So the same missionary friend of mine who I did the Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas has posted some of the videos on a site called "vimeo". This is a link to one video that he and I did for the youth group, and you can also find other videos there about the outreach.
http://www.vimeo.com/2537648
Merry Christmas
Monday, December 22, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Picture from Give a Kid a Christmas and more
This is a picture of my new roommate Tyler and I at a local Christmas party. We keep it real.
This is a picture from my perspective as we got the truck towed back to the local town during the give a kid a Christmas. My other passengers road in the back of the other truck while I steered mine.
This is a photo of my old roommate Reid and I at the airport. He unfortunately had to leave unexpectedly for family issues. He was a good friend to me here in Burkina.
This is a photo of some kids at one of the outreaches opening up their Christmas gift. I did my best to capture some of their joy as they opened their backpacks.
This is a photo of some of the kids watching the drama's we put on during the children's outreach at a local school in Ouaga.
This is a picture from my perspective as we got the truck towed back to the local town during the give a kid a Christmas. My other passengers road in the back of the other truck while I steered mine.
This is a photo of my old roommate Reid and I at the airport. He unfortunately had to leave unexpectedly for family issues. He was a good friend to me here in Burkina.
This is a photo of some kids at one of the outreaches opening up their Christmas gift. I did my best to capture some of their joy as they opened their backpacks.
This is a photo of some of the kids watching the drama's we put on during the children's outreach at a local school in Ouaga.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas!
It's Christmas Time! First let me say merry Christmas to all of you. For those of you who received my quarterly update you might remember that I mentioned a few short stories about Give-a-Kid-a-Christmas. Well I am here to elaborate on that project a little more and share some of the craziness that was my life for 3 weeks or so.
It began in the middle of November with an overnight trip to a town called Dori. That was where we were originally going to do this outreach. Before I go further let me explain the background. A missionary here in Burkina with another organization does a kids outreach each Christmas year which joins together the gospel with a social aspect to development. A team of Burkinabe do skit about brushing your teeth, washing, not eating old food ect. This is done at the schools. Then a gift of a backpack with pens paper, a few pieces of candy and the like are given. After that or maybe the next day we do a gospel skit. Showing and acting the story of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So back to the story at hand, we went to Dori but it turned out Samaritan's Purse is going there in April so we didn't want to do it there. So after some prayer and consideration we chose Piela. Now I'd been to Piela a few times before but none of my trips were like this. First off we went to Piela just to meet with the pastors to see if it was o.k. to do it there. We got the go ahead and began making plans and packing 3,000 gifts! The next week we did the same program at schools here in Ouaga. Then the first week of December it was the big show, Piela. 1,800 kids 6 or 7 school's 4 days ya. Well it started Tuesday but I got the pleasure of Driving 600 gifts in a truck on Monday and then turning around and coming back the same day. It's about 4 hours each way.
Tuesday comes I get up bright and early at like 5:30 or some unhuman hour of the morning, get ready and head over to HQ. Well due to complications and set backs (not unfamiliar to Burkina) we left at about noon. So I'm lead truck heading the 2 truck and 1 mini van convoy to Piela. But when my truck reached the half way point I realized I'd lost the convoy and they were seriously slow. Then I found that my phone had rang several times. I called back only to find out the mini van went down for the count about an hour earlier. A piece inside the back right wheel broke, the wheel smoked up and caught fire! So about 8 or 9 of our team was stuck. I waited in a town about at the half way point for the other truck. We waited, the truck came and off we went to drop the gifts and equipment off at which point we'd come back for the van.
The other truck took lead and we headed out, about 10 miles outside of this town guess what? Yup, my truck went M.I.A. on me! Not only did it die but it wouldn't even turn over at all, we tried push starting it several times... nothing. I thought at this point I was going to have to jog the 10 miles back to town to get help to tow it. We couldn't stay there in the middle of nowhere that night, because that area is known as bandit country plus there were 2 girls with us and I didn't feel comfortable with having them be stranded. Well, a blue truck did pull up to help us. At first we thought it was the other team members, but nope, it was 4 rather dirty somewhat shady characters getting out of their truck. At which point I went on high alert. They did end up helping us and towed us back to town, but at one point one of the guys was taking a real long look at what was in out truck and I thought we were going to get robbed. So, 2 out of 3 are now down and out. We can't get a hold of the driver of the blue truck so the passengers in my car and I sat in front of a shop next to the mechanics shop for 5 hours with nothing to do.
The blue truck came back went and picked up the van people and came back to where we were around 11:30 PM or so. At that point we decided the girls and some of the needed equipment would head up that night, I and about 5 guys would sleep in the town on the street next to the truck that night because of the valuable equipment in it. So I have now experienced homelessness and sleeping on the streets. After a great night of sleep we got up the next day. The blue truck picked us up at about 12 to head up. We left the truck and arranged for a mechanic from Ouaga to drive up and tow it back to Ouaga to work on it. So we get up to Piela and do a couple of the social dramas. They actually go over pretty well and after an exhausting day we get to go to bed. However at this point I start feeling downright awful. I've got some kind of headache and I woke up in the middle of the night so thirsty I was about to drink my own sweat. I found some water but didn't sleep well. I didn't get tested but I'm pretty sure I had malaria at that point (I took some medicine when I got back to Ouaga). So after another sleepless night we had about 5 schools to do the social dramas at. That night we set up and did the gospel dramas. Wouldn't you know it, just as we got the crowds attention, did a few minor skits we got everything ready for the actual drama and... boom! The speakers blew out because the generator surged! Now the actors act and one of our other team members have to yell out to explain what's going on.
Despite all that almost 200 kids came forward to find out more about Jesus afterwards. Which was great. We got back to basecamp I ate some food and tried to go to bed early. I slept slightly better that night, and got up by 6 or so to catch the bus back to Ouaga at 7. Most of us caught the bus and a few stayed behind in the blue truck to do one more outreach. On bus ride back I got a text saying... the blue truck was broken! 3 for 3 we batted that trip. Eventually the blue truck got back the next day. Nevertheless I can honestly say I've never had a trip go that way with that many things go awry. It was an adventure to say the least. Discussing with a few of the guys afterwards we all agreed that some spiritual warfare had to have been present in a situation like that.
I know this post was pretty long, thanks for sticking around to the end. I'll get some pictures up in the next couple of days so stay tuned.
It began in the middle of November with an overnight trip to a town called Dori. That was where we were originally going to do this outreach. Before I go further let me explain the background. A missionary here in Burkina with another organization does a kids outreach each Christmas year which joins together the gospel with a social aspect to development. A team of Burkinabe do skit about brushing your teeth, washing, not eating old food ect. This is done at the schools. Then a gift of a backpack with pens paper, a few pieces of candy and the like are given. After that or maybe the next day we do a gospel skit. Showing and acting the story of creation through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
So back to the story at hand, we went to Dori but it turned out Samaritan's Purse is going there in April so we didn't want to do it there. So after some prayer and consideration we chose Piela. Now I'd been to Piela a few times before but none of my trips were like this. First off we went to Piela just to meet with the pastors to see if it was o.k. to do it there. We got the go ahead and began making plans and packing 3,000 gifts! The next week we did the same program at schools here in Ouaga. Then the first week of December it was the big show, Piela. 1,800 kids 6 or 7 school's 4 days ya. Well it started Tuesday but I got the pleasure of Driving 600 gifts in a truck on Monday and then turning around and coming back the same day. It's about 4 hours each way.
Tuesday comes I get up bright and early at like 5:30 or some unhuman hour of the morning, get ready and head over to HQ. Well due to complications and set backs (not unfamiliar to Burkina) we left at about noon. So I'm lead truck heading the 2 truck and 1 mini van convoy to Piela. But when my truck reached the half way point I realized I'd lost the convoy and they were seriously slow. Then I found that my phone had rang several times. I called back only to find out the mini van went down for the count about an hour earlier. A piece inside the back right wheel broke, the wheel smoked up and caught fire! So about 8 or 9 of our team was stuck. I waited in a town about at the half way point for the other truck. We waited, the truck came and off we went to drop the gifts and equipment off at which point we'd come back for the van.
The other truck took lead and we headed out, about 10 miles outside of this town guess what? Yup, my truck went M.I.A. on me! Not only did it die but it wouldn't even turn over at all, we tried push starting it several times... nothing. I thought at this point I was going to have to jog the 10 miles back to town to get help to tow it. We couldn't stay there in the middle of nowhere that night, because that area is known as bandit country plus there were 2 girls with us and I didn't feel comfortable with having them be stranded. Well, a blue truck did pull up to help us. At first we thought it was the other team members, but nope, it was 4 rather dirty somewhat shady characters getting out of their truck. At which point I went on high alert. They did end up helping us and towed us back to town, but at one point one of the guys was taking a real long look at what was in out truck and I thought we were going to get robbed. So, 2 out of 3 are now down and out. We can't get a hold of the driver of the blue truck so the passengers in my car and I sat in front of a shop next to the mechanics shop for 5 hours with nothing to do.
The blue truck came back went and picked up the van people and came back to where we were around 11:30 PM or so. At that point we decided the girls and some of the needed equipment would head up that night, I and about 5 guys would sleep in the town on the street next to the truck that night because of the valuable equipment in it. So I have now experienced homelessness and sleeping on the streets. After a great night of sleep we got up the next day. The blue truck picked us up at about 12 to head up. We left the truck and arranged for a mechanic from Ouaga to drive up and tow it back to Ouaga to work on it. So we get up to Piela and do a couple of the social dramas. They actually go over pretty well and after an exhausting day we get to go to bed. However at this point I start feeling downright awful. I've got some kind of headache and I woke up in the middle of the night so thirsty I was about to drink my own sweat. I found some water but didn't sleep well. I didn't get tested but I'm pretty sure I had malaria at that point (I took some medicine when I got back to Ouaga). So after another sleepless night we had about 5 schools to do the social dramas at. That night we set up and did the gospel dramas. Wouldn't you know it, just as we got the crowds attention, did a few minor skits we got everything ready for the actual drama and... boom! The speakers blew out because the generator surged! Now the actors act and one of our other team members have to yell out to explain what's going on.
