August 30, 2010
New pastor-missionary moves north
Paul Sawadogo (above with Seydou) moved with his family recently into the province of Oudalan to try to start the church in the Songhai village of Saouga. Three times in the past, pastors have moved into Saouga and left again. But recently, Seydou and Pierre have been visiting regularly, and find people are now more open to the message of Christ...
A River Runs Through It
The main road through Saouga crosses a river running through the middle of the village (above). The river is dry most of the year, but cuts the village in two during the rainy season.
During the recent rains, a truck inadvisedly tried to cross the river. You can see what remains of the truck behind the children playing by the river in this photo.
Donate
Please click here if you wish to donate online to support our church planting work in Burkina Faso. Thank you.
August 14, 2010
A week in Gorom-Gorom
It has been a busy but interesting first week back in Gorom-Gorom...
I am missing Lynne, but I have discovered that a USB "dongle" enables me to get reasonable access to the internet via the mobile phone network, so am managing to keep in touch with her, and hopefully will be able to update my blog reasonably frequently. The dongle works best at about 2am, and worst during a storm.
Here is a taste of some of what I have been doing this week:
Sunday - Arrived with a truck load of stuff for the new house.
Monday - Spending time with the family (Pierre & Aseta, Seydou & Monique, and children). We have two new family members: Aisa, 8, the daughter of Seydou's sister, who died recently, and Rebecca, 14, who ran away from a forced marriage, and has been taken in by Pierre.
Tuesday - Went to look at the new buildings for the school we are building in Gorom-Gorom, and then spent time unpacking and sorting out stuff in our house. Then went to visit Pastor Pascal on the other side of town and had a good time of encouragement and prayer.
Wednesday - In the morning, went with Pierre and Seydou to visit "Yusufi" the father of Amadou, who died a couple of months ago. Yusufi lives out on the sand dunes a few miles from Gorom-Gorom, but the way was blocked by a river that came up to our chests, so we left the truck and waded across, then through another half-mile of water and up the dunes. While there, we heard that another friend, "Muusa", had recently lost his father and oldest son in the same week. So, in the afternoon, we went to Muusa's village to give him our condolences.
Thursday - market day in Gorom-Gorom, and a good opportunity to catch up with a lot of people I haven't seen for ages. Several came from various villages to spend the day with us, including two Fulani who are interested in following Christ, and we had a good time sharing the good news of Christ with them.
Friday - In the morning, Arsene from DWF comes to have a look at the house they have helped us build in the Ministry Centre. We then do a tour to look at the teachers' houses for the school, and some repairs we did for houses we built following the 2006 floods.
In the afternoon, I look at the finances with Chantal, go over the details of last month's grain distribution with Pierre, then phone around to catch up with some of the pastors around the province:
* In Markoye, Pastor Adama's newborn baby is doing well.
* In Oursi, there has been flooding - according to the local newspaper, the mayor had to swim to get to his office - the water has come up to the edge of Pastor Matthias's home, but not yet come in.
* In Deou, Pastor Samuel is working in his millet field. Villages around Deou have been badly affected by the flooding, and the road to Deou is apparently impassable to vehicles.
* In Saouga, Pastor Paul is settling in well, having just moved in.
Saturday - Various comings and goings in the yard:
* Arsene sends the painter over to finish painting the office.
* Pastor Daniel comes to discuss how things are going with the school - including the progress on construction, plans to get the toilets in, what to do about a water supply, ideas for an inauguration ceremony, etc.
* The father of "Salimata" comes to thank us for helping with her schooling.
...and I try to get an internet connection to update my blog and to find out how West Brom are doing against Chelsea on the first day of the season (unsurprisingly, not very well!)
August 11, 2010
Gorom-Gorom School: Nearly there...
I went out with Pastor Daniel and headmaster Nicodeme (above) yesterday to see how the school building work is coming on. As you can see, phase 1 is nearly finished!
Click here for more details and photos at the APT Website
Click below to donate online towards the building of the school. Thank you.
August 09, 2010
Arrival in Gorom-Gorom
I arrived in Gorom-Gorom yesterday. The truck was well loaded, as I was bringing furniture from Ouaga for our new house. The road, which had been washed out, had been repaired, so the journey, although slow, was surprisingly straightforward.
It is great to catch up with Seydou and Pierre and families, and to see our new house. It is just hard being away from Lynne for this time, especially when she is feeling so under the weather. Please pray for her that God will give her health, strength and peace, and that he sustains me and enables me to do what I need to do before I go back to get her in a few weeks so that we can come out together. Thank you.
