family.
"Toy njaata?" (Where are you going?) he asked.
"I'm just off to talk with people about the story of ennabi Iisaa Almasiihu." Fulani Muslims know of ennabi Iisaa Almasiihu, the prophet Jesus Christ, and his Injil (gospel) from the Quran, and hold him in high esteem.

The imam welcomed me into the mosque. I kicked off my sandals at the door, and went in.

Continue reading "Jesus in the mosque"

Posted by Keith at 12:54 PM

March 16, 2005

Steve has a meeting today about the proposed radio station that we are hoping to open in Djibo. Please pray for this.

Meanwhile, Seydou is learning to drive. Seydou and Monique lived with me for about 9 years in Gorom-Gorom, and he has begun to step out to follow the Lord's calling over the last couple of years. He hopes to help support himself in ministry through getting a job as a driver. He has passed the theory, and is working on the practical side this week.

I hope he won't be driving vehicles like this:

Posted by Keith at 08:46 AM

March 10, 2005

My colleague Steve has been stirring things up as he continues with the work in Burkina.

He was recently engaged in conversation at Djibo market by a traditional healer. They were talking about the usefulness of the various animal parts he (the healer, not Steve!) sells for use as medicine, charms and curses. At the end of the discussion - and with the understandably fearful agreement of the seller - Steve burned the two most powerful charms, to demonstrate that the power of God is greater than that of such things. You can read the whole account here.

Now, among traditional medicines, there is a mix of the good, the bad, and the powdered chalk. Western missionaries have often unfairly written off all traditional African medicine as being "of the devil." In fact, pre-modern cultures in some ways have a more Biblically holistic perspective on life than the modern world. There are several PhDs to be gained looking into beneficial herbal remedies used locally. There is no doubt also that much of the power of the "medicine men" lies in fear, superstition, and exaggeration.

However, anyone who has lived for any length of time in Africa wouldn't doubt the reality and destructive effect of the "power world" of the spirits. Anthropologist Paul Stoller discovered this to his surprise and shock, and wrote about it in his book "In Sorcery's Shadow." The world of the spirits only leaves people in bondage and fear.

But Christ is greater. Any ministry in Africa is going to require confrontation with the spirit world at some point. In Christ there is freedom, deliverance, and protection. Burning charms, amulets, and other power paraphanlaia is a regular part of discipleship as people take steps to follow the way of Jesus.

Please pray for Steve as he continues to seek to bring the love and light of Christ to the Fulani.

Posted by Keith at 09:30 AM

February 20, 2005

From pre-modern Africa to the post-modern West.
The first two parts are here and here.

As the first Muslim Fulani decided to follow Christ, we were faced increasingly with the question of how to do church. Should we introduce them to the Mossi church, which would have severe cultural problems and consequences? Or should we start a separate Fulani church, adapted to their culture, but effectively dividing the church of Christ along ethnic lines? Thanks for those who made suggestions. This is what we did:

Part of the problem, I decided was that we still talk, think, and act about church as though it were a Sunday morning meeting, rather than the community of believers. While the weekly gathering can have an important part in the life of the church, it is only a part of that community life. For example, how many of the “one-anothers” can we do in the Sunday meeting? Love? Serve? Offer hospitality? Forgive? Honour? Be devoted to? Accept? Be compassionate? Submit? Encourage? There is not a lot of one-anothering going on in most Sunday meetings. All these require social interaction. The church is primarily meant to be a community – a community in Christ that expresses itself in worship, fellowship, and mission.

Continue reading "Emerging church and multicultural society 3"

Posted by Keith at 08:49 PM

February 11, 2005

The BBC has been doing a series on their website on "why I love Africa." Here are some of the things I love about Africa:

I love the beauty of the vast starry sky and the stillness of the night;
And I love the noise and colour of vibrant local markets, where meeting friends and sharing in the life of the community are more important than simply making profit.

I love sitting on mats under the acacias, drinking tea with Fulani among the cows;
And I love riding my motorbike across the sand dunes, through the river beds, and past villages where children run out and wave.