Despite all that almost 200 kids came forward to find out more about Jesus afterwards. Which was great. We got back to basecamp I ate some food and tried to go to bed early. I slept slightly better that night, and got up by 6 or so to catch the bus back to Ouaga at 7. Most of us caught the bus and a few stayed behind in the blue truck to do one more outreach. On bus ride back I got a text saying... the blue truck was broken! 3 for 3 we batted that trip. Eventually the blue truck got back the next day. Nevertheless I can honestly say I've never had a trip go that way with that many things go awry. It was an adventure to say the least. Discussing with a few of the guys afterwards we all agreed that some spiritual warfare had to have been present in a situation like that.
I know this post was pretty long, thanks for sticking around to the end. I'll get some pictures up in the next couple of days so stay tuned.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Random thoughts
So I don't have major story to write about, just several things that have been happening lately or will be happening shortly. I hope you enjoy.
First off, I have a youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lSO6OPJ0Y which you can see about a 4-5 minute video put together from the Southern Exposure trip. I recommend using the link rather than searching for "Southern Exposure" I'm thinking you might come across some links that you wouldn't be looking for. On that note, I have to say the trip was a month ago or so now, but I can still see the students growing from the trip. As a group this years youth group is gelling well, becoming more transparent with one another and I believe that we are better imitating the body of Christ now than before. This is very exciting for me as a leader to see this perspective going on and to see the students begin to question and challenge their existing worldviews. My hope is that I can continue to guide them as they work through these lifelong issues.
In other news another one of my good friends has left for good. A Peace Corps friend of mine (it was here village that we went to for the Southern Exposure trip) finished her service earlier this month. The only good thing about her leaving is that we went several times to get a nice meal or ice cream and stuff like that. But it is a bummer to have her gone and just another reminder that all things are temporal, especially here. That is one thing I struggle and wrestle with. Truth be told, I don't think there should be this kind of turn around in the communities here. Especially for building solid, honest, open Christian community to which I am striving for, this constant coming and going of people (and eventually myself as well) really hinders. I have experienced and seen other missionaries and aid workers here just not get close to new comers because they know soon enough one of them is going to leave. This is frustrating to say the least.
Finally, I have been busy this week and will be busy the next 2 weeks with "Give a Kid a Christmas". This is a major project that I am helping a few other missionaries here with. They have put together 3,000 backpacks with pens, paper, and other school supplies to give away at different elementary schools in a village called Piella. 2 of the guys and I went last week to check it out and talk to the local pastors about it. It's quite an operation but a great way to both bless those kids, teach them about social things (brush your teeth, don't eat dirty food etc) and present the gospel as well. I'm very excited to be on board with this project this year. That's all for now. Next time I'll let you know how the Give a Kid a Christmas goes, and how Turkeyday here in Burkina went!
First off, I have a youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49lSO6OPJ0Y which you can see about a 4-5 minute video put together from the Southern Exposure trip. I recommend using the link rather than searching for "Southern Exposure" I'm thinking you might come across some links that you wouldn't be looking for. On that note, I have to say the trip was a month ago or so now, but I can still see the students growing from the trip. As a group this years youth group is gelling well, becoming more transparent with one another and I believe that we are better imitating the body of Christ now than before. This is very exciting for me as a leader to see this perspective going on and to see the students begin to question and challenge their existing worldviews. My hope is that I can continue to guide them as they work through these lifelong issues.
In other news another one of my good friends has left for good. A Peace Corps friend of mine (it was here village that we went to for the Southern Exposure trip) finished her service earlier this month. The only good thing about her leaving is that we went several times to get a nice meal or ice cream and stuff like that. But it is a bummer to have her gone and just another reminder that all things are temporal, especially here. That is one thing I struggle and wrestle with. Truth be told, I don't think there should be this kind of turn around in the communities here. Especially for building solid, honest, open Christian community to which I am striving for, this constant coming and going of people (and eventually myself as well) really hinders. I have experienced and seen other missionaries and aid workers here just not get close to new comers because they know soon enough one of them is going to leave. This is frustrating to say the least.
Finally, I have been busy this week and will be busy the next 2 weeks with "Give a Kid a Christmas". This is a major project that I am helping a few other missionaries here with. They have put together 3,000 backpacks with pens, paper, and other school supplies to give away at different elementary schools in a village called Piella. 2 of the guys and I went last week to check it out and talk to the local pastors about it. It's quite an operation but a great way to both bless those kids, teach them about social things (brush your teeth, don't eat dirty food etc) and present the gospel as well. I'm very excited to be on board with this project this year. That's all for now. Next time I'll let you know how the Give a Kid a Christmas goes, and how Turkeyday here in Burkina went!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Southern Exposure Pic's
These photos are of myself and one of the students Robbie after our last night of outreach. After we were done with our program a large dance party started up and Robbie and I were right in the middle of it!
The next picture is of several kids going for a football. We brought a football and some frisbees to play with the kids and I taught them how to throw a football for the first time.
Finally there is a picture of our gospel presentation. You might be familiar with the "color scheme" in the gospel presentation using several colors to describe our relationship with God and each other. In order that the kids could see the color and image well we had capes made of the different colors to show how, goodness, sin, and forgiveness actually cover us to some degree.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Southern Exposure
I got back from our children outreach a few days ago, and after some much needed downtime and processing I figured I'd let all you know how it went. I'll start off by saying it was amazing! The other youth leaders and I have been planning this trip for quite some time now, really since the end of August and for the past month and a half we'd been meeting every Saturday morning for prep meetings with the team of students. It was a lot of work, a lot of time, but it was all worth it. The kids did a great job with the program we put together both a morning and evening program for the African kids. Besides sharing the gospel and doing a great skit about the Exodus I think as a group we broke down a lot of preconceived notions the Burkinabe had about Americans/Westerners. They were amazed that we were willing to get on the ground, to get dirty, to be real I guess. And for the village we were in, talking with one of the Burkinabe down there, he said he'd never seen that many white people before! There were 20 of us.
Along with our time sharing about God with the Africans, I believe God moved mightily in the lives of our youth group students. I saw many students experience, feel, and rejoice in God's presence. I was blessed to see them moved by the Lord so powerfully. As a group they became closer, I became closer to many of them, and they had a powerful encounter with God. All the people involved I believe were blessed and had encounters with the living God. And another special treat for me was that Sunday morning I gave a short message in the local church. It is quite often typical for a guest pastor/missionary to give a message, and that fell to me. Actually I didn't know I was doing it until Saturday night, so I scrambled to prepare something that night and early Sunday morning. Obviously more prep time would have been great, but given the time I had to work with I think it went very well. I even got a few comments from some of the church leaders after the service saying that my message was practical and something the congregation needed to hear. So I was glad that God guided me in that. Overall, the students came back excited and worn out which usually means they had a great time and the trip was well worth it.
Thank you to those who were praying for this trip, it was much needed and appreciated.
I will be uploading pictures in the days to come so stay tuned!
Along with our time sharing about God with the Africans, I believe God moved mightily in the lives of our youth group students. I saw many students experience, feel, and rejoice in God's presence. I was blessed to see them moved by the Lord so powerfully. As a group they became closer, I became closer to many of them, and they had a powerful encounter with God. All the people involved I believe were blessed and had encounters with the living God. And another special treat for me was that Sunday morning I gave a short message in the local church. It is quite often typical for a guest pastor/missionary to give a message, and that fell to me. Actually I didn't know I was doing it until Saturday night, so I scrambled to prepare something that night and early Sunday morning. Obviously more prep time would have been great, but given the time I had to work with I think it went very well. I even got a few comments from some of the church leaders after the service saying that my message was practical and something the congregation needed to hear. So I was glad that God guided me in that. Overall, the students came back excited and worn out which usually means they had a great time and the trip was well worth it.
Thank you to those who were praying for this trip, it was much needed and appreciated.
I will be uploading pictures in the days to come so stay tuned!
Monday, October 20, 2008
More Pics
So the picture of me with my helmet on was taken by my roommate Reid, as we had to haul a 5 gallon cooler across town on his dirt bike. So We did what any normal person would do. Strapped it to my back so that I look like "Rocketman" I thought it looked kind of funny.
The picture to the right is another picture from youth group. These are two of the high school students Dave and DJ. You've got to admit, we look pretty cool don't we?
The picture to the right is another picture from youth group. These are two of the high school students Dave and DJ. You've got to admit, we look pretty cool don't we?
Friday, October 17, 2008
It's Been A Year!!!
Yes, as of October 11th I believe, I have been in Burkina Faso for one year. I can remember when I first arrived one year seemed like a daunting time period, nevertheless I have made it thus far. Actually during my one year anniversary I was in Niger for a softball tournament. Unfortuanately we did not take home the championship, but it was pretty fun nonetheless.
And if you are wondering how everything with the moto and paperwork worked out, well it did. Finally, it actaully took most of the day to find the police station take care of the paperwork and all and get my moto back, but I did and I'm back blasting off all over the galaxy again.
I am now looking forward to the mission trip or "Southern Exposure" trip we'll back taking with the youth group towards the end of the month. I think the kids are getting pretty excited for it and it should come together nicely. We'll see though.
In the mean time here are a few photos I said I'd put up of the youth group.
And if you are wondering how everything with the moto and paperwork worked out, well it did. Finally, it actaully took most of the day to find the police station take care of the paperwork and all and get my moto back, but I did and I'm back blasting off all over the galaxy again.
I am now looking forward to the mission trip or "Southern Exposure" trip we'll back taking with the youth group towards the end of the month. I think the kids are getting pretty excited for it and it should come together nicely. We'll see though.