It is hot and humid. The rains so far have been good - please keep praying for a good rainy season and a good harvest this year.
Thank you.
August 01, 2010
Fulani Bible School Opens in Burkina Faso!
Above are the staff and students of the first ever Fulani Bible School in Burkina Faso. Many of us have been praying for this for years, and today I was thrilled to be there for the opening service. The "official" opening ceremony will happen later in the year, but this was a small group of about 50 people gathering to worship and pray together.
It is an interdenominational Bible School, called "Ecole Biblique Duroowo Lobbo" (Good Shepherd Bible School), with leadership drawn from three denominations, including Fulani pastors, Gourmantche Christians, and ex-pat missionaries. There are four families enrolled for the first intake, and they will do a three-year course. Please pray for the students and staff, that this time will be fruitful, and that God will use them to further God's kingdom among the Fulani. Thank you.
Below are a couple more photos from the day:
1. The service in one of the temporary classrooms
2. The grounds of the Fulani Bible School, with a children's playground to the left, and various classes etc to the right.
To read more about the Bible School, and to find out how you can support it, go to the website: http://fulanibibleschool.burkinafaso.sim.org
July 31, 2010
The play's the thing
A bit of a deviation from my usual topics here...
All those theatre-goers and concert-goers among you have probably realised that theatre programmes are terribly expensive. You've saved up for your night out, budgeted for the taxi and the restaurant, but although you would like the programme as a memento of the evening, think it is probably not worth the cost. That is why only one in six people actually buy the things.
Well, be encouraged: a 21st-century answer may be with us if my brother has anything to do with it! He has started a business called DD70 which plans to put a free programme in every theatre-goer's hands. And is also looking at offering podcasts to go with them.
He has worked in the business and knows what he's about. So if there are any repertory theatres out there who want to be ahead of the game, go and visit his website at: www.dd70media.com
July 30, 2010
Arrival in Burkina Faso
I arrived in Ouagadougou last night, with my good friends and colleagues Steve and Charlie, but sadly without Lynne, who has been feeling very sick over the last few weeks. She has postponed her flights and will be joining me later.
Our vehicle's battery was described as being "as dead as a stone", so need a new one. I was planning anyway to spend some time in Ouaga, buying furniture for our new house etc (Lynne has given me a list!), before heading up to Gorom-Gorom. But the journey up there is looking uncertain. The Dori-Gorom road has apparently become impassable because of flooding, leaving Gorom cut off for four days.
And the dam at Tougouri, on the way to Dori, has burst, flooding areas in the east of Burkina Faso, leaving 20,000 people homeless.
We like rain here - it is great news for the fields - as long as it doesn't get too much! Over recent years we have seen the effects of climate change on the north of Burkina. Weather conditions have been getting more extreme - often with huge rains at the start of the season, followed by long dry periods, which ruins any hope of a harvest in the fragile sahel areas on the edge of the desert.
Please pray for a good rainy season this year, and for a fruitful time for me during my stay here. And of course for Lynne to feel much better quickly.Thank you.
July 26, 2010
School Building Progress
The construction of the Gorom-Gorom School continues to make good progress.
The first three classrooms are almost finished (above) - the roof is on, and the doors and windows are being put in.
Two of the teachers' houses are also done (right), and are looking very good. Unfortunately, the third house has had delays due to various problems.
Click below to donate online towards the building of the school. Thank you.
July 23, 2010
Food Aid Distribution in Gorom-Gorom
Pierre, Seydou, and Pascal recently did some food distribution to 143 needy families in Gorom-Gorom (above). This is the most difficult moment of the year, and although resources were limited, the help was well-received.
Donate
Click below to contribute towards APT's ongoing work of poverty relief, education, community development, and church planting in Burkina Faso. Thank you.
July 22, 2010
Our house...
So it looks like we will have somewhere to stay when we get back to Gorom-Gorom...
This (above) is our house and office, built in the Oudalan Ministry Centre in Gorom-Gorom, where we live with Seydou and Pierre and families. It will not only be our home (2 bedrooms, sitting room and kitchen), but the office will be where we co-ordinate all our work in Burkina Faso with APT.
This (below left) was the original plan - you can click to enlarge. Right top is how it looked when we were last there in April, with just the foundations dug. Right bottom shows it a month ago, with the walls and roof built in mud brick:
