Safe in Burkina Faso

Hello Everyone,

Thursday, we went to the village of Molbogues for our program. Lindsay stayed at the seminary for the day because she wasn't feeling well. We performed for about 350 people in Molbogues, then we went to Nano to play for about 500 people at a high school. During our program in Molbogue, a piglet ran through Luke's legs--it was quite hilarious. After the school program, there were some skits about AIDS. I learned that now is the time of year that the students learn about AIDS. This school wasn't nearly as crazy as the one we went to before.

Thursday, we woke up to a cool temp of 82 degrees. --Yes, that is cool for us!! We actually woke up chilly and used our sheets, which is very rare. It was such an amazing feeling to be cold. It is crazy how our bodies have adjusted to the temperature. Usually, the temp is the the high 90s or low 100s. It is very dry here.

Friday, we did a program for about 450 people in the village of Mandiaré. As usual, they did fun dances for us after our program.

Saturday, we went to the village of Mogou. Up to this day, the speaking during our program in the villages was translated into Mobah; in Mogou, it was translated into Gangam.

Palm Sunday, we endured a long, bumpy ride to the village of Bagré. We couldn't really tell that it was Palm Sunday. We didn't go to church. We rode in a van for two and a half hours before getting to Bagré, where we did an hour and 15 minute program. We did see some people waving palm branches in a village that we passed. Also, there are many donkeys in Northern Togo, and in Burkina Faso. We often see donkeys hauling a wheel barrow of stuff. We played for about 250 people in Bagré; it was translated into Gourma. Then, we ate dinner with Pastor Bigbi.

When we went to the villages in Togo, we were always fed lunch. It was interesting to try the local dishes. We often had rice, fufu, chicken, guinea fowl, and goat. They always served us a vinegary type drink; sometimes, it was beer, other times it was unfermented. We woud respectfully try it, but rarely enjoyed it. It was nice to have some meals provided for us.

During this past week, I have enjoyed reading more books! I read two of Rob Bell's books--Sex God and Velvet Elvis. I recommend that you read both. Sex God discusses how our relationships, sexuality, and faith in God our related and can't be separated. Velvet Elvis is some of Rob Bell's theological thoughts. He challenges many things about Christianity. Rob Bell is the maker of the Nouma videos, which I also recommend.

Monday, we had a long day of travelling. We finally left Dapaong at 9:40 a.m.; we hoped to leave at 8:30. We all piled in a five passenger car--6 of us and the driver-- and drove to the border. We reached the Togo/Burkina Faso border around 11. There was a group of 9 people waiting for us there. We breezed through customs. Lindsay and I discovered that our visa for Burkina Faso lasts for five years!! We don't think we'll be staying. Once we got into Burkina Faso, we met Pastor Rufus. He gave us our mail packet from the office!! We were all pretty happy to get some mail!! We stopped to eat a late--3:00-- lunch in Koupéla and finally arrived in Fada N'Gourma. We are staying at a SIM place; there are many foreigners there.

So far, Burkina Faso seems pretty good. It is the third poorest country in the world. Our ministry here will be very different because the Lutheran Church only started here in 2006. Pastor Rufus is the only "pastor" here, but he actually isn't a pastor, but people call him that. He is from Liberia and devoted his life to God's service after being sick for seven years, but surviving. There is one church in a village that we will be visiting. Otherwise, our ministry will be in Fada N'Gourma (Fada) and Ouagadougou (Ouaga), the capital. We will be going to a prison, an orphanage, a school, and we will be meeting with prostitutes. We are all excited and nervous for this different kind of ministry. We will be here in Fada until Saturday, when we will go to the village for five days. We think we will be sleeping on the church floor in the village. We have been warned about keeping track of our stuff because the Cross Fire team that was in the village three years ago was robbed. Hopefully, we will be okay. After five days in the village, we will be in Fada for 10 days before going to Ouaga. We will be there for two days before taking a LONG bus ride to Cotonou, Bénin, where we fly out of. We will fly to Douala, Cameroon and be there for a few days.

Then, the girls are going to Denmark to visit Sonja's family and the boys are going to the States for a one week break.

It will be strange to not celebrate Easter like I am used to; I'm not sure if we will celebrate it at all. Most Burkinians are Muslim or animists.

Sadly, Prosper will be leaving us a week early. He has to go to Cameroon early to get his visa to the States renewed. Hopefully, we will thrive even when we don't have our fluent French-speaker with us.

I hope that you all have a very wonderful Easter!!


Peace,

Tiffany