In the mean time here are a few photos I said I'd put up of the youth group.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Empire Strikes Back
When we last left our hero he was exhausted after battling the forces of futility in the Faso. His hope was that with the sunrise a new day would dawn and the momentum would shift in his favor. That however was not to be.
It is true that my Saturday wasn't too bad considering I had to walk everywhere, but the Saturday morning meeting went well and I had lunch with one of the young jedi in training. However, it did not help that when Sunday rolled around I had the excruciating task of listening to the Seahawks get beat like an African drum on a shoddy radio connection that broke in and out. And with that set up, Monday morning happened.
I woke up to my alarm and was excited to get going because I knew I had so much to accomplish before picking the guys up for after school boys Bible study. I traversed the mile or more to the Rebel headquaters (SIM) and then began looking for a way to both get my moto back and get down and straighten out my visa fiasco. Well, it turned out no one was really around to help me out and no one had a spare moto I could use. So I borrowed one of the youth group students bicycle, went back to my house to change knowing that going warp speed on a bike in Burkina is going to cause a lot of sweat. So I loaded up some water and my papers and headed down to the Niger embassy. After the 8 mile bike ride down which I hustled (because I had other things to do) I got to the office only to find the man I needed to see was not in his office. So, I waited patiently for about 10 minutes for the man to come back. Finally he did and then I entered and began to ask him what I needed to fill out. Well, he gave our hero an inquisitive look and replied, "There's nothing wrong with your application." To which our hero looked at him and said "you called me Friday afternoon saying I had not done my application correctly". To which he said, "Oh, well I straightened it out". At which point our hero was so glad he borrowed a bike to ride 8 miles down there just to find that out. Great.
So after coming to grips with the fact that I not only wasted time, but also a lot of energy and sweat I picked up a few items at a store and began to head home. After crossing the galaxy and safely returning, (however at one point I raced a burkinabe kid on a bike, I came out on top of that little contest but it was funny nonetheless) I dropped the bike back off and went to HQ to get some cold water. I entered the guest house and got a glass only to realize the cooler where the cold clean water is kept, was empty... I began to realize that the dark side of the force was targeting me, so I shrugged that off, and left the building to go get the truck, so I could pick the guys up. Well, and this is my fault, but since I was a little agitated and tired from the ride I actually got lost for a little while, completely missing the turn I was to take to get to the house where the truck was being stored. So I walked an extra 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. At this point I began to feel like Han Solo in the Empire Strikes Back. It just seemed nothing was going my way.
Well, I finally got to the house and tried to start up the truck. And just like Han had trouble with the Millennium Falcon, I too had trouble with my Millennium Falcon. It would not turn over. So I asked a couple guys to help me push it out of the yard so I could jump start it. Well, as they were pushing, (I was out of the drivers seat pushing as well) I realised that at the current trajectory we were going to smack right into the gate/wall. So I yelled STOP (in French) and jumped in the car to slam on the brake. We narrowly avoided that train wreck, and after straightening out got it out. I'd never pop started a clutch before, but to my amazement and little help of the force I got that sucker running. Once started though I looked down at the fuel gage, only to realize that I was on E. This thing was so low it would have put Kramer's adventure in the test car in Seinfeld to shame. Well, I headed back to Rebel HQ to get some money to fill it up. Well, just my luck, neither accountant was there, so I was forced to drive it home, hoping it would make it so I could get some money and go fill it up. Right now, I'd like you, based on my day thus far, to take a guess if our hero actually made it home? Go ahead, take a guess...
Ya, I'm sure you got it correct. Of course I didn't make it home!!! Actually I made it to within about 100 to 200 ft. or so. So, I got to push it up to my house, at which point I went inside and found my faithful companion and roommate Chewy (Reid), sitting in the dark, because the power was out. He and I hopped on his moto, and went to get gas. Oh and by gas I mean Diesel, and for those of you who know about how Diesel manual trucks work, running out of gas isn't exactly great for them. So after 2 trips to the local power-up station Chewy and I took turns pumping the fuel filter pump for 15 minutes or so.
I got the Millennium Falcon back on line and headed over to pick up the guys for Bible study. Well, since my morning was shot, I didn't have much of a chance to prepare a lesson for the guys, and I was exhausted anyway, so we did about 15% spiritual talk and 85% talking about who knows what. I took the guys back dropped the car off, actually got to borrow another moto from a friend and rode it back. Since then I haven't had too many complications however I know the day is not over and there are things I still must accomplish. So for tomorrow, Tuesday, I have to go pay my fine at the Death Star so I can go get my moto back which is at the Stormtrooper station, as well as pick up the T-shirts for the youth mission trip I'm leading. Eventually I'll have to go back down to the Niger embassy to get my passport back. This "to do" list sounds vaguely familiar. Hmmm. Oh ya, that's because I was supposed to do all that stuff Friday and TODAY!!! I don't know if I'm in Burkina Faso or on the cloud city Bespin, either way it's been another one of "those" days!
Hopefully I'll be writing a "Return of the Jedi" post soon...
It is true that my Saturday wasn't too bad considering I had to walk everywhere, but the Saturday morning meeting went well and I had lunch with one of the young jedi in training. However, it did not help that when Sunday rolled around I had the excruciating task of listening to the Seahawks get beat like an African drum on a shoddy radio connection that broke in and out. And with that set up, Monday morning happened.
I woke up to my alarm and was excited to get going because I knew I had so much to accomplish before picking the guys up for after school boys Bible study. I traversed the mile or more to the Rebel headquaters (SIM) and then began looking for a way to both get my moto back and get down and straighten out my visa fiasco. Well, it turned out no one was really around to help me out and no one had a spare moto I could use. So I borrowed one of the youth group students bicycle, went back to my house to change knowing that going warp speed on a bike in Burkina is going to cause a lot of sweat. So I loaded up some water and my papers and headed down to the Niger embassy. After the 8 mile bike ride down which I hustled (because I had other things to do) I got to the office only to find the man I needed to see was not in his office. So, I waited patiently for about 10 minutes for the man to come back. Finally he did and then I entered and began to ask him what I needed to fill out. Well, he gave our hero an inquisitive look and replied, "There's nothing wrong with your application." To which our hero looked at him and said "you called me Friday afternoon saying I had not done my application correctly". To which he said, "Oh, well I straightened it out". At which point our hero was so glad he borrowed a bike to ride 8 miles down there just to find that out. Great.
So after coming to grips with the fact that I not only wasted time, but also a lot of energy and sweat I picked up a few items at a store and began to head home. After crossing the galaxy and safely returning, (however at one point I raced a burkinabe kid on a bike, I came out on top of that little contest but it was funny nonetheless) I dropped the bike back off and went to HQ to get some cold water. I entered the guest house and got a glass only to realize the cooler where the cold clean water is kept, was empty... I began to realize that the dark side of the force was targeting me, so I shrugged that off, and left the building to go get the truck, so I could pick the guys up. Well, and this is my fault, but since I was a little agitated and tired from the ride I actually got lost for a little while, completely missing the turn I was to take to get to the house where the truck was being stored. So I walked an extra 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile. At this point I began to feel like Han Solo in the Empire Strikes Back. It just seemed nothing was going my way.
Well, I finally got to the house and tried to start up the truck. And just like Han had trouble with the Millennium Falcon, I too had trouble with my Millennium Falcon. It would not turn over. So I asked a couple guys to help me push it out of the yard so I could jump start it. Well, as they were pushing, (I was out of the drivers seat pushing as well) I realised that at the current trajectory we were going to smack right into the gate/wall. So I yelled STOP (in French) and jumped in the car to slam on the brake. We narrowly avoided that train wreck, and after straightening out got it out. I'd never pop started a clutch before, but to my amazement and little help of the force I got that sucker running. Once started though I looked down at the fuel gage, only to realize that I was on E. This thing was so low it would have put Kramer's adventure in the test car in Seinfeld to shame. Well, I headed back to Rebel HQ to get some money to fill it up. Well, just my luck, neither accountant was there, so I was forced to drive it home, hoping it would make it so I could get some money and go fill it up. Right now, I'd like you, based on my day thus far, to take a guess if our hero actually made it home? Go ahead, take a guess...
Ya, I'm sure you got it correct. Of course I didn't make it home!!! Actually I made it to within about 100 to 200 ft. or so. So, I got to push it up to my house, at which point I went inside and found my faithful companion and roommate Chewy (Reid), sitting in the dark, because the power was out. He and I hopped on his moto, and went to get gas. Oh and by gas I mean Diesel, and for those of you who know about how Diesel manual trucks work, running out of gas isn't exactly great for them. So after 2 trips to the local power-up station Chewy and I took turns pumping the fuel filter pump for 15 minutes or so.
I got the Millennium Falcon back on line and headed over to pick up the guys for Bible study. Well, since my morning was shot, I didn't have much of a chance to prepare a lesson for the guys, and I was exhausted anyway, so we did about 15% spiritual talk and 85% talking about who knows what. I took the guys back dropped the car off, actually got to borrow another moto from a friend and rode it back. Since then I haven't had too many complications however I know the day is not over and there are things I still must accomplish. So for tomorrow, Tuesday, I have to go pay my fine at the Death Star so I can go get my moto back which is at the Stormtrooper station, as well as pick up the T-shirts for the youth mission trip I'm leading. Eventually I'll have to go back down to the Niger embassy to get my passport back. This "to do" list sounds vaguely familiar. Hmmm. Oh ya, that's because I was supposed to do all that stuff Friday and TODAY!!! I don't know if I'm in Burkina Faso or on the cloud city Bespin, either way it's been another one of "those" days!
Hopefully I'll be writing a "Return of the Jedi" post soon...
Friday, October 3, 2008
A Day in the Life...
I know some if not all of you who read this blog or know me may have at some point asked, "Ben what do you do on a daily basis?" This is a good question and so I'll just tell you what I did today, not to show how everyday goes, but how some days can go. But I must back up first, before I talk about what I did today, I have to back it up and set the scene for today with yesterday.