I love sleeping outside, gazing up at God's handiwork as I drop off to sleep;
And I love sitting inside with the door open when the rains finally come, watching silently with friends the pounding of water on the earth.

I love the sense of awe when a sandstorm blows up;
And I love the joy and relief when the harvest is safely in.

I love that there is always time to talk, that people are more important than the day's programme;
And I love it that God is central to everyday life, and a part of normal conversation.

I love the generosity, that when you arrive at meal time, you are invited to sit round the bowl and share whatever food there is;
And I love the hospitality, that when you arrive in the evening you are invited to stay the night, and a mat is laid out for you.

I love the sense of community - that when you go into a neighbour's yard, you have no idea how many of the dozens of laughing children there actually belong to that set of parents;
And I love it that family is important, and that the elderly are respected and taken care of.

I love it that when you arrive somewhere, you don't do anything until you have properly greeted everyone;
And I love it that when you leave, you are always sent on your way with the blessing of God.

And here are some of the things Steve loves about Africa.
What about you? Have you ever been to Africa? And what did you love about it?

Posted by Keith at 09:16 AM

February 03, 2005

"Bring the child here," said Ali, and the boy's mother led him submissively to sit in the dust before us. He had been suffering with bad headaches for some time, and was unable to sleep. She knew Ali was a man who knew the Quran, and had asked Ali if he could heal the boy.

I first met Ali a few weeks before. He called to me as I was passing by his sewing machine at the market, and asked me to come and see him. When I visited him, he explained the dream he'd had of a shining white figure, holding out his arms to him. We read the description of Jesus at the start of the book of Revelation, and Ali recognised the man from his dream. Over the following weeks we had begun reading the Bible together. Ali was keen to know more about this Jesus, of whom the Quran spoke so highly, and who had now appeared to him personally. But he was a respected older Muslim in the tight community of this small Fulani town in West Africa, and had not yet decided what he was going to do about it.

He reached out his hand and gently placed his thumb and one finger on the boy's forehead. He began quietly reciting verses in Arabic, pausing occasionally to spit lightly on the boy's head. When he had finished, he sat back: "Bismillah!" he said, indicating that I too should pray. So I too laid my hand on the boy's head, and prayed in Fulfulde for healing in the name of Jesus. When I had finished, the boy got up and went back to his mother, and Ali and I continued our discussion.

The next day, Ali told me the boy was healed.

Ali and I continued to meet, and finally he confessed his faith in Christ. But Ali was reluctant to identify himself publicly as a Christian. He knew the cost would be high, that people would not understand, and he would lose the friendships and influence he had. So he continued to read the Bible, to pray in the name of Jesus, and to go to the mosque. But now, when his Muslim neighbours came to him to ask him for religious or spiritual advice, he would start in the Quran, and lead on to the Injil - the Gospel - one of the holy books of Islam.

I have no doubt of the genuineness of Ali's faith in Christ. I have no doubt too, that if he publicly confessed Christ, he would suffer as a result. If he were able to stand, and integrate into the Mossi church there, I am sure he would grow firmer in his faith. But that presents its own challenges - and he would also lose his opportunities to share Christ among his neighbours. I have laid it all out before him. He knows the choices and the consequences, and has made his decision - for now - about how to work it out.

Please pray for my friend Ali, that God will continue to lead and strengthen him. His story raises many questions. But above all, I'd like us to see that Christ is continuing to reach out in love to the many Muslims who love God. And our response should be one of love, friendship, and encouragement as they seek Him.

Tags: burkina faso africa emerging church burkina church fulani mission church and culture

Posted by Keith at 11:28 AM

January 19, 2005

What do we do about Ibrahim?

Ibrahim is a Fulani interested in the gospel. He lives in Gorom-Gorom in the north of Burkina. There are no other Fulani Christians around, and no Fulani church to bring him to. There is a Mossi church, but the Mossi and Fulani are culturally very different, don't speak each other's language, and have a history of mutual distrust. Ibrahim recognises the integrity of the Mossi Christians he knows, but his experience of the Mossi church has been rather confusing so far. Other Fulani too are hearing about Christ, and interested in following his way.

