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July 30, 2002
Flying cows
Dear friends,
Almost a week has passed since touchdown in Burkina and I thought I should just let you know that I am surviving.
The flight to Ouagadougou was fine. Travelled with Peter and Gregor, friends from England who will be with Keith and I until Setember 5 - so far they are coping well with their forty days and forty nights of testing in the wilderness. Please pray for them.
Having said that, it is not quite the wilderness here that I remember from six months ago. The rainy season kicked in recently, and already there is greenery appearing all over the place. Good for the cows, of course. Most places are getting one or two good rains a week - if this continues, the harvest should be okay this year.
My birthday treat on Sunday was the bumpy ten hour journey from Ouagadougou up to the north. At Dori, one hundred kilometres from Gorom-Gorom, we were told that the road ahead was covered with water and was impassable for the bus, so we hitched a ride in a small open-topped truck which had enormous wheels. When we had finished loading all our luggage into the truck and were about to get on, it drove off, leaving us standing bewildered at the side of the road. We prayed a bit, and half an hour later began to resign ourselves to the thought of life in Gorom without so much as a toothbrush. Then the truck came back - funny old world.
Keith is not with us yet - he has stayed in Ouaga a few extra days. Hopefully he will arrive tonight (Wednesday) - in the meantime, we have been muddling through okay on our own. I showed P and G around town and have been trying to answer their many and varied questions as best I can. Also, I am pleasantly surprised by how much fulfulde I am understanding - even able to speak a fair bit. Thank you for praying for this. There is a long, long way to go but the initial signs are encouraging. Even my old nemesis, the fulfulde 'r', has rolled properly on occasion.
It has been hot, much hotter than when I was here before. Yesterday we borrowed some tools and joined Hammadou when he went out to work his field. Like most people, he has been planting millet and hoeing the ground in between the new plants. Traditionally the Fulani do not consider tilling the soil to be fitting work for a Fulani to do, but times are changing fast. These days, planting in the wet season is a necessity.
Last night there was a huge thunderstorm - we were sleeping under nets outside when suddenly the wind got up and the air was full of sand and flying cows. Okay, just sand to be honest. We rushed inside and then the rain came, and flooded our yard. It's great because it brought the temperature right down - as I write this the following morning the shelter I am sitting under feels fully air-conditioned!
Please pray for the coming month that the four of us would work well together and make Jesus known here.
Love to you all,
Steve
Posted by sahelsteve at July 30, 2002 04:10 PM