Yesterday was overall a pretty good day. I was able to finish my lesson for youth group that night. I finished a four part series on The Prodigal Son, and took some pictures of the youth group (I'll post those in the coming days). The plot thickens however when our hero (that's me) hops on his moto to go home after youth group. I left the house we have it at around 10 or 10:30 PM I think and as I took a left to take the main street that leads to the area I live I was met with resistance from the empire! Actually, as happens every so often, the national police do a dragnet of sorts and pretty much just pull people over at will looking for things that are wrong just to write people up. Well, my back light was apparently out, so they sucked me in like a tractor beam. I was caught although at first I had no idea what was going on because to my knowledge I was doing everything by the book. So after he explained it to me and I tried to argue it, but apparently my jedi mind tricks don't translate into other languages. Dang! Unlike on my home planet of America, when the police here pull you over on a bicycle or moto, they don't give you a ticket, they impound your vehicle! So I ask for a paper saying what infraction I'd made, how much it was and where to go to straighten this whole thing out. Nothing, I got nothing, which is even strange by Burkina police standards. Which made the situation all the more suspect and shaddy to say the least. So my Thursday night ended with my moto being taken by the galactic empire, and the lonely hero walking home.
Our Friday morning thus begins where Thursday night left off. Instead of getting a bunch of errands done and preparing for a youth group meeting I had Saturday morning, I had to get up extra early, get a ride from my roommate over to SIM and begin the journey of reclaiming what is rightfully mine. So I got to SIM and waited for a Burkinabe gentleman who works for SIM and helps missionaries out with things of this nature or paper work and what not. Well, he was somewhat swamped so after about an hour and a half of waiting at SIM, he and I jumped into a car and were off. We went downtown to the police station there, but found out we had gone to the wrong one, and because I didn't have any papers about the infraction this made our wild goose chase all the easier. Well we finally figure out which station the hero's moto is being help captive so we go there and find out that guess what I get to stand in line! So my companion for the journey at this point had to depart to take care of other business at hand. I got there shortly before 10 AM and waited and waited and waited in line until... 12 PM! Mind you Burkina is getting hot again so I stood there in the 90+ degrees for two hours. Awesome. So once I made it to the front of the line, and by line I mean nebulous blob (from what I have seen Africans don't hold straight lines as a virture to be pursed). So as I finally push my way to the front of the "line" I talk with the officer only to find out that he would be giving me a piece of paper which basically restated my official ownership papers. At this point the hero was instructed to take that piece of paper to the otherside of the galaxy (Ouagadougou) to another empiral station to pay the fine! It's a great system they have set up here in case that was unclear to you, let me just clear that up right now. And once I paid my fine at that station, I was to come back to the station I was currently at to prove that I'd paid the fine and my moto would be relinquished back into my possession. Like I said, great system.
Well, at this point it's noon, which means that everything is shutting down for the next 3 hours, however, I don't have a space shuttle back to my house, so after getting my paper I walked the next 3 miles or so (over an hour time wise) back to my house in the 90+ heat. I got home, had lunch with my roommate and being as tired as I was laid down for a nap. I had to be woken up by my roommate though because I had set my alarm for 2:55 AM not PM, so I was a little late waking up, but now had other fish to fry. My roommate gave me a ride down to the Niger embassy because I had to apply for a visa for Niger, because I'd be leaving soon for an intergaltica softball tournament there. So I get down there, take care of business, get back to the house just before 4 at which point I was to be at the school for Friday dodgeball. However, I got a call from the embassy saying I'd miss read some of the form and incorrectly filled it out. Sweet. So now I still have to do dodgeball but now I have to go back down to the embassy on Monday morning. I did dodgeball, ran home, showered, changed and went to a youth leaders house to work out details for our Saturday meeting, then walked home from that meeting, at which point you are now caught up in the hero's struggle against the galactic empire.
It looks like at this point I don't have transportation for the weekend and now my Monday will mostly be taken up with paying a fine, getting my moto back, and going back to the embassy. All things that were supposed to accomplished today. So, that may answer some of your questions as to how does Ben Steel fill up 24 hours in Burkina Faso. I hope you enjoyed reading about my day far more than I did actually living it.
Until next time...
Yesterday was overall a pretty good day. I was able to finish my lesson for youth group that night. I finished a four part series on The Prodigal Son, and took some pictures of the youth group (I'll post those in the coming days). The plot thickens however when our hero (that's me) hops on his moto to go home after youth group. I left the house we have it at around 10 or 10:30 PM I think and as I took a left to take the main street that leads to the area I live I was met with resistance from the empire! Actually, as happens every so often, the national police do a dragnet of sorts and pretty much just pull people over at will looking for things that are wrong just to write people up. Well, my back light was apparently out, so they sucked me in like a tractor beam. I was caught although at first I had no idea what was going on because to my knowledge I was doing everything by the book. So after he explained it to me and I tried to argue it, but apparently my jedi mind tricks don't translate into other languages. Dang! Unlike on my home planet of America, when the police here pull you over on a bicycle or moto, they don't give you a ticket, they impound your vehicle! So I ask for a paper saying what infraction I'd made, how much it was and where to go to straighten this whole thing out. Nothing, I got nothing, which is even strange by Burkina police standards. Which made the situation all the more suspect and shaddy to say the least. So my Thursday night ended with my moto being taken by the galactic empire, and the lonely hero walking home.
Our Friday morning thus begins where Thursday night left off. Instead of getting a bunch of errands done and preparing for a youth group meeting I had Saturday morning, I had to get up extra early, get a ride from my roommate over to SIM and begin the journey of reclaiming what is rightfully mine. So I got to SIM and waited for a Burkinabe gentleman who works for SIM and helps missionaries out with things of this nature or paper work and what not. Well, he was somewhat swamped so after about an hour and a half of waiting at SIM, he and I jumped into a car and were off. We went downtown to the police station there, but found out we had gone to the wrong one, and because I didn't have any papers about the infraction this made our wild goose chase all the easier. Well we finally figure out which station the hero's moto is being help captive so we go there and find out that guess what I get to stand in line! So my companion for the journey at this point had to depart to take care of other business at hand. I got there shortly before 10 AM and waited and waited and waited in line until... 12 PM! Mind you Burkina is getting hot again so I stood there in the 90+ degrees for two hours. Awesome. So once I made it to the front of the line, and by line I mean nebulous blob (from what I have seen Africans don't hold straight lines as a virture to be pursed). So as I finally push my way to the front of the "line" I talk with the officer only to find out that he would be giving me a piece of paper which basically restated my official ownership papers. At this point the hero was instructed to take that piece of paper to the otherside of the galaxy (Ouagadougou) to another empiral station to pay the fine! It's a great system they have set up here in case that was unclear to you, let me just clear that up right now. And once I paid my fine at that station, I was to come back to the station I was currently at to prove that I'd paid the fine and my moto would be relinquished back into my possession. Like I said, great system.
Well, at this point it's noon, which means that everything is shutting down for the next 3 hours, however, I don't have a space shuttle back to my house, so after getting my paper I walked the next 3 miles or so (over an hour time wise) back to my house in the 90+ heat. I got home, had lunch with my roommate and being as tired as I was laid down for a nap. I had to be woken up by my roommate though because I had set my alarm for 2:55 AM not PM, so I was a little late waking up, but now had other fish to fry. My roommate gave me a ride down to the Niger embassy because I had to apply for a visa for Niger, because I'd be leaving soon for an intergaltica softball tournament there. So I get down there, take care of business, get back to the house just before 4 at which point I was to be at the school for Friday dodgeball. However, I got a call from the embassy saying I'd miss read some of the form and incorrectly filled it out. Sweet. So now I still have to do dodgeball but now I have to go back down to the embassy on Monday morning. I did dodgeball, ran home, showered, changed and went to a youth leaders house to work out details for our Saturday meeting, then walked home from that meeting, at which point you are now caught up in the hero's struggle against the galactic empire.
It looks like at this point I don't have transportation for the weekend and now my Monday will mostly be taken up with paying a fine, getting my moto back, and going back to the embassy. All things that were supposed to accomplished today. So, that may answer some of your questions as to how does Ben Steel fill up 24 hours in Burkina Faso. I hope you enjoyed reading about my day far more than I did actually living it.
Until next time...
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Back to School
As I'm sure all of you are aware back to school is the in thing at the moment. And while I'm not technically in class, I am excited for the start of another school year. With the beginning of the school year comes the kickoff for my increased involvement with the youth group and other school activities with many of the international students. We have already had our first youth group with some new faces which is exciting to see. I'll be starting up a 3 week series on the Prodigal Son for the students. I'm basing much of my material off of Henri Nouwen's brilliant book in which he talks about the prodigal son and Rembrandt's depiction of this radical parable told by Jesus. I highly recommend reading the book if you have a chance. It's simply titled "The Return of the Prodigal Son".
Backtracking for a moment, during the summer (shortly after my return from Benin) I was able along with the help of 5 capable young women from Canada to plant Moranga trees out at Sekoula, a village near my house that I've helped in the past. These trees are great because of the amount of different vitiamins and nutriants that are within the leaves. The other great thing about the plant is that it grows well here in Burkina so that tending these trees won't be a large hassle. The hope is, that as the trees grow the community will use the leaves in their suaces for their meals in order to get some more and much needed nutrition. So, while the trees are still seedlings at this point I do feel good about that project.
The above pictures are me on a donkey at the village site, because I thought it'd be cool to get a picture on the donkey. And then me on the outside of the fence that we built to hopefully protect the trees from goats and other animals.
I am also looking forward to the upcoming softball tournament in Niamey, Niger. Last Feb. missionaries and students came down here to Ouaga, and now it's our turn to head up there and defend our tournament championship crown. That will be happening at the beginning of next month.