How do we do church in a way that is relevant to the cultural identities of all the different groups in our society? How can we be church in a way that will be outreach-orientated, permitting people to meet God within their own cultural context? These are questions that are as relevant in post-modern UK and US, as in pre-modern Burkina Faso.

In response to the traditional "one size fits all" approach to church, some "church growth" and "emerging church" thinkers have proposed the doing church separately for each cultural sub-group in a society. In Gorom-Gorom, this would mean a church for the Mossi, and a separate church for the Fulani. In post-modern western cities, it may mean a church for youth, a church for post-moderns, a church for Asian immigrants etc.

I've always felt a a tension with this idea. On the one hand I believe the incarnation shows us that God wants to meet us where we are in our humanity. While in some ways the church is clearly to be counter-cultural, there is also a divine approval of the relationship of church and culture. The church should still be incarnating Jesus into every society - that people may meet God and worship him in a way that is accessible to their own cultural identity. The Fulani should not have to become Mossi to be able to meet God.

On the other hand I believe in the unity of the church, and think that having separate churches for each group undermines this unity and risks perpetuating the divisions and distrust that are supposed to be destroyed in Christ. If we all divide up into comfortable monocultural groups, it raises questions about the nature of the resulting expression of church:

• In this multiplicity of church expressions, where is the visible unity and mutual love and concern of slave and free, Jew and Greek, Fulani and Mossi, post-modern geek and hymn-sandwich grandmother that demonstrates the kingdom of God?

• Who will look after the old, frail, needy, and culturally awkward? Where will their place be?

• How will we be able to benefit from those who are different to us? My friend Richard's young son, Joshua came home one day after church, and was talking about a conversation he had had with Gladys, who is 100. Where else in society outside of family do children and the old get the opportunity to benefit from each other, if not in the church? Where else in society do we get the opportunity to benefit from those who are different from ourselves? In what way are we one body, with many interdependant parts?

Jesus welcomed all to himself. His gatherings were a mix of all segments of society. Because that is the nature of the kingdom of God. And the church therefore is only truly the church when it expresses this wonderful mix.

As my good friend Richard Sudworth observes, as he labours to do church in multi-cultural Birmingham:
"My take on the nature of church, which includes, in part, a sense of how we view our "good news", is that it encompasses the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the white, the black etc. There must, then, be some striving towards connectedness that pushes us to learn from each other and to enjoy the riches of diversity within the church....Or is everyone out there assuming that the future of church is fragmentation down to multiple little moncultural units...that cease to be church?"

How do we work out this tension in relation to the need for us to be culturally sensitive so that people can meet God within their own diverse cultural contexts? There must also be ways for the whole church to interact - where grandmothers talk with chidren, where geeks eat with the homeless, where Asians hug the Welsh, where the strong help the weak, where the Mossi and the Fulani demonstrate the power of the gospel by celebrating Christ together.

So what do we do with Ibrahim and his friends? Do I aim to start a separate Fulani church? Or do I try and get him into the Mossi church?

I will write more about some of the ways forward I have been exploring in the Fulani ministry in Gorom-Gorom in Burkina Faso, as I struggled with these questions. But, whether you are writing from post-modern UK or US, pre-modern Africa or Asia, or elsewhere, I'd like to hear any comments.

Part three is here

Tags: burkina faso africa emerging church burkina church fulani mission church and culture

Posted by Keith at 10:30 PM

December 23, 2004

The first time I took Ibrahim to church, I realised it was a mistake.

Ibrahim is Fulani, and a Muslim. He is a tailor at the local market, and was one of my first friends in Gorom. As I began to learn the language, I would go and sit with him to drink tea and try out my new phrases. As his friends came and started chatting, I would sit precariously on the wobbly wooden bench by his old foot-powered sewing machine, frowning with concentration as I tried to make out something of the banter.

“Aan ka, a doomuru” suddenly exclaimed one guy, who had been watching me. I understood enough to know he was calling me a mouse, but didn’t know why. He imitated me sitting there silently, head switching side to side, as I followed the different speakers, and everyone cracked up laughing.

