Unwrapped

I have been wearing authentic African "wraps" while I've been here and have encountered no problems--until today. I was running from the guesthouse to Lynn's pickup to jump in when my wrap came undone and I found myself standing in just my little spandex in front of all of the guards. SO EMBARRASSING!

So Long Letters!

Hey everyone! Many have you been asking about what my address is here. Unfortunately I found out that it will take so long for letters to travel over the ocean that I will already be back home before they would arrive. I'm sad I will not be able to send the letters I have been writing, but I will just hand them out when I get back. Thanks for all of the kind thoughts of sending letters to me! I love mail :) At least there is email!!

Halfway!

June 26

Today marks the half way mark of my time in Africa! In six weeks I will be arriving at the Williston airport. My time in Kenya flew by but I can tell my time in Burkina will pass more slowly. There are pros and cons to traveling all over or staying put for awhile. In Kenya I loved seeing so many different places and everything from rural locations to big cities. After being in Burkina for 9 days now I have been here 3 days longer than anywhere I stayed in Kenya. And I am liking the result.

A young girl near my age at the church named Mimi and I have started to spend some time together. She speaks French and I speak English. She wants to learn English and I want to learn French. So we sit and try to talk to each other. It is slow going and we mess up often but we just laugh if we say something wrong and refer to my English-French dictionary. Today I handed her a pocket new testament in English and she ran and grabbed me one in French. As soon as I learn how I want to let her know how much it means to me to have a friend here. Even though we can’t say much it is just nice to have someone to sit with who is so kind and eager to include me in her life, church, and culture. It means the world to me to have a friend while I’m a world away from my other friends.

Solo Journey

 

June 23

When I moved into my room in Burkina I opened the window to let in the fresh air. Sitting on the window sill was a large daddy long legs spider. Normally I would instantly kill the spider but instead I looked at him and thought to myself that maybe we could be friends. Either Africa is making me crazy or I am feeling a bit lonely in a French speaking country.

 

 

Searching

 

June 22

Today my heart broke for Africa. It has taken me 5 weeks on the continent to grasp what my eyes have been seeing. I see poverty, corruption, simplicity, the uneducated, the sick, the lost, and the  searching. All this time I thought my heart should break for Kenyans or Burkinabe because of how poor they are and how hard their lives can be. And it should. However, there can be life in poverty and death in riches. The sadness of the poverty here pales in comparison to what hit me today.

The people of Africa are just as lost and in search of the truth as we are in America. But there is one key difference. Every town in the US has a television or radio station broadcasting the name of Jesus, there is a Bible in every hotel room, and our nation was founded on Christianity by Christians. Jesus is easily accessible. Learning about Him can be instant just like everything else in our society.

I don’t think the concept of easy access exists here. Especially when it comes to Christ. People in rural villages go their entire lives without hearing the name of Jesus. They are born, live, and die without leaving the village. If no one ever visits the village to tell them about Jesus then they never have the chance. Now I’m not speaking for all of Africa because cell phones across the continent are changing things and I have personally visited many thriving churches here. But the old rural Africa still exists.

Although I have seen a strong Christian presence in Africa, I have seen a strong Muslim presence as well. As we drove the 5 hours to Diebougou from Ougadougou today I saw mosque after Muslim mosque. We saw people praying in the streets. In Kenya I would wake up many mornings at 5:30 am to the Muslim call to prayer. It sobers me that the name of Allah has reached many of the searching people of Africa before the name of Jesus.

However, the unreached tribal populations still exist. And they are still searching.

The spiritual death in Africa is what breaks my heart. This is a part of the world that has believed in fetishes, animism, and their own tribal gods for generation after generation. Even when they come to that moment in their life where they are searching for the truth and wonder if there is something more, they have nothing to turn to except back to their old beliefs. Without hearing the gospel they continue to live an empty life. Whether it is the Islam life of rituals and routine prayers that lacks relationship or the tribal gods life of sacrifices and curses that lacks any security or love it leaves people broken and forever searching…

Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.”

Top Ten Encounters: Week 5

June 17-23

1) Flying from Nairobi to Ouagadougou. One step further into my journey!

2) Unpacking my bag in Diebougou. I was relieved to unpack and spread out for the first time in 5 weeks. I did a quick count and realized this is the 21st bed I have slept in since I left home!

3) Pastors conference. I spent time at the church this week listening in on a pastor’s conference led by two pastors from the states. It was cool to see the huge hunger to learn more about the Bible.

4) Flat tire! We were traveling to a rural village to see the church there and drop of some pastors when we heard a pop. The Burkinabe men were not quite sure what to do but thank goodness we had the American pastors with us who changed it.