Until next time... Same Burkina Time... Same Burkina Channel!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Back From Benin
I just recently was able to travel outside of Burkina Faso to a country that is just southeast of Burkina, Benin. I did so because a good friend of mine was on a school trip there for nursing students and engineers. So I hopped on a bus at 6:30 AM and 20 hours later I made it into Porto Novo Benin. Wow, I'll be honest in saying it was a long long bus ride. But I knocked out some reading and did some thinking. I was along so I didn't have a partner for any of those fun or pseudo-fun road trip games. Plus I guess there aren't tons different state license plates here to spot, so like I said, I had a good thinking session. And on top of that, it was a bit stressful because the bus dropped me off in Cotonou, which was about 40 Km from Porto Novo, and I had no idea how I was going to get there. I'd never been to Benin before and didn't really know my way around Cotonou or Porto Novo. But I made it after negotiating my way on a moto taxi and then another taxi. But I could tell that my French was on the decline after way too many hours on a bus and not nearly enough sleep.
But nevertheless, I made, and for the next few days I got a chance to hang out with 15 college students and had a blast. Plus because they did a few touristy type things, I tagged along for that seeing a museum and going through the market. It was fun for me since I have never really did tons of the typical tourist type things that many people do over here. So it was great to see another country in Africa, see a different climate and meet some pretty cool students from Washington.
After Benin my friend and I took another 20 hour, actually with a few extra stops was really more like 22 hour bus ride back to Ouaga. The next few days we just spent some good time in my neck of the woods and had a lot of fun. And really it was special for me to have someone from back home see my life here, someone who knows me from high school as "Washington Ben" not "Missionary Ben". So all in all the last few weeks have been unique and different and a nice change of pace. And now as I'm sure most of you are aware, school will be starting sooner rather than later and with that my work with the youth group will start picking up again which I'm really looking forward to. Until next time, stay classy friends.
Oh and that is a cool church down in Benin, which from now on will only be known as "The Candy Cane Church".
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Good Times with Old Friends
The top picture is of my old Youth Pastor and a really good friend from church growing up, but we also went to colleges not too far from each other and stayed in close contact. I can't think of boating or inner tubing without thinking about the epic battles we have had on Lake Washington over the years.The Middle picture was taken the night before my buddy Ryan's big day. And yes before you ask, I do have my shirt off. What can I say I get around some friends we start goofing around, and bam shirtless. It's pretty natural for me. But we spent the night just having some good guy time in a barn. A great night all around until I went to bed at 4 AM on an air mattress that deflated on me. It wasn't the mattress' fault though when I opened on the hole to pump it up more I didn't realize that I knocked out the plug and so I put the cap back on without the plug. By the morning about 7:30 I woke up completely on the floor. What a great night of sleep that was.
Finally, the old house back together. The U.N. the night before Sean's big day. I have to say seeing those guys again and watching them take the plunge was awesome and surreal for me. But those 4 guys made my last year at North Park fantastic. They are all good guys and helped keep me in check when I needed it.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Back at it
It's been a month since my last post and I appologize for the length of time between posts. It's hard to believe I was at my friends' wedding a month ago and living it up back home. My time at home gave me a great chance to reconnect with some old friends, meet some new ones and eat a lot of good food. A good portion of my family came up from California, and Arizona during my time home, I spent some time with my brother, and of course saw my parents. In a way it was helpful just in the fact that it gave me a chance to get out of the African paradigm and in a sense refocus my energies. Also, it was a good chance to speak personally with my friends to see what they've been doing, how they have matured and grown since I saw them last. 3 of my old roommates are married or will be married by the end of August. That is an amazing thing that I'm glad I was able to participate and celebrate with them. At the same time it is really crazy when some of your good friends start getting married. But good for them and all blessings as they start new lives with amazing wives.
Now that I'm back in Burkina things are falling back into place. I wouldn't be truthful if I didn't say I was a little bummed to be leaving home again after having such a good time. But I am back at it, and working on cleaning up the material I have been recording for the past several months. Also I am working on some lessons for the youth group. That part of my ministry is kind of slow right now, most of the kids have left for the summer, so I'm doing a lot of reading and prep type work. Figuring out themes and lessons for the upcoming school year. I am actually quite excited to get those kids back and get back into the groove of things with youth group and all.
Here is a smattering of pictures from my trip back to America.
The pictures are of me eating my first bite of cereal and "real" milk which I have missed quite a bit while in Africa, and my buddy Mook and I at the rehearsal for the wedding in Michigan. More pictures to come.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
The Odyssey sans a Giant Ogre
So I’m writing this from 30,000 ft. in the air somewhere over north east America. My travels getting home are almost over, but it has been quite a journey thus far. I left Burkina at 3:30 AM on Tuesday morning local time and flew to Casablanca. Because of the time of the flight I didn’t get more than an hour or so of sleep that night. I came into Casablanca at about 7 AM if I remember correctly and my next flight wasn’t until 4 PM. So I sat around watched a movie, read, and got a 15 minute power nap in. It could have been a longer one but a pesky fly decided to keep landing on me and waking me up. So after waiting for several hours I got out to the plane in Casablanca, and.... had to wait some more. Our plane was about an hour leaving but we did eventually take off.
I came into New York City at about 8 PM local time, which is Midnight back in Burkina. At this point I had had minimal food throughout day and about 1 ½ hours of sleep for the day. Needless to say my body cloak was somewhat askew. The funny thing is I can kind of prepare my body for periods of time as such where I don’t eat much or sleep much and can just keep going. So by the time I got through customs and figured out how to get over to Manhattan I was a little out of it. I was quite excited to see my friend Rachael who lives in New York. So she gave me directions and I hopped on the New York subway for the first time ever with all my luggage and hoofed it uptown. My stop actually got me off in Harlem, which I was somewhat conscious of. Here I am, a white guy with a bunch of luggage at 10:30 at night walking through Harlem, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the best chameleon then. I got to Rachael’s though, and I dropped my stuff off and we went out to hit the town. We walked most of the night and she took me to a little Pizza joint that is pretty famous. I think it was on Regis and Kelly, not that I watch that show, I just saw an article inside the restaurant. I don’t want you getting the wrong impression of me about the Regis and Kelly thing though. After pizza and a Root beer! (My first one in 9 months, oh it tasted good) we walked around. Rachael pointed out a lot of things and famous areas of NYC in the Manhattan area, most of which I forgot because it was midnight and I was on basically no sleep for the past day and a half or so. Plus in the amount of 24 hours I went from the second least developed country in the world to Time Square! Most of the night as we walked I just gawked and had my jaw drop. I really blew it though and didn’t bring my camera along, so really I could be making this all up because I have no evidence. The whole experience was surreal to say the least, trying to soak it all in, being exhausted, and enjoying my time with Rachael. We got back to her apartment at about 4 AM local time, (my body had no clue what time it was other than I was exhausted). So, here’s the catch I had to catch my New York to Seattle connection at 8:20 AM, which meant I should be there by 7, and with an 1 or so on the subway, it wasn’t looking like I was getting much sleep. In fact I set my alarm for 5:30. So for the second night/day in a row saying I got insufficient sleep would be an understatement. I hop on the subway head back to the airport, miss my transfer and have to double back!! At this point I’m freaking out but I know there’s nothing I can do to speed the train up. So I get to the airport 40 minutes before my flight. I try to check in at the electronic desk... no dice! AHHH! The truth was I too tired to lose my cool, I just didn’t have the energy. So the 40 minutes come and go, and I realize, for the first time in my life I’m missing my flight. So I go up and ask a lady to help me, and she starts looking through her files, and comes up with nothing. And she was quick too, I think everyone has experienced the flight check in lady who is just pounding on that key board a mile a minute. What the heck is she looking at anyway? I’ve always been curious how many levels or codes they have to put in. Amazing, however I digress. So she says that Delta has my flight booked not for the morning of the 25th, the 26th, the next day. This is not good. So from about 7:50 AM till I think maybe 10:45 I’m scrambling around trying to work on other flights. Air Morac, who I came from Africa with was no help because they don’t show up to work until like 3 PM! Eventually the lady gets me on the afternoon flight, and I just about jumped over the desk to hug her, but I felt like that might be against some policy, so I held back. Also, I’ve been traveling for over 48 hours and haven’t showered so I didn’t know if she’d appreciate that either. Going through security I got several “you look kind of tired” comments from people working. So here I am, 30,000 ft in the air, I just drank my first glass of “real milk” in almost 9 months. Boy did it go down well. If you didn’t know I love milk, real milk that is. Always have, always will. So that’s my tale. At least I hope that’s my tale. There’s always a chance my luggage won’t come in or will have to make a stop over in Idaho or something, but for now, that’s my tale of getting home. And through all the hassle and lack of food/sleep I won’t complain, because I’m back home, and it feels really good.
I came into New York City at about 8 PM local time, which is Midnight back in Burkina. At this point I had had minimal food throughout day and about 1 ½ hours of sleep for the day. Needless to say my body cloak was somewhat askew. The funny thing is I can kind of prepare my body for periods of time as such where I don’t eat much or sleep much and can just keep going. So by the time I got through customs and figured out how to get over to Manhattan I was a little out of it. I was quite excited to see my friend Rachael who lives in New York. So she gave me directions and I hopped on the New York subway for the first time ever with all my luggage and hoofed it uptown. My stop actually got me off in Harlem, which I was somewhat conscious of. Here I am, a white guy with a bunch of luggage at 10:30 at night walking through Harlem, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the best chameleon then. I got to Rachael’s though, and I dropped my stuff off and we went out to hit the town. We walked most of the night and she took me to a little Pizza joint that is pretty famous. I think it was on Regis and Kelly, not that I watch that show, I just saw an article inside the restaurant. I don’t want you getting the wrong impression of me about the Regis and Kelly thing though. After pizza and a Root beer! (My first one in 9 months, oh it tasted good) we walked around. Rachael pointed out a lot of things and famous areas of NYC in the Manhattan area, most of which I forgot because it was midnight and I was on basically no sleep for the past day and a half or so. Plus in the amount of 24 hours I went from the second least developed country in the world to Time Square! Most of the night as we walked I just gawked and had my jaw drop. I really blew it though and didn’t bring my camera along, so really I could be making this all up because I have no evidence. The whole experience was surreal to say the least, trying to soak it all in, being exhausted, and enjoying my time with Rachael. We got back to her apartment at about 4 AM local time, (my body had no clue what time it was other than I was exhausted). So, here’s the catch I had to catch my New York to Seattle connection at 8:20 AM, which meant I should be there by 7, and with an 1 or so on the subway, it wasn’t looking like I was getting much sleep. In fact I set my alarm for 5:30. So for the second night/day in a row saying I got insufficient sleep would be an understatement. I hop on the subway head back to the airport, miss my transfer and have to double back!! At this point I’m freaking out but I know there’s nothing I can do to speed the train up. So I get to the airport 40 minutes before my flight. I try to check in at the electronic desk... no dice! AHHH! The truth was I too tired to lose my cool, I just didn’t have the energy. So the 40 minutes come and go, and I realize, for the first time in my life I’m missing my flight. So I go up and ask a lady to help me, and she starts looking through her files, and comes up with nothing. And she was quick too, I think everyone has experienced the flight check in lady who is just pounding on that key board a mile a minute. What the heck is she looking at anyway? I’ve always been curious how many levels or codes they have to put in. Amazing, however I digress. So she says that Delta has my flight booked not for the morning of the 25th, the 26th, the next day. This is not good. So from about 7:50 AM till I think maybe 10:45 I’m scrambling around trying to work on other flights. Air Morac, who I came from Africa with was no help because they don’t show up to work until like 3 PM! Eventually the lady gets me on the afternoon flight, and I just about jumped over the desk to hug her, but I felt like that might be against some policy, so I held back. Also, I’ve been traveling for over 48 hours and haven’t showered so I didn’t know if she’d appreciate that either. Going through security I got several “you look kind of tired” comments from people working. So here I am, 30,000 ft in the air, I just drank my first glass of “real milk” in almost 9 months. Boy did it go down well. If you didn’t know I love milk, real milk that is. Always have, always will. So that’s my tale. At least I hope that’s my tale. There’s always a chance my luggage won’t come in or will have to make a stop over in Idaho or something, but for now, that’s my tale of getting home. And through all the hassle and lack of food/sleep I won’t complain, because I’m back home, and it feels really good.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
More Pictures
Here are a few more food distribution pics. A group working hard (above) The whole group (Middle) and a few Africans waiting (below).
Finally Pictures from the Food Distribution and others
I know it's been a long time coming, but I finally got the pictures my friend Sara took at the food distribution. So here are some.
Monday, June 16, 2008
More Pictures
The above picture is one of the grad's, Rachel and I just after graduation. The below picture is the group of kids I took out for bowling afterwards. Good times were had.
June: Djibo, Grad's and Goodbyes
I've been meaning to write about several of these things for a while, but I waited so I could get all my thoughts straight and because I've been busy. So I appologize for the wait since my last update, but here we go.
First I want to let all you know, I was able to work out a new ticket with my travel agent. I never did find my ticket so I'm thinking it got mixed with something else and thrown away. But God did provide for me nonetheless, so I will be heading home for some vacation and weddings very soon!
Second on the list is my recent trip back to Djibo. This is the town up north that I went to when I first came here in October. I was excited to see how my reaction would differ from my initial reaction when I had just come. So Galen and I headed up there and to my surprise I hardly recognized the village Senno Bonni where we stayed. That was because most of the village when I was there last time was hard to see due to the amount of millet stalks that were standing. October was end the of the harvest so there were a lot of stalks standing everywhere. Now, nothing. It is the very beginning of the raining season and most people have just or will plant soon, so the ground is pretty bare. A lot of the cows seemed pretty skinny too. But I think I enjoyed my time there more than I thought I would partly because I wasn't in a state of semi-shock for the trip like I was the first go around. Galen and I slept outside to the tunes of donkeys and cows, sheep and chickens. Actually when I woke in the morning the first thing I saw was a donkey about 15 ft. from me chewing on some grain stalks. I have to say that's the first time I've woken up to see a donkey eating.
Third, grad's. We all know it's the time for graduation, and while I started thinking about my college grad a year ago I also got to celebrate the high school graduation of some wonderful kids that I've been able to get to know over the coarse of this year. In some ways it makes me feel kind of old to see kids going through this occasion and thinking how long ago it was for me. But I'm very proud of all of them. Afterwards I was the official party chauffeur. I took the truck loaded about 13 kids (the 5 grad girls and some other youth group friends) plus me in and took them to dinner and then to a bowling alley here in Ouaga. Yes, they do have bowling here and I have to say it was quite a fun time. And I got all the kids back safe and sound by 3 AM. Pfffew that was a late night, but I remember being able to have a grad all nighter after high school grad and thought I should help them have something similar. I do have a warning though. Each frame we bowled a different way. One was with the eyes closed which I got a little confident and launched a ball halfway down the lane next to me. Whoops. But that's o.k. I recovered o.k. after that little slip.
And finally the goodbyes part. This actually falls into both the previous categories. Galen left 2 days ago for home. He'll be home for 6 or 7 weeks and come back in late July. There is a team coming out in August that he'll be here for. Then he'll be around until late August or so to wrap things up and then he's gone. Actually that's not even true because he'll be back in Feb. for another team which will be his last trip. But after the August departure that is really going kind of the end of my time under Galen's watch. So that's a big deal for me, but I'm going to transition helping another missionary here who I like and respect. So I'm looking forward to the new work and transition. Galen's leaving was the reason we went up to Djibo it was to say good bye to that village that he's been visiting for almost his entire time of working here in Burkina. The other goodbye goes to the Grad's who are leaving and heading off to college in different parts of the America. I don't know if I'll see them again but they were really fun to work with, teach, and hang out with over this past year. I know the other kids will miss them because they were good role models.
So that has been my life recently. Here are some different pics from Djibo, and graduation. Enjoy.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Why Do I Forget?
I know I promised some pic's from the food distribution, and I'll get those up, but I haven't had a chance to get them from my friends yet. Anyway, on to my most recent thought.
So this morning I went to go look for my airplane tickets for my trip back home at the end of June until mid July. I went into my room and looked only discover, they weren't there! Not good. And these aren't the "E-tickets" that you can just reprint yourself, these are the "old school you better not lose these things" tickets. So obviously I started just searching like mad and starting to freak out a bit. I wrote a couple people to just slow down for a second and tried not to panic. Anyway, I've spent a good majority of today searching every inch of my room to no avail. I've also checked the living room, not quite as thoroughly, but there aren't as many nooks and crannies to hide in. All this to say, I can't find my plane tickets and I'm scheduled to leave in less than a month. Again, this is not good.
But then I started remembering an incident that happened to me in high school. Where I lost a gold ring that was very important to me, something my dad made for me when I turned 16. I lost it and couldn't find it for 2 months or something. I looked everywhere for this thing. Then the night before I was going to tell my dad I'd lost the ring he gave me I said a prayer, (one of many during that time) just saying to God that I knew He knew where it was and I asked if He would give me the courage I would need to tell my dad how I'd failed. The next morning I woke up to find that ring sitting on my floor. It wasn't there the night before, and no body put it there. It just "showed up". I don't know how or where God had it, only to say that I know that God was taking care of me. Since then I've told that story many times, and vowed not to forget how God took care of me then and will continue to do so.
So do you think that when I first realized I couldn't find my airline tickets that I calmed down and talked to God? Did I say, "God I know you know where these tickets are, and one way or another it'll be alright because you're in control"? No! I'm not saying this is the exact same situation, I'm not saying the morning of my flight my tickets are going to be sitting on the ground next to my bed. But how could I forget that I had such an impacting and amazing story in my life and how God looked after me, and then here now completely forget about that for several hours?
I heard someone say that 90% of preaching is simply reminding the congregation of what God has already done. That seems about right, because even though I've had my own personal awesome experience, I can still forget in the midst of a hectic and crazy situation that God is God and one way or another I'm going to be alright.
And if you want to pray on my behalf to God about this ticket situation, I'd appreciate it.
So this morning I went to go look for my airplane tickets for my trip back home at the end of June until mid July. I went into my room and looked only discover, they weren't there! Not good. And these aren't the "E-tickets" that you can just reprint yourself, these are the "old school you better not lose these things" tickets. So obviously I started just searching like mad and starting to freak out a bit. I wrote a couple people to just slow down for a second and tried not to panic. Anyway, I've spent a good majority of today searching every inch of my room to no avail. I've also checked the living room, not quite as thoroughly, but there aren't as many nooks and crannies to hide in. All this to say, I can't find my plane tickets and I'm scheduled to leave in less than a month. Again, this is not good.
But then I started remembering an incident that happened to me in high school. Where I lost a gold ring that was very important to me, something my dad made for me when I turned 16. I lost it and couldn't find it for 2 months or something. I looked everywhere for this thing. Then the night before I was going to tell my dad I'd lost the ring he gave me I said a prayer, (one of many during that time) just saying to God that I knew He knew where it was and I asked if He would give me the courage I would need to tell my dad how I'd failed. The next morning I woke up to find that ring sitting on my floor. It wasn't there the night before, and no body put it there. It just "showed up". I don't know how or where God had it, only to say that I know that God was taking care of me. Since then I've told that story many times, and vowed not to forget how God took care of me then and will continue to do so.
So do you think that when I first realized I couldn't find my airline tickets that I calmed down and talked to God? Did I say, "God I know you know where these tickets are, and one way or another it'll be alright because you're in control"? No! I'm not saying this is the exact same situation, I'm not saying the morning of my flight my tickets are going to be sitting on the ground next to my bed. But how could I forget that I had such an impacting and amazing story in my life and how God looked after me, and then here now completely forget about that for several hours?
