Burkina Update – The Final Few Weeks

We had a great time in Banfora with friends and although we were aiming to be an encouragement there, we were definitely the ones that were encouraged. The week started off with a common family cold and allergies and it ended with sharing our symptoms with another family. How great it is to be generous. 😉 😔

Besides sharing colds, we were able to share some inspiration, laughs, love, smiles, dance moves, ideas, prayers and much more! It was encouraging to see how the Lord has been moving within their lives and ministries. We really enjoyed our time together and Lanaïa made a new best friend named Éliounne. They were so sweet and chaotic (ha!) to watch together and it was pretty special to see them get more and more attached to one another. The goodbyes were tough but the time spent together was worth it!

As soon as we got back, our car went straight back to the mechanics and then lasted about a week and a half (until today, the day after we arrived in Ouagadougou). It’s been a pretty draining journey but we are hopeful that today’s visit to the mechanic has finally solved the issues we’ve had.

We arrived back in Bobo just in time for the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha, that celebrates Ibrahim’s (Abraham’s) willingness to sacrifice his own son. Ibrahim was able to join some family and friends to respectfully wish them a good holiday.

A few days later we brought Gilles and Bienvenue out and taught them how to play pool. It was great to be able to have some fun together. We also met up with Gilles and his brother Ahmed one last time before leaving (Bienvenue, sadly couldn’t join us due to work). Ibrahim and I were able to talk to them about the importance of having a solid relationship with Jesus and not relying on church to save them. Please join with us in prayer for these boys – for them to grasp the importance and blessing in giving their lives completely over to Jesus.

The last bit of our trip has been full of visiting with Ibrahim’s family, childhood friends and last minute preparations for our departure. Another school year will be starting soon for the two youngest siblings of Ibrahim and his oldest nephew. Please pray with us that they will all have a great and successful school year and that we will be able to find a good private school for his sister, Rachel, who is very behind. She is in need of an understanding and devoted teacher to work closely with her compassionately – which is sadly very hard to find here.

We are now currently in Ouagadougou and have one full day left before we continue our 2 day journey home. It’ll be a total of 20 hours on the road since we left Bobo, not counting the time we will spend at the boarder (nor our time spent here in Ouagadougou and our overnight on the road). Please be praying for a very understanding and sleepy 1 year old girl. May all the downloaded youtube videos that she will watch, not wreck her sweet brain. Ha! But really… 😉

Thank you for joining with us on this journey and praying oh so faithfully! We have had a great but also very challenging time, which I won’t get into on here, but I know that we were able to get through it all thanks to your prayers. So – THANK YOU. We are so very thankful each and every one of you.