Historically the Fulani have been a migrant pastoral people. They originated from either North Africa or the Middle East and then moved eastwards across Africa. The Fulani people are almost entirely Muslim, in fact they helped to spread Islam across Africa as they migrated. Now they are found in eighteen countries across the Sahel, from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east. Many are nomadic, keeping sheep and cattle and moving around according to the cycle of the seasons. They move around in small bands, making temporary camps. In Burkina Faso, where I am going, the Fulani are just one of several tribes, and they tend to be semi-nomadic.

The Fulani are of mixed Caucasian and Negroid origin, and are taller and lighter-skinned than their neighbours. These physical differences, with their pastoralism and their concept of pulaaku have helped them maintain their distinctivness. Pulaaku is 'Fulani-ness', or pastoral chivalry. It involves virtues such as semteende (modesty and respect), hakkillo (wisdom, prudence), and munyal (patience, self-control). the Pullo (Fulani man) is trained to be stoic, never to show his feelings, to appear introverted to outsiders and to have a deep emotional attachment to cattle.

Pulaaku implies one can manage one's herd well. The Pullo maintains the triangular relationship of interdependence between a man, his wife and his cattle. The cattle give milk and prestige, and they are treated like an extended family rather than just an economic asset. In return he gives them pasture, water and protection.

The Fulani have a rich culture and well-ordered way of life, but I am convinced too that Jesus wants them to know him in their lives, not destroying their pulaaku but enriching it. When I go to Burkina Faso, I do not want to try to reproduce a Western-style church, but to participate in the emergence of a genuinely Fulani church. It is quite a challenge - the tribe is almost completely 'unreached', and reputed to be resistant to any kind of change. The few Fulani men and women who do follow Christ are ccommonly ostracised and insulted by their communities.

Here's the plan. I will go to Burkina Faso at the end of October, on a three-month reconnaisance trip, under the umbrella of World Horizons. After three months I will come back for what I hope will be only a short time - that's the bridge-burning period when I shall need to decide whether to make a long-term commitment to the Fulani in West Africa or whether to become a dot-com millionaire instead.

Preparations are going well. As I write this I have mild doses of diphtheria, rabies and meningitis coursing through my veins - three jabs down, four to go. On Tuesday I did my Certificate of Basic Training (motorbike), and I am getting to grips with French again after years of not speaking it.

I am depending on prayer support in this country, and I hope you will consider whether you could be a part of that. If you want to receive prayer letters from the desert then just llet me know. Alternatively, if you want to come with me, or visit me there, borrow a good pair of sunglasses and come!

That is all for now. Stay in touch.

Love,

Steve