I heard someone say that 90% of preaching is simply reminding the congregation of what God has already done. That seems about right, because even though I've had my own personal awesome experience, I can still forget in the midst of a hectic and crazy situation that God is God and one way or another I'm going to be alright.
And if you want to pray on my behalf to God about this ticket situation, I'd appreciate it.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
The Africaness of it all!
So I have to say today was quite an African day for me. It started out at 6:30 AM when I crawled out of bed, because the Youth Group was meeting at 7:00 AM for the food distribution (more on that in a minute). So I get on my moto only to realize, yup, flat tire. So I run it to the tire place (there's tons around town). I told the guy I'm in a big hurry if he could go quickly. Well, here's the thing about that. "Somebody in a hurry" doesn't really sink into many Burkinabe's concept. They aren't super lax on time, but then again, there are few things one would rush to do for the sake of saving time. Well, my plight wasn't one of them, so as I was already late, I said, see ya, I'll be back at noon. I just took off running in my street clothes for about a 1 1/2 miles to the house we were meeting at. I get there out of breath and sweaty, although I'm thankful I run as much as I do because I couldn't have done it as fast as I did otherwise. Anyway, so we get there I go get a truck from Galen's, yes, I'm driving on the streets of Ouaga, in a stick shift. That's a big deal! So we take off, no problems off to this food distribution, we get to a light and stop. And then the light turns green and I kill it. Then I quickly start it again... and kill it. Galen is behind me with kids I've got students with me trying to hold my tongue, not panic and do this, but to no avail. Third time was the charm although by that time I was looking at another red light! Ahhh!
So we got lost from the rest of the cars in front as there were five in our "caravan". So far I've had a flat tire, ran a mile and a half and got lost going out to a village where I had no clue was. And it was only 7:40 in the morning!
After some searching and cell phones calls, (thank you for cell phones) and help from my co-pilot Rachel (I'm a big believer in a good co-pilot. Shout out to Dan Barnes) we got back on track. We got to the village and the church and watched a ceremony regarding the food distribution and a new building being opened. Now was the work part. About 45 Jr. and High school kids here raise almost $10,000 worth of money for grain for a extremely poor part of town! Big ups to God on that one for sure.
So distributed over 10 metric tons of grain to 600 families. They estimate about 9 to 10 people per family. Which means that we served out food for 5000 people! Where have I heard that before?.... I can't remember.
Anyway as we were finishing up it got kind of rough. People started showing up who weren't on the list to get grain and people started pushing and shoving pretty violently to get the last few buckets full. It was not a pleasent sight, but went to show just how desperate these people were. It was really sad, and pretty traumatic for some of the kids. Sometimes it seems no matter how much you give it's never enough. But I won't let that discourage me from knowing that these kids raised money to feed 5,000 people! That flippin amazing! Straight up no if's and's or but's about it!
Then in the evening I went to a service with my new roommate, but we only made it about halfway on my moto, no flat tire. This time when I'd put it in gear it'd just flat out die. So we walked it the rest of the way, and then had to get his truck to go pick it up afterwards. Who knows what's wrong with it now? Anyway, quite the African day indeed. Pictures will be following from the food distribution in the next week or so. So hang tight. Until then, keep rolling with the waves.
So we got lost from the rest of the cars in front as there were five in our "caravan". So far I've had a flat tire, ran a mile and a half and got lost going out to a village where I had no clue was. And it was only 7:40 in the morning!
After some searching and cell phones calls, (thank you for cell phones) and help from my co-pilot Rachel (I'm a big believer in a good co-pilot. Shout out to Dan Barnes) we got back on track. We got to the village and the church and watched a ceremony regarding the food distribution and a new building being opened. Now was the work part. About 45 Jr. and High school kids here raise almost $10,000 worth of money for grain for a extremely poor part of town! Big ups to God on that one for sure.
So distributed over 10 metric tons of grain to 600 families. They estimate about 9 to 10 people per family. Which means that we served out food for 5000 people! Where have I heard that before?.... I can't remember.
Anyway as we were finishing up it got kind of rough. People started showing up who weren't on the list to get grain and people started pushing and shoving pretty violently to get the last few buckets full. It was not a pleasent sight, but went to show just how desperate these people were. It was really sad, and pretty traumatic for some of the kids. Sometimes it seems no matter how much you give it's never enough. But I won't let that discourage me from knowing that these kids raised money to feed 5,000 people! That flippin amazing! Straight up no if's and's or but's about it!
Then in the evening I went to a service with my new roommate, but we only made it about halfway on my moto, no flat tire. This time when I'd put it in gear it'd just flat out die. So we walked it the rest of the way, and then had to get his truck to go pick it up afterwards. Who knows what's wrong with it now? Anyway, quite the African day indeed. Pictures will be following from the food distribution in the next week or so. So hang tight. Until then, keep rolling with the waves.
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Times They are a Changing
Since I last wrote many things have happened. So let me fill you in. About 10 days ago my work associates' daughter began having vision problems. Well, actually they started before a few weeks ago, but they began to increase as of late. So, she was checked out, but by both doctors here and in America it was recommended that she come home to get it checked out. So two nights ago, Galen's wife and daughter headed back home. The thing is, because his daughter is a diabetic it looks like the vision issues are liked to the diabetes. If this is the case, it doesn't look like they'll be back. In fact, I said goodbye to them as if they weren't coming back. Galen will be heading out a little later, but it looks like by the Fall, the guy I came out here to work with will be back in the States indefinitely. I'll continue to work with the youth group and I'll probably shift into some other work, my plan is to finish up my term here, until April 09'. However, this certainly changes things for me out here.
Change number 2. My roommate Will has departed to go back home to Toronto. He came last August, so he was here when I got here, and really helped me get used to Ouaga. Especially when I didn't have any French skills, he helped me out there too. I actually already have a new roommate who moved in yesterday. So I'm not alone, but I do miss my friend Will. Seeing him go reminded me of when I first got here, how new everything was. Now, I feel like a veteran somewhat. I also look back at the fun times I've had here. I've been here 7 months and sometimes it feels like it is going quite quickly. One day it's Christmas the next it's Easter!
I'm not a big fan of change usually, which actually is the only constant here in Burkina, change. So I'm rolling with the punches and trying to see what new things I can learn and be challenged by. The one thing I've learned is nothing is set in stone.
Change number 2. My roommate Will has departed to go back home to Toronto. He came last August, so he was here when I got here, and really helped me get used to Ouaga. Especially when I didn't have any French skills, he helped me out there too. I actually already have a new roommate who moved in yesterday. So I'm not alone, but I do miss my friend Will. Seeing him go reminded me of when I first got here, how new everything was. Now, I feel like a veteran somewhat. I also look back at the fun times I've had here. I've been here 7 months and sometimes it feels like it is going quite quickly. One day it's Christmas the next it's Easter!
I'm not a big fan of change usually, which actually is the only constant here in Burkina, change. So I'm rolling with the punches and trying to see what new things I can learn and be challenged by. The one thing I've learned is nothing is set in stone.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Who needs the lesson?
Recently I have had the opportunity to give several lessons and/or sermons. Because I am working with a youth group I have recently started a series on Atonement for the High School students, and I was asked to speak at a Saturday night service that happens every other week. That service is put on by missionaries here in Ouaga and is generally geared towards us.
In any event, I have noticed a pattern in my own life of how my messages come about. Sometimes I am given the topic as I was for the night service, grace, but the rest of the times I get to choose. Either way, you really have the freedom to make it your own, and as I go about preparing for these talks the same thing always happens. I evaluate my life and figure out what I need to hear. Or somehow I stumble across what I need to hear. Take the grace talk for instance, I was actually assigned a chapter from a book on grace, but that didn't apply directly to our situation, so I took the concept and reformed it. But what my end product came out to be, was a talk on freely receiving grace, and freely giving it away. Adding onto that, the idea that Paul has in Corinthians when Christ says, "My grace is sufficient for you". I ended by giving the charge to those there to lean on God's grace in all things, and to willing to seek out and dispense where where it is needed the most. Essentially, that sermon ended up being for at least one person, me. Ya, I realized I needed to hear that possibly more than anyone else there. I don't know if God worked in my life in such a way that I was ministering to myself, I don't know if that's possible, but in any case it really hit me. As someone who struggles with grace it was my own 25 minute long reminder that I'm a sheep in the midst of wolves, and J.C. my shepherd has my back.
So I don't know if that happens to a lot of pastors as they prepare their lessons, or teachers as they get ready to teach, but it happened to me. And so even if nobody else in that room needed to hear what God put on my heart, I know one person did. Me.
In any event, I have noticed a pattern in my own life of how my messages come about. Sometimes I am given the topic as I was for the night service, grace, but the rest of the times I get to choose. Either way, you really have the freedom to make it your own, and as I go about preparing for these talks the same thing always happens. I evaluate my life and figure out what I need to hear. Or somehow I stumble across what I need to hear. Take the grace talk for instance, I was actually assigned a chapter from a book on grace, but that didn't apply directly to our situation, so I took the concept and reformed it. But what my end product came out to be, was a talk on freely receiving grace, and freely giving it away. Adding onto that, the idea that Paul has in Corinthians when Christ says, "My grace is sufficient for you". I ended by giving the charge to those there to lean on God's grace in all things, and to willing to seek out and dispense where where it is needed the most. Essentially, that sermon ended up being for at least one person, me. Ya, I realized I needed to hear that possibly more than anyone else there. I don't know if God worked in my life in such a way that I was ministering to myself, I don't know if that's possible, but in any case it really hit me. As someone who struggles with grace it was my own 25 minute long reminder that I'm a sheep in the midst of wolves, and J.C. my shepherd has my back.
