Under the Acacias - a blog about the Fulani of Burkina Faso

Evangelism in Songhai Villages

This week, Pascal, Seydou, and Pierre will be receiving a team from America to join with them in a week of evangelism in the Songhai villages where they have been working around Gorom-Gorom.

Pierre (right), Pascal, and Seydou are regularly visiting a number of Songhai villages, where people are wanting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Please pray for this week of evangelism. Thank you.

If you wish to support our church-planting work, click on the image below:

What a difference a day makes

Saturday Afternoon

Monday morning.

More France photos

In keeping with our decision to take one day a week away from studies and work, and explore the area, here are a few more photos from France from the last couple of weeks:

Avignon

Keith and Lynne (and Lynne's co-student Maja)

La Forteresse de Mornas

Nimes

Uzes

Go north young man...

Two new pastor-missionaries are heading up to join us in the work in the north of Burkina Faso. One will be moving into a Tamacheq village and one to a Songhai village.

Please pray for these men and their families as they prepare to take this challenging step

If you wish to support our church-planting work, click on the image below:

A Grand Day Out

Lynne and I had a lovely day off on Saturday - a day away from French studies and computers, to go for a drive up the Ardeche Gorge:

Gorge-ous!

New Creations

While in Avignon for Lynne's studies, we sometimes stay with Eric and Joanna, who have very kindly opened their home to us. We are so grateful for their hospitality, and it is a great help for Lynne to be able to begin to talk French in a family setting.

Eric is a sculptor, who is trying to express the life-transforming impact of Christ through his work. You can see (and buy) his work at his website: www.ericdemaret-christianart.com. Here are some of his pieces:

1.Appointed. 2. Thirst

3. Enlightened. 4. Soul and Spirit

Newsletter February 2010

Download Keith and Lynne's Newsletter: Feb 2010

Military Coup in Niger

Burkina Faso's neighbour Niger had a military coup yesterday.

The BBC reports that France and the AU have condemned the coup:

'The junta, which has called itself the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy, imposed a curfew and closed the country's borders... The plotters said their aim was to restore democracy and save the population from "poverty, deception and corruption"

(President) Mr Tandja provoked a political crisis last August when he changed the constitution of the uranium-rich country to allow him to remain in power indefinitely.'

Our friends in the capital Niamey say that the city appears calm, but that they will be staying at home today! They ask for prayer:

Pray that there will be no further loss of life
Pray that democracy will soon be returned
Pray that the door for the gospel will remain open.

Pope City

Avignon, where Lynne is studying at university, is known as "Cité des Papes" (City of the Popes), because for much of the 14th century it became the seat of the Papacy instead of Rome. In the photo above, you can also see to the far right the bridge - from the French children's song "sur le pont d'Avignon", which tells of dancing on the bridge. Only four arches of the bridge now remain, and you can no longer dance on it without first paying to gain access...

Avignon university, and the "Palais des Papes"

The Palais des Papes, and a street shot.

New Cell Church Starting

A new cell church is starting in Fulani village "Y", where we have been visiting and sharing the message of Christ for many years!

To read more, go to the APT website here:
New Cell Church Starting

Bourg St Andeol

This is Bourg St Andeol, where Lynne and I are living in France for these 5 months.

Bourg is a small old town on the very edge of the Ardeche, about 50 mins drive from Avignon university, where Lynne is studying. The weather since we have been here has generally been very clear and quite sunny, but unbelievably cold.

The air temperature is only about 1C, but the Mistral wind is blowing at the moment, which makes it feel about -10C.

Back to School...

Bloggity Blog

Under the Acacias has just been named one of the top 50 Evangelical Blogs by the Biblical Learning Blog!

I am under no illusions about the subjectivity of such lists, but I am honoured (if somewhat bemused) that James considers my blog to be so good. And thanks too to both of my faithful readers for faithfully persevering with my ramblings!

However, there are some excellent blogs out there, and James does link to some other really good ones. Go and have a browse.

You can also see some of my own favourite reads from across the spectrum of blogworld in my side-bar. Two friends' blogs that I like to visit often are:
* Voice in the Desert - by my colleague Steve, fellow missionary in Burkina Faso, and
* Distinctly Welcoming - by my friend Richard, reflecting on Christian engagement with our multifaith society.

Keith et Lynne en France

We are now in France for 5 months for Lynne to work on improving her French before we return to Burkina Faso.

We are based at the Horizons France base at Bourg St Andeol, where we have a lovely small apartment in the Horizons Centre. Lynne will be studying at the Universite d'Avignon. Her courses start on Tuesday. We went there yesterday to have a look round the town and find the university. Unfortunately, you can no longer dance on the Avignon bridge without paying.

Photos coming soon.

Back in the UK, we have friends looking after our house while we are away, but still need to rent or sell it asap. Please pray for us in that.

Many thanks

Gorom-Gorom Building Plans

We are now ready to start building in Gorom-Gorom!

Housing
We have the building plans
a) for the houses for the teachers at the Gorom-Gorom School, and
b) for our house and office in the Oudalan Ministry Centre.

All of these will be built in the DWF Woodless Construction style. This uses traditional building techniques to build houses entirely out of mud, including the roof, which is a dome or vault. Such houses save on scarce wood, encourage local industry by using local skills and materials, and provide good internal comfort, staying warm in cold season, and cool in hot season.

Brick-making should have started by now, and the goal is to have all these houses built by the end of April.
See more at the APT website here

Classrooms
We hope that work on the classrooms will also start very soon. We are awaiting the final designs and costing. We still need more finance to build the whole school, but think we have enough to make a start by building the first few classes. If you want to contribute towards the building of the school, please click below: