the life of african me

2007-05-05T08:23:00.000-05:00

T plus 7 mois, 13 jours

greetings to all back home in the u s of a, and all other readers, "wonderful to have you online with me today, our topic today is ..."

easter held some interesting revelations, fabé asked me "where" i was going to celebrate easter, of course i thought he said "why" and so it got me thinking on what easter means for a believer in christ, it's really amazing what things we pass by until we make a mistake and realize the significance of the bunny and chocolate eggs and all, i've also been reading a book on islam and realizing that their faith and mine/ours is really quite similar, in it's original form, except for a few particulars about God and then the death and resurrection of Jesus, that single event (okay, combined double) is what makes us so radically different from the rest of the world, it's the absolute example of the love he kept talking about and the absolute proof of the hope we have in this life despite the basis of farce and obliviousness so readily at hand

the times are getting busier and busier for felix and family, trying to fill out paperwork for passports and visas and everything else they need to go to canada, felix was able to get the 2 years and 2 months leave from the government from his teaching instead of the formula exact 2 or 3 years, however some complications have arisen with getting passports for the children and thus visas and so on, pray that all this may be resolved soon, they may be settled and ready to go when the departure date arrives, and that the time in canada would help to open their eyes to a different culture, giving them new experiences and wider view of our world

this past saturday, the last in april, the championship for the inter-prmary school soccer tournament was played between the école d of orodara and the école benkadi also of orodara, the école benkadi is right next to the mission and earlier this year, the mission had given new jerseys to the team, so tom and kay and i had fun taking pictures and watching our team take the game, 3 to 2, it was quite an interesting game for the elementary school level, benkadi had two really fast forwards (these guys could really move, and they were the smallest ones out there, they were also the "cool" ones with the headbands and the knee high socks) who gave some exciting scores and intense action throughout the game, the game was officially sponsored by "JUMBO," some of the unhealthiest food additive around (the stuff the made me sick twice this year) and sitting on the sidelines, we got to touch the ball a fair amount of times ourselves as our sideline seemed to be a popular destination for out-of-bounds thrown-ins, of course, it was also the sideline with all the shade, but you never can tell what causes the ball to be attracted to one side or the other

the "lo," a fetish-worshipping ceremony is taking place in orodara this weekend, starting thursday night, women aren't supposed to be outside their courtyards, the group of people doing the "lo" don't like it, however, men may go about their business, etc., felix said that five years ago, anybody, period, would have had a hard time going from our house to the main road, only about 50 meters away, the event has a rather large amount of "secrecy" surrounding it, so we respect their beliefs but pray that they may some day see the light

so instead of staying around for the whole weekend, we're in bobo, having some r&r and getting some errands run for life back in orodara

the studio work is coming together wonderfully, i finally figured out how to properly work the main noise removal program and so files are starting to really sound nice and come together in order, however, i do have a bit to do in the two months i have left

loren and donna are starting to get excited about the samogho work and bible stories, songs, etc. that they can take around to courtyards to listen to with people, He's truly working alongside their ministry, not that He wasn't before, but it undoubtedly starting to get exciting

when you look at the stars, you start counting, and think, that's a heck of a lot of stars, and then you get moving and wonder, wow, does it ever really end, is there a finite number, how far can i really see in to all this space, will we ever figure it all out, and then it hits you, you're nothing

God is real
God is true
God is one
God is life

Allāhu akbar

2007-04-01T09:43:00.001-05:00

this is kari and i at kari and fabe's fete in samoghohiri as a celebration of them passing their bac exam, the academic system equivalent of getting the high school diploma and being able to move on to university, yet much harder to pass

2007-03-31T17:51:00.000-05:00

T plus 6 mois, 9 jours

we got our first rain on the 22nd of march, according to kay, exactly 5 months after the last rain, since then we've had another small one and some cooler days with some nice clouds, of course the heat is still here and the humidity too, i don't think i'll escape either of those two until i get to boston in late august

even though it's cooling down a bit, i'll still go swimming in bobo when i'm there with tom and kay this weekend, this past week, felix's nephew was hear from bobo and felix, justine, and quetsia were in doumbala to greet after the death of justine's grandfather, so i'll be absent for some more time this weekend

the work on the samogho project is progressing steadily, once the rainy season comes, loren and donna will be around for longer periods of time and will be checking some of the final order and juxtaposition of different pieces

the youth seminar was great, jeff warkentin and i had a translator for wednesday and thursday since those two days were only in jula, i had lots of fun going to morning speaker sessions, playing basketball and football, and eating meals with friends from quite a few different villages, the first day, jeff talked about resisting temptation and methods for remaining close to God, the second day, pastor abdias talked about media and how to avoid it's bad influence was capitalizing on it's good influence, the third day, pastor siaka talked about conflict resolution and the methods and importance of reconciliation, the fourth and final day, jeff talked about mennonite history and ethics, it was quite a presentation, at the end of the session there were questions from the youth, i was sitting with our translator from the other two days and so got to elaborate on some of the questions and answers presented, it was awesome, especially since it was all in french

approaching easter i've been doing some extended journaling, looking more at ideas in depth makes you fall more and more back on the example of jesus and scripture for answers, i had started reading a bit of isaiah each night and started slacking off not too long ago, it came to me a couple days later, that i had become attached to regularly being able to read the words of God, it's amazing that it's right there in front of you, ever since who knows when, and it takes a trip to west africa and six months of church in a foreign language to realize how life giving it really is, it's not just the normal feeling of having a habit and missing the usual order of things, it's the absolute hunger and empty feeling when you don't read, it's absolutely marvelous, jesus is so cool, he blows my top off every time i think about him and the example he gave, oh man, i love him

when a man talks of love
we call him a romantic,
when God talks of love
we call him an idealist

when you think of love
you think of relationship
you think of connection
you think of truth

when God thinks of lovehe thinks of you

2007-03-11T13:21:00.001-05:00

T plus 5 mois, 16 jours

to think, i will have left burkina exactly four months from two days ago and arrived in paris exactly four months from yesterday, oh, doth it loom so near that i wanteth not but to see this world and beggeth of thee that thee wouldst grant yet a day or two upon this great island, for shame that thee shouldst squander such a life such that it blocketh the God that loveth thee truly

three weeks ago i spent the weekend with mamadou, fabé's youngest brother, in samoghohiri, we biked out on saturday morning, arriving just after noon, following lunch we hightailed it to the nearby river for an afternoon of swimming and cool temperatures (in the water atleast), a refreshing change from the high 90's we continue to have, that night we walked around town a little, seeing a part of the jesus film in french orally translated to samogho by a visiting evangelical group and sharing a snack with some of mamadou's friends, sunday morning i attended the samoghohiri church for the second time and afterwards got a djembé lesson and hung around with church people, that afternoon we went to the river again shortly before we left for orodara, both river trips getting some good pictures of the river itself and all the local boys in it, on the way back from the river my left pedal broke off my bike, it was a sunday, but we found a mechanic, got it fixed, and were on our way shortly, though before leaving samoghohiri we did go on quite a hunt for a pump to add some air to my back tire (north american valve stems are rather uncommon around here), though the tire held air for a little while, i soon gave up as pedaling with a flat back tire was too difficult and walked the last 3 or 4 km to dieri, the village halfway between orodara and samoghohiri, after replacing the tube in dieri, the rest of the ride home was much more fun and uneventful, especially since the road is paved between dieri and orodara, all breakdowns aside, quite a fun and entertaining weekend

the following week was punctuated by felix's absence in bobo for a school conference and the women's conference here in the orodara mennonite church, there was quite a gathering for the women's conference, a speaker and many of the female missionaries along with christians from nearby villages, i heard the week went quite well, the final session on friday night included men and had some activities and discussion between the two genders, all having a good time with much laughing

after skipping a week we come to last week and the conference for the oral presentation of the bible, especially concerning evangelism, this conference had two speakers come from mali, converted christians from islam, they worked with missionaries and area pastors in learning how to use and tell bible stories in church and evangelism, a system somewhat like loren and donna have developed in their years here in burkina

skip another week and we have the conference for the young people, starting next monday, a week from tomorrow, kari is part of the planning committee and jeff warkentin, siaka traoré, and abdias coulibaly are the speakers for this event, i will be attending some if not all of it, hopefully most will be in french rather than jula and i can follow along, the theme is something about faith and action and jeff is adding a part about the mennonites, should be quite a week

last weekend was rather more eventful than normal, we had a lunar eclipse on saturday night, the usual first-sunday-of-the-month day of fasting, and tom preaching the sermon on sunday morning

on saturday night, justine sent me downtown on the moto just before 9:00, as i was returning i had to do a double take when i saw the start of a circle being taken out of the moon, when i got home i called everybody outside and then telephoned tom and kay and loren and donna at the mission, the following few hours we intermittently sat and watched the earth shade the moon, all the while listening to everyone around us and in all the other sectors of orodara banging on wood and tin and buckets and whatnot for the whole time the moon was being eclipsed, this banging was, according to felix, to ward off the cat that was trying to eat the moon, in other words, to keep the moon from disappearing forever, i got a few pictures and sat continually amazed at how the blacked out moon looked so much closer, similar to a hot air balloon floating a very short distance away, the moon did come back, when i got up at 1:00, it was about 3/4 of the way lit

on sunday morning tom preached the sermon since pastor abdias had been gone the day before and was planning to be gone that sunday too (however, he was there on sunday morning), he preached in french on how God wants to heal us, using his recovery from polio at an early age as an example and the story of the cripple and his four friends lowering him to Jesus for the bible passage, he also finished the worship time with small group praying (groups of five, one in the center), praying for each other in life and/or healing from sickness, distress, praying for each other in love and faith, it was the first sermon this year that i followed absolutely everything that was said, besides the jula translation, this most likely a result of tom's familiar accent, slower speech, and the franglais thrown in here and there

this past thursday i went to bobo, sent a few more samples to israel and walked around the market for some afternoon entertainment, i also had lunch with blaine warner and got to hear a few stories about mission aviation fellowship (MAF), an option i've considered for future volunteer time, some good stories and a good lunch, all part of time in burkina, all the while discovering where God will lead next

we fear
thus we cannot let go
but God reveals
and we see His light
but we still fear
thus we cannot let go
then God loves
and we drop in to His arms

2007-03-11T13:21:00.000-05:00

T plus 5 mois, 16 jours

last weekend was rather more eventful than normal, we had a lunar eclipse on saturday night, the usual first-sunday-of-the-month day of fasting, and tom preaching the sermon on sunday morning

we fear
thus we cannot let go
but God reveals
and we see His light
but we still fear
thus we cannot let go
then God loves
and we drop in to His arms

2007-02-16T06:08:00.000-06:00

T plus 4 mois, 25 days

since it's been a little while since i wrote, about a month, hopefully i haven't forgotten too much, but you never know with me, ha ha ha

there have only been a couple big events of late, the first of which was the wedding of nicodem and grace on the 27th of january, it was a wonderful wedding, with tom and kay doing the reflection/message for the service, kay delivered a small message on God's transforming power which tom used in his model with water and wine to signify the marriage being transformed by God in the coming years, tom got nicodem and grace to answer a few questions and drink some water and besop (the available "wine") for his interactive model bit, it was an excellent reference to Jesus' first miracle

the second of two big events was my trip to ouaga on the first weekend in february, it was quite a stay with a scottish/irish dance one night, a movie another, and third, the super bowl, and all three ending with me getting to bed well after midnight, i would tell the stories all in one paragraph, but that would violate maximum rather than the minimum of the 5-to-7-sentences-in-a-paragraph rule

the first night was the dance followed by a few hours of cards at mary hendershott's place, games like nerts and oshaw kept us entertained until 3 in the morning, the second night i stopped to visit jeff and tany warkentin and stayed to watch walk the line after a day of swimming at the american embassy and walking around downtown ouaga, the third night, of course, was the super bowl, jeff and i went to the american embassy and were the only ones watching the american forces network (afn) broadcast of the game, unfortunately, we didn't get to vote on the best commercial since all we saw were the ridiculous afn commercials, and, since we're 5 hours behind normal starting time, the game ended around 3 in the morning, followed by me getting up the next morning to catch the bus to bobo at 10 o'clock