As my Fulfulde began to improve, they started to ask me about the way of Jesus, and I struggled to find words to express my faith. They would then reply with Fulfulde proverbs, at which everyone but me nodded with understanding. Or with local Muslim wisdom, which assumed so much cultural background that I had no idea where to begin to respond. The good-humoured discussions rambled on over several months.

So one day, I invited Ibrahim to church. Since there were no Fulani Christians, we went to the Mossi church. The Mossi are the main people group in Burkina, and the church has grown quite dramatically among them. They are a cheerful, colourful and friendly people, and they worship God exhuberantly, with drums, loud praying and singing, and sometimes even dancing. I don’t think they had ever seen a Fulani in church before. Ibrahim walked self-consciously into church in his long Muslim robe, and his turban, with every eye following us as we headed towards the only free spaces, right near the front.

As the service got under way, I began to realise that this was going to be a challenge. Ibrahim didn’t understand either French or Mossi, and no-one was available to translate into Fulfulde. The singing, shouting, and dancing were all so alien to Ibrahim, for whom worship is a solemn affair. Drums for the Fulani are for either worldly celebrations, or “spirit festivals.” It must have been all quite bewildering – nothing he could recognise as worship or prayer, nothing he could hear as good news, nothing he could relate to culturally, but rather an emotional and noisy Mossi jamboree. They were worshipping God well enough, but for a Fulani, it was just confusing.

I did my best to explain what was going on, and Ibrahim looked around, without judging, but without illumination. He spotted the guy from the post-office, a guy who Ibrahim respects as honest and upright. But after the service no-one came to talk to him. The Mossi Christians felt uncomfortable. They didn’t speak Ibrahim’s language, and wouldn’t know what to say to him anyway.

During the following weeks, Ibrahim’s friends criticised him, and made fun of him for going to church – did he want to become a Mossi? And for a while, he backed off. But he has remained a good friend. We have continued to talk about faith and the way of God. But I haven’t taken him back to the church. We have continued to chat at his sewing machine, or at one of our homes. But I realise that taking him to church was not going to help him spiritually, even if God was in the house. Other ways of introducing him and his friends to Jesus and his family would have to be considered.

Coming back to Britain, I see the situation is not so different. We also live in a multi-cultural society. And the culture of our church meetings is often completely foreign to those living around where we live. Britain today seems a much more spiritually open place than 15 years ago. But our church meetings are maybe not always the place where street youth, clubbers, refugees, or post-modern intellectuals will meet Jesus in a way they can relate to. Maybe they are not always places where everyone finds the expression of spirituality and community that their own hearts respond to. We may be worshipping God well enough, but it can leave others feeling like an outsider at someone else’s party.

We too need to think about how we should be church in a way that focuses not only on our own worship, but also on mission so that others can meet and celebrate God, find the blessing of his kingdom, and become part of his family, without necessarily having to become exactly like us.

Part two is here

Tags: burkina faso africa emerging church burkina church fulani mission church and culture

Posted by Keith at 09:04 AM

December 11, 2004

“A soodi baali di ginan naa?” Have you bought the sheep yet?

My Fulani friends always started asking the question about three weeks before Christmas. As Muslims, they know Jesus was born by the power of God, and honour him as a great prophet. So it was normal that we should celebrate his coming into the world.

Each year, Seydou and I would buy a couple of sheep, and invite as many of our Muslim friends as we could squeeze into our yard for a meal to celebrate the birth of Iisaa Almasiihu – Jesus Christ. Inevitably, everyone brought a friend, and then other passers-by would come and join us to. Year by year the yard grew more crowded.

Continue reading "Partying with the poor"

Posted by Keith at 11:27 AM

December 08, 2004

I’m increasingly aware that I need to work myself out of a job.

The task of taking the good news of Christ to the Fulani cannot remain the task of the missionaries alone. We are too few, too expensive, and too culturally removed to do the whole job at all, let alone do it properly. Even though it is early days in the birth of the Fulani church in Burkina, it is essential for the health and relevance of the church that Fulani Christians themselves increasingly take responsibility for the task. Thankfully, in some places, this is beginning to happen.

Continue reading "Fulani fishermen"

Posted by Keith at 09:53 PM