5) I experienced my first Burkina thunder storm! As we sat in the dark room because the power was out and listened to the howling wind and thunder I felt so bad for the people here who only have mud huts to seek shelter in. When it rains really hard some of the homes are washed away…

6) Worship in the Nairobi airport! I was dropped off at the Nairobi airport by myself and by the time I made it through security and all the other checkpoints I realized I was alone in an international airport in a foreign country with no cell phone and felt just a bit insecure. But God quickly reminded me that I was not alone. I walked to my gate and sat down in front of the only television I had seen in the whole airport—and it was playing worship music! So I sat and listened to Hillsong for the next half hour and forgot about all I was worrying about.

7) French. For the first time in my life I have been immersed in a country whose people speak no English. Language is another thing I have taken for granted. It is an odd feeling not being able to communicate. Praying I learn French quickly!

8) Visiting rural village. After changing the flat tire we traveled another hour or so into the bush and we got to see a picturesque rural African village. It was beautiful land and worthy of National Geographic. I’m excited to see more of the real Africa.

9) Hugs from the Dagara children.The children at the church have quickly captured my heart and my favorite part of the day is them racing towards me with arms wide open!

10) Complete disconnection. I have been without internet access for a week now and losing communication with everyone back home has been hard. I hope the internet is fixed in Diebougou soon, but once again I see internet is something I take for granted. If nothing else Africa is teaching me to be thankful—for everything.

Top Ten Encounters: Week 4

(Rewind to June 10-16)

1) Going to Maasai church! This was one of the highlights of the whole trip. The children had three different choirs based on age and the Maasai women had one. And when I say choir you must remove the image of people in robes solemly singing with an occasional clap or sway. In the Maasai choir, people jump, clap, dance, crouch down, march in circles, and go all out to praise the Lord! 

2) Visiting Rift Valley Acadamy. RVA is a boarding school for missionary kids. They have students ranging from 2nd grade through 12th grade. I loved being on their campus. We went to a student led worship service and it was SO good. The school is so welcoming and has everything a kid would want. It is located at Kijabe station which is on a mountainside that overlooks the rift valley. The view from their soccer field is gorgeous!

3) Visiting a Maasai school. The same day we saw RVA we visited the Maasai school. I don’t think the stark contrast hit me until I was looking back on my photos. RVA had nice classrooms with 30 individual desks and you would think you were in America if you didn’t know differently. This picture shows a typical Kenyan classroom. And the number of kids squished into each of these rooms and taught by just one teacher is as high as 100. Even when we are in Kenya we have so much and they have so little.

4) Rounding on the pediatric ward at Kijabe hospital. I had the privilege of following a Kenyan pediatrician on her rounds one morning. I was captivated by the children and their stories. So many of the illnesses could be prevented but unfortunately are costing some of the kids their lives. My heart breaks for them. Visiting that ward fuels my desire to become a pediatrician like nothing else. This a picture of the neonatal ICU. Kenyan way of wording it!

 

5) Watching surgeries! I have been dying to get into the operating room to see surgeries for years. The day finally came and I was all dressed up and scrubbed in and found myself standing right near the table watching wide-eyed. I moved among the 8 operating rooms seeing one broken and wounded body after another. I know that surgery ultimately brings healing, but seeing the broken bodies during amputations and mastectomies and various others overwhelmed me. I left the rooms before my allotted time and spent some time to struggle once again with the hard question of why bodies break and people suffer. It may take me years to process it all but I found peace remembering that God is the ultimate healer and he loves each of those surgery patients so much!

6) Maisha guesthouse. This was a little place known as a missionary secret. We had the privilege to debrief for two days at a gorgeous house made of stone tucked in between and jungle and a mountainside. I have never been to a more peaceful place in my life!

7) Safari! Mari finally went on her long awaited safari!! We saw water buffalo, pelicans, zebras, monkeys, baboons, birds, rhinos, and giraffes. The lions and leopards were too allusive for us so we didn’t get to see them. It was a great day to enjoy God’s creation.

8) Iced coffee injustice. While eating lunch at the restaurant at the game park, we noticed iced coffee was on their menu—a rare sight in Kenya. Being the coffee addicts that Kate and I are, we decided to order some. We were saddened when we were told they were out of iced coffee. We asked if they had ice for iced coffee thinking we could make it ourselves. They said no. We gave up and ordered hot coffee. A few of the guys on the team ordered iced tea at the same time. Sure enough, the iced tea came with huge ice cubes in it and Kate and I exchanged confused and disappointed glances as we sipped our hot drink. Iced coffee is hardly a concern of mine to make the top ten. However, this is an excellent example of how Kenyans have a difficult time thinking outside of the box and how different their thought processes are from mine. We laughed over the matter while appreciating the small things that make each culture so unique.

9) Eating sugar cane! I felt like I was chewing on a piece of sweet wood—which technically I was. It tasted good and I’m a fan.

 

10) Running with zebras! I thought nothing could get better than running in Kenya. But I was wrong. Running in Kenya with zebras takes the hat! Autsin and I went for a run early one morning with a missionary and we ran right up to a herd of about 30 zebra in the wild. The missionary’s dog stirred up the herd and for a few moments we found ourselves running along with the zebras. It was SO COOL!