the big story/adventure of the weekend was on the return trip to bobo, we stopped in boromo as usual for lunch and i went off to buy some bread, taking only my camera and change with me, since my camera bag was attached to the top of my backpack, i simply took the camera and ended up getting asked about it because one of the locals, a photographer, say it across my back, we talked a little bit, me all the while knowing that i had a bus to catch, and finally gave him my email address and told him to look around on the internet for a camera and send me an email if he found anything, as i returned to the bus station, i saw that my bus had left without me, fortunately, another bus from the same company pulled in shortly after, i talked to the driver and showed my ticket from the other bus and so was able to get a ride to bobo with this second bus, all in all, only arriving in bobo about an hour later than i would have had i caught the right bus

i was able to stay with blaine and michelle in bobo for monday night, monday evening i went to watch the super bowl again that a friend had taped and so got to see the kick off return by evan hester, since jeff and i arrived late for the live event, though again, no commercials, since this was a broadcast on espn out of south africa, i was able to borrow this tape, giving tom the opportunity to watch the big game here in orodara, all inclusive, an eventful, yet gladly repeatable weekend

the last set of stories that i find blog-worthy, chronologically place, would be at the very beginning of the entry, but since i found a satisfactory intro in putting the previous stories first, i figured it would work, these two events happened here in orodara and even within a couple days of each other, both somewhat frightening, yet quite funny in retrospect

first, i went to the tailor's and gave him some material for some pants and also had him fix the big rip in the back of my jeans, he was able to fix the jeans in about 5 minutes, but he took the rip, folded it over and sewed it on the inside, taking about a three-quarters or full inch out of the back side, when i saw it i was somewhat taken aback, but decided to try it, then i put them on at home and found that they were a bit smaller than before and so fit rather snugly around my hips, i took them back and got a proper patch sewn in and now they work wonderfully, though the material i gave him for the new pants was too short and so chose to have him make a shirt from that and go get another length for a different color of pants, all is in good working order now, i think i have finally found a way to get pants with long enough legs and small enough waist

second, and more horrifying, last night felix and i stopped at his tailor's to pick up his new pair of pants, when he looked at them he decided he wanted a different cuff at the bottom, so, to my horror, the tailor took a pair of scissors and cut off the old cuff, aaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, thus taking about an inch off of the length of the legs, maybe it's just me and my excessive tallness always being worried about finding sufficiently lengthy pants, but felix didn't flinch, anyway, now with the cut edge, the tailor sewed another cuff, as far as i knew, not like the type that felix wanted and almost identical to the one before but shorter in length, in other words, another half an inch gone, when i came out of my room this morning i met felix and saw he was wearing his new pants, i didn't get a look at how short or long they were, i'm sure just fine, but i have a feeling he doesn't give to big a hoot

i did finally get a response from ed in israel about my last set of samples i sent him, the feedback was generally positive along with some helpful comments, after the meeting in samoghohiri for the order and content of the mv player, this last gate has been opened and so the work and progress on the project should flow relatively quickly and smoothly to the end, or quite near it

i continue to learn more and more about burkina life and local perspectives on the world, seeing new windows of knowledge and opportunity, i'm currently reading shane claiborne's the irresistible revolution and starting to ask some of the same questions he does, there are quite a few books that are starting to add various types of light to life and making it rather interesting, so much to read and so little time to do it

when we see God
we are afraid
when we don't see God
we ask why not

for as walk away from God
He calls and waits patiently
for it is not a perfection
but a work in progress

