T plus 3 jours

today i learned more of life here and the way they go about their lives, many things are somewhat different from america; however, i haven't found it too shocking as of yet, that may change slightly in orodara

it is also quite interesting to be around loren and donna as they converse with other missionaries about their work here and in spreading the good news, it is very enlightening to their perspective on the needs of the people and how they are helping to fulfill those needs, one of the key things from a general outlook: clarence, give a few sermons on being a missionary, in other words, we need more missionaries, and, sorry, ... less pastors

it is good to see that the ouaga mennonite church is moving to a new building next sunday, but as of late, i haven't gotten too deep into the growth and strength of christianity in burkina other than that loren and donna are seeing progress in their work and a large number of people are christians in ouaga, this amount of knowledge will hopefully be greatly increased as i move to living in orodara since i will be slightly more involved with the christian movement there

it will be fun this next month in orodara with a majority of muslims and ramadan coinciding

another observation which is really sweet, i did somewhat expect this, but everyone drives a little 49cc moped or a bicycle, they’re all over, along with small french cars and a few mercedes here and there, also, there is an obvious difference between the rich white people houses and the other burkinabe houses, there are some truly massive buildings going up as houses in our area, one is even quite large for an american’s rich person house, plus, they’re mostly made of concrete, somewhat impractical here since it’s evidently quite expensive

much growth is yet to come, this is also obvious because i've only been in the country for two full days, thank goodness i remain open to that idea, expecting and welcoming the onslaught in a couple of days

Christ is strong
God is moving
Christ always moves
God always has grace
Christ gave his grace and mercy (il y a 2000 ans)
God gives his life for mine on a daily basis

T plus 2 jours, 3 heures, ~56 minutes

everything’s going quite well, i had a fairly easy flight (set of) but got out late on all but the one out of wichita, we had a relaxed afternoon evening here in ouaga, got to see some missionary friends staying in other houses in ouaga, i also got to play around a little bit with the new mac, it’s a sweet little (okay fine, rather large, but not too) thing, i’m definitely going to be spoiled come the end of the year

i now know what homesickness is, i don’t really have it anymore, I never got it very bad, but now I know what it feels like to want to be home again, wow, only 2 and a third days after leaving ks, who knew

knowing what i am doing for a job is extremely calming, i’ve concluded that the only thing that is making me nervous in the least bit is the language barrier, since everybody is quite open and hospitable to complete foreigners, like big tall white people, and I’m expecting that it will be sufficiently remedied in a relatively short period of time; then again, you don't ever really know

also, today was the first day of ramadan, so we met a few muslims on the roads today that hadn't eaten or partaken of drink since that morning, though the streets were dead as we walked to church, much of ouaga is christian and so many were in church (thus the dead streets);however, orodara is far less christian and so i will get to see more of islam there

oh, by the way, the internet connection in orodara is usually 56.2 kbps, that's right, twice as fast as at my house, in newton, kansas, USA; however, it does cost a bit, 3 minutes for 100 francs (~$.20, or ~6.667 cents per minute for all of my math nerd friends back home), the funny thing is, the connection is slightly slower where we are in ouaga and it's 2 minutes for 100 francs, c'est la vie

God is good,
God does not fail,
God is my comfort,
and wherever you are, He is always one step ahead of you

T minus 0 days, 17 hours, ~18 minutes

guess what, i just realized that i'm leaving tomorow afternoon, in less than 24 hours, to live in africa for 9.5 months, ..., bon voyage mes amis

wow, i think it's actually starting to hit me that i won't know anybody or anything except loren and donna, ..., this is gonna rock

distraught, afraid, nervous, anxious, the question remains: which one am i feeling at the current moment in time, i guess you never really know because
God is greater than anything so small as uncertainty, ..., chalk one up for God

here it is, crunch time, pack the goods and walk out the door into a whole new world, it'll be interesting when i don't know anybody, am less than fluent at the surrounding language, but have a somewhat familiar job to occupy my time, it'll be uncomfortable for a while as i learn to know completely new and different people, but being able to work at a job where i know roughly what i'm doing and what has to get done will certainly provide a foothold on which to stand upright; i'm glad that i get to go back to something familiar atleast part of every day, ..., hallelujah, amen

God will teach
God will guide
God will show me the way to go home
God will laugh
God will get upset
but God will not leave
hallelujah, amen

T minus 2 days, 14 hours, ~22 minutes

packing and sorting things into what i take and what i leave behind hasn't really started yet, but don't worry, it'll get there, i do leave on friday afternoon, i do actually have a physical deadline that wouldn't be good to miss

the question is, am i ready, have i made myself ready, has God made me ready

how does God prepare you for a trip like this, how do i open myself to God preparing me for a trip like this, all you can do is step back and let God work his magic, when God's involved it's best to let him do the job right

i know nothing of God's ultimate will
where he leads, i will follow

though the time draws near, i continue to pray that:
God will grant those at home peace of mind
God will grant me calm in ignorance
God will grant me peace in change
God will grant me patience for my own self
God will walk with me in everything i fumble

T minus 4 days

by now i suppose you could say i'm started to get excited about leaving for burkina, i've had a few final goodbyes already and we'll see how many i still have to go

i'm getting excited about:

• setting up this awesome studio in the new building built by a french youth group on a service trip earlier this summer
• my first international flight that i will have clear recollections of after it is over (i remember small bits from flying to paraguay at age six)
• meeting my host family, in which i will truly be the giant because he (Felix) is smaller than average and she (Justine) is average size and they have three children, one eight year old, one six year old, and one baby
• connecting with the youth group (young christian believers) there
• improving my oral french skills
• getting to read the bible in another language (most likely french)
• having a pet monkey

T minus 12 days

from further talks with donna entz, i will be expected to accomplish much while i am a Burkina resident:

by the grace of God i will not stumble
by the grace of God i will stand and not turn
by the grace of God i will do my work
by the grace of God i will make mistakes
by the grace of God i will let myself be taught
by the grace of God i will encounter enjoyment
by the grace of God i will carry on

T minus 13 days

i'm ready to leave this place; this house, this town, this country, i'm ready to see a different part of the world; a new place, a different place, i'm ready to start a new existence in a new place; a new face, a new person, a new people

and yet...

i will leave a family, a friend, a familiarity that is kin to my being, i will leave everything that i know as my current life and begin again

but i will be back

i will leave friends, but still have fun
i will leave familiarity, but still have a place called home
i will leave america, but still have freedom
i will leave my life for a year, but still have responsibility
i will leave first mennonite, but still have God
i will leave bailey, but still have a pet

T minus 15 days

i'm looking forward to:

• learning from a completely different people about God, life, and laughing
• beginning on a new slate of who i am and what i know
• not having all the answers
• working on perfecting my french
• spending 9.5 months in a non-consumerist society learning to live a truly simple existence
• having a monkey for a pet

so much for america, i'm glad i know what it's like to be a consumer, but i'll really enjoy being somewhere radically different and life-changing, hopefully i'll come back with a new world view, not just the "america rules" picture

T minus 16 days

time goes on and i stand still, africa waits and i haven't started packing yet, good luck next week

life is life, be it long, short, or boring, take it as you may, leave it as you found it, nothing's left at the end but the devil, you and God, pick one