So I don't know if that happens to a lot of pastors as they prepare their lessons, or teachers as they get ready to teach, but it happened to me. And so even if nobody else in that room needed to hear what God put on my heart, I know one person did. Me.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
6 months and counting!!!
That's right folks, I have officially passed the half year mark! Not only that but that also means that I am 1/3 of the way through my time here. It really is amazing to think that I've made it this far. It is a testament to God's faithfulness to as He continues to give me grace for each day. As I look back I can't help but think about the good times, and the hard times. It really seems like an up and down roller coaster in a lot of ways. Still this 6 month stint have obviously been different from any other time in my life. I know that I am growing and maturing in ways that are fresh and new to me. Still, I am constantly wrestling with my own finitude and inability to be all things to all people here. The children who run to greet me daily don't speak French, and I don't know Morre (that could be spelled wrong). It's just one of many frustrating examples that are apart of my life, yet I have just been wrestling recently with grace as I am supposed to speak on it on Saturday night. I still don't understand grace, I don't know how/when/or why God dishes it out to us, but I'm trying my best to look daily as to how I can continue to doll out grace to others through the Spirit. It's not easy, and I forget often what I'm trying to accomplish, but it is a new outlook for me here that I hope will begin to influence my daily actions.
Here's another beautiful image from Cameroon. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Cameroon
The amazing top picture is over looking the Atlantic Ocean on a beautiful sunset evening in Cameroon. I was there for 2 weeks for a conference and some vacation time. The conference was good because it gave me a chance to meet some other African missionaries doing work in other countries. It was inspiring for me to hear about their work and where God is moving in those countries and cultures. Also, to meet missionaries who've been out on the field for 20, 25, or even 30 years has impressed me. Especially with the missionaries I got to know, and see that they maybe older than I am but they can still be goofy and fun and really passionate about their work. The old, super pious, stiff no fun image of a missionary that I think a lot of people have clearly did not fit this group. The lower image is a picture of me in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivore. You might not be able to tell from the picture, but I'm in a "mall". Yes, an African mall, with a food area, a couple clothing stores, a sporting goods store and more. I actually went into mini culture shock, and I should have had a more surprised look on my face, because I was really blown away.
The trip to Cameroon was a nice break from Ouaga and gave me chance to see another side of Africa. Now that I'm back, it's back to work recording and Bible Study which I'm excited about.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Recording
Within the last few weeks the audio Bible recording has been able to get underway! It is very exciting for me to begin putting flesh on bone to the idea my supervisor, Galen, has had for some time now. The idea is to use different people to speak the character and narrative parts of the gospels and other books of the Bible. Just a week or so ago, 2 Fulani pastors were in Ouaga and we were able to record the narrative parts for both Luke and John. This is supposed to make for a more dynamic and hopefully captivating recording for the Fulani listening. Here are 2 pictures of Pastor Eli (pronounced Eh-lee) and myself working in the studio area Galen has created at his house.
In other news it actually.... rained today! Ya I know, and for those of you back in the Pac-Northwest or other places where you are getting plenty of rain, I know no big deal. But since I haven't seen or felt rain in 5 months, ya it's kind of a big deal for the boy who grew up in rainy Seattle. So, an odd humid but not too hot day here in Burkina with some rain. It didn't storm or down pour or anything, just a little drizzle here and there throughout the day. It was a welcome change none the less though.
Finally, I will be heading out of the country for a little while. There is a conference in another country that I will be attending. I'm looking forward to the fellowship and a change of scenery! So, I will wish you all a very happy Easter, may you personally encounter the cross, and the empty tomb!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A night out
This picture is of a large group of missionaries from all over Burkina Faso as we went out for a good Friday night meal. It is always fun to fellowship with missionaries doing work in different areas of Burkina. There are missionaries in this picture from the far north, the northeast, east, and right here in Ouaga. Also, there are several nationalities represented in this picture. English, German, Swiss, Australian, Canadian, and American are all represented in this one photo. I don't know if everyone got into the picture, but since I had to set it on a table, push the timer, and run back to my seat, all the way at the other end I think it turned out pretty well. Anyway, it was a fun time trading stories and learning about what God is doing elsewhere in Burkina.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Pictures
The top picture is of my Kiwi friend Georgie and I at my 22nd birthday dinner.The bottom picture is just a random little boy 2 houses down from me.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Lent and other things
It is the season of Lent! A time of preparation, self denial, and anticipation for the Resurrection or our Lord Jesus Christ. I am excited that it has come already and am interested to see how Easter will be celebrated here in Africa.
In other events, Galen and I have already taught one of our two night classes to a group of Burkinabe adults here. We are co-teaching because I don't have the language skills to teach a 2 hour course on my own, while he doesn't have enough time to prepare everything for the class. So it works out well. Last class we went over the beginnings of how the church expressed the idea of the Holy Trinity in the early centuries. Although we didn't get through all the material, what we did get through I think was necessary to understand what we believe about God today. I look forward to next class, on Valentines Day, as we progress along in this important conversation. I have Dr. Nassif to thank for his thorough teaching on the trinitarian debate. Thank you Dr. Nassif. Hopefully I will be able to use the teaching I received from Dr. Snell in this next class as we dive deeper into trinitarian logic and theology.
The lesson here is, pay attention in class, you might actually use the stuff you learn.
We are drawing nearer to the softball tournament and although we had a scrimmage last Saturday that didn't go as well as one could hope, I'm excited to get back out and compete in something again. I've been competing in events for as long as I can remember, and now that I'm here it is sometimes difficult for me not to have that competitive outlet. It's that old saying, "you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore". Well, I found that to be true of competition.
It is only early February and I hoped the cool season would last a little longer, but just in the last week I have noticed a rise in temperature. Oh well, you can't stop the seasons, you can only transition with them.
I'll be sending out my quarter prayer letter soon as well with some more updates so you can be on the look out for that as well.
I hope you all are doing well and seek the LORD during this season of Lent.
In other events, Galen and I have already taught one of our two night classes to a group of Burkinabe adults here. We are co-teaching because I don't have the language skills to teach a 2 hour course on my own, while he doesn't have enough time to prepare everything for the class. So it works out well. Last class we went over the beginnings of how the church expressed the idea of the Holy Trinity in the early centuries. Although we didn't get through all the material, what we did get through I think was necessary to understand what we believe about God today. I look forward to next class, on Valentines Day, as we progress along in this important conversation. I have Dr. Nassif to thank for his thorough teaching on the trinitarian debate. Thank you Dr. Nassif. Hopefully I will be able to use the teaching I received from Dr. Snell in this next class as we dive deeper into trinitarian logic and theology.
The lesson here is, pay attention in class, you might actually use the stuff you learn.
We are drawing nearer to the softball tournament and although we had a scrimmage last Saturday that didn't go as well as one could hope, I'm excited to get back out and compete in something again. I've been competing in events for as long as I can remember, and now that I'm here it is sometimes difficult for me not to have that competitive outlet. It's that old saying, "you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore". Well, I found that to be true of competition.
It is only early February and I hoped the cool season would last a little longer, but just in the last week I have noticed a rise in temperature. Oh well, you can't stop the seasons, you can only transition with them.
I'll be sending out my quarter prayer letter soon as well with some more updates so you can be on the look out for that as well.
I hope you all are doing well and seek the LORD during this season of Lent.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
The New Year
I have to apologize it has been quite some time since my last update. So much has been happening lately and I have not been diligent. With that being said lets begin. Where to begin? New Year's Eve was spend with the youth group I help with out at "Monkey Mt." It's not a real mountain, but it was still fun. There are monkeys out there, usually only in the wee hours of the morning. And since I didn't bring any blankets with me because "it's Africa, why would you need blanket?" I froze and didn't really sleep much. Bummer, who knew you could actually get cold in Africa? Not this guy. Anyway, after that I had two other out of town trips as well.
Piella first for the Fulani conference with Galen. I am interested in the Fulani dynamics, but because of the language barrier it is difficult. There are only a few Fulani men or women that have enough French to understand my French, which is coming along, but still not great. After that conference I'd had enough rice and Nyree (millet based oatmeal type stuff) for quite some time. I came home for that, had my 22nd B-day and the next day was off to Fada for the SIM Spiritual Life Conference. For my birthday I five of my friends and I went to Gandwana's. It's this fairly nice African style restaurant. But it's done in a very nice way with good food. Then we went to another friends house for Cake. It was a good time.
The 3rd Weekend in Feb. is a softball tournament. I'm getting pretty excited for that. Galen and I are coaching a couple of the kids teams. He's taking on the social team, I get the competitive kids. But I'm also playing on a team as well. I don't think those kids know what they're in for. If the screw around they are going to be taking so many laps their heads are going to be spin! Just kidding, but seriously, don't cross "Coach Steel". I am looking forward to that though. I have some more things, but I will wait a week or so and write another post. Until then, stay classy.
Piella first for the Fulani conference with Galen. I am interested in the Fulani dynamics, but because of the language barrier it is difficult. There are only a few Fulani men or women that have enough French to understand my French, which is coming along, but still not great. After that conference I'd had enough rice and Nyree (millet based oatmeal type stuff) for quite some time. I came home for that, had my 22nd B-day and the next day was off to Fada for the SIM Spiritual Life Conference. For my birthday I five of my friends and I went to Gandwana's. It's this fairly nice African style restaurant. But it's done in a very nice way with good food. Then we went to another friends house for Cake. It was a good time.
The 3rd Weekend in Feb. is a softball tournament. I'm getting pretty excited for that. Galen and I are coaching a couple of the kids teams. He's taking on the social team, I get the competitive kids. But I'm also playing on a team as well. I don't think those kids know what they're in for. If the screw around they are going to be taking so many laps their heads are going to be spin! Just kidding, but seriously, don't cross "Coach Steel". I am looking forward to that though. I have some more things, but I will wait a week or so and write another post. Until then, stay classy.
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