2007-01-13T12:12:00.000-06:00

T plus 3 mois, 22 jours

passing in to the new year was a slightly different experience, as again, the weather doesn't remind me of january in kansas

the new year's eve "party" was a service at the church from 10 to just before 1 of the new year 2007, there was singing and a message, very similar to any other service held at the church for any occasion, this lasted for the first hour and was followed by testimonies and prayer for the last hour before midnight, testimony to many blessings of the past year and prayer for them as well as current prayer requests and future ones for the new year, at midnight we all got up and greeted one another with the african new year's meeting of heads back and forth (similar to the french greeting each other with kisses on the cheek except touching temples with the person you are greeting) followed by much wishing of health, wealth, etc. and then song and dance, the service was closed with more prayer for the new year and for the projects planned for the church, of course, after all this i decided to call the states and say hi as well as mentioning the phenomenon (or maybe not) of my already being an hour and a half into 2007 while the festivities for the changing of the year were just getting started in the states; new year's day was held in greeting friends and relaxing, enjoying the break from work and school

this year (in africa that is) i will be seeing three different weddings, unless more are planned for later, the first in doumbala, the second just before new year's here in orodara and the third at the end of january, also here in orodara; the one before new year's was that of pastor benjamin of the djigbera church, unlike in doumbala where the whole service was outside in the churchyard, the overflow crowd was outside the church building while family and such were inside, there wasn't the dancing and singing before the service began, though there were a few numbers during the service, afterwards, there pictures with the happy couple and family and many various church groups followed by a meal and the giving of gifts, all in all a nice big party

there are always a few peculiarities with songs or service content, but that always happens in the states too, however there are a few consistent differences; during the service, the bride and groom sit on some nice comfy chairs at the center of attention up front, sitting with them are their witnesses, one for the bride and one for the groom, similar to the best man and maid of honor, but not followed by any groomsmen or bridesmaids

the wedding to come is at the end of january, though i haven't heard of weddings occurring at other times, i would guess that now during the "cool" months in dry season when everyone isn't out in their fields is the time to have your wedding, nicodem and grace, two people from the orodara church will be the honored ones, nicodem is the older brother of josua, one of my friends in the church "youth group," and grace is at the older end of the "youth group," so each wedding i know more and more of the honored ones

besides weddings and parties at the church, there isn't the largest amount of raucous fun going on around orodara, tom, kay, and myself went to bobo for two days, one night, instead of going to ouaga over new year's, there was some unrest in ouaga, unsanctioned military actions and some recommendations from the canadian embassy to stay at home or not travel to ouaga if possible, plus, tom and kay weren't feeling at the peak of their game, were down because of sickness after christmas, thus we got to watch a couple bowl taped bowl games at the cma, christian missionary alliance, guesthouse, with a cheap decently quick internet connection we were able to check email and call some family/friends on skype (a cheap internet telephone service), a good break after having two weeks off for christmas and new year's

kari, fabé, and the entzes are getting together here soon to begin working and deciding on an order for the mv player, eventually giving me some more work to do, i'm also waiting for a response from israel on my latest set of samples, in the mean time, i'm putting mini disk source material on the computer, unfortunately the long way (playing it and recording it on the computer), so i have a little time to read or work on my french by watching subtitled movies and stopping every five minutes to look up the new word, making each one take a time and a half of normal, all included in the price of education

when we are silent
we serve,
when we love
we pray,
and when God talks,
we are silent

2006-12-27T11:34:00.000-06:00

T plus 3 mois, 5 jours

christmas has passed wonderfully, and still a sense of a few days of rest yet, all in all it didn't quite feel like the christmases i remember from north america, then again, it's all different people, different traditions, and definitely different weather

the services on christmas eve and day were fairly similar to that of north america, but added numerous skits on christmas eve by all different groups in the church, of course the highlight being the women's choir doing a hilarious presentation of the christmas story, after all the skits, people stayed around to dance and fellowship as a church family; the christmas day service was just like a sunday morning service with a christmas sermon and a meal at noon for fellowship in the church

christmas trees aren't very common in burkina, christmas is more a christian fête and so in a widely muslim country, the date occurs as similar to other fêtes, it isn't a tradition to give gifts, it is more a tradition to eat with your friends, often, people will come to greet you, as a christian, on christmas, and other christian holidays, if you go to greet them on muslim holidays, etc., it's mostly a time to fellowship with family and friends and an excuse to eat lots of food, just like in the states

also the weather is nothing like christmas time in kansas, then again, we are just more than 10º north of the equator, which provides for rather warm days but nice cool nights all "winter" long, a difference that still keeps me thinking a little behind burkina time

the visit to doumbala was great, i got to stay for two days, the first of which was occupied by a marriage and the second by seeing some of the surrounding country, the travel was good and long, one day each way, slightly less coming home, making for a total trip time of four days

the marriage was of the younger brother of one of felix's good friends, it was a relatively typical christian marriage, with much singing and dancing beforehand and a big dance party late into the night, the service lasted from 10 - 2 in the middle of the day, we greeted people and lounged in the afternoon and then went back to the dance party in the evening until about 1 in the morning, when we left, it was still going strong

the tour of the countryside the next day was highlighted by a visit to a lake, that doesn't dry up in the dry season, the is the base for the fish and rice crops of a nearby village to doumbala, we got a tour from another friend of felix's who grew up in that town and so showed some food plants in the lake that we ate and gave us the inside scoop on all the cool details, all the while i'm taking lots and lots of pictures, hoping my batteries will last enough, since my rechargeables didn't have full charges and i had to buy some cheapos from a local vendor, i did fill up a card and a half in doumbala, despite low batteries, about 600 pictures

tom, kay, and, i have each had our own bought of sickness over and since christmas, all recovering now, but still somewhat up in the air, the trip to ouaga for the coming weekend and new year's is still a plan, but may get changed a bit or shortened, as we like to say here in africa, we'll play it by ear and cross that bridge when it comes

thanks to everyone for all the christmas wishes, such, a little late, but merry christmas to everyone, and a happy new year too, may God grant you peace, safety, and, blessings for all

as God lives inside
God lives outside
when God moves inside
God moves outside

2006-12-15T10:49:00.000-06:00

T plus 2 mois, 23 jours

last monday was independence day here in burkina, this year was 46 years from when france gave them their independence back so long ago, most everything was shut down for that day and a things were slower for a couple days after, my two school age siblings didn't start school again until today, whereas felix started yesterday again at the lycée, christmas isn't near as big around here (since a majority of the population is muslim) and so this break combined with some around new year's and another muslim fête just before give a similar mid school year vacation

the parade on monday lasted about three hours, a huge combination of countless civilian groups marching followed by some 10 or 12 military divisions (or whatever the specific name is), the civilians all marched behind a leader with a sign stating their group's name, anything from the schools, public and muslim, to a female organization for raising pork, half of the parade time was spent in giving governmental promotions, a presentation by the provincial governor (13 in burkina) that usually takes place in the provincial capital, for the haut-bassin (our region) that would be bobo, but every once in a while goes to another town for i-don't-know what reason, so in other words, after walking around for an hour before it started, i got to sit and hang out at my house with felix's friends and wait comfortably for the interesting activities to start; the single largest group was that of the hunters, who were 3 or 4 times as big as anybody else and had music and shot off their guns the whole time they walked down the road, which, since there were so many people, was half of the time not even close to the official person's tents down in front of the orodara government offices, the military groups started off marching up the road, away from the tents (toward our house which is right on the main road through town but to the east of downtown) and then stood on the side while all the civilian groups marched through, then lined up and marched after followed by a vehicle brigade of guys on dirt bikes with rocket launchers, chop top toyota pickups with big guns mounted in back, and toyota transport pickups, military bashées; all in all, a very good start to independence day in burkina

the afternoon was spent lounging at the house, a nice rest for an exciting evening of balafons; starting fairly soon after dark, a big crowd gathered at the municipal stadium not far from our house to listen to various groups of balafons, drums, etc. with singing and dancing, monday night i went with both suzanne and esdras for about a half an hour just to check it out and take some pictures, esdras wanted to go back again, so he and i returned and watched for another half hour or so, at the end of which he was fairly far gone (with dreams of sugar plum fairies dancing in his head), the music ran the same on tuesday night and so after the party at our house, felix and i went to watch the festivities

on tuesday night we had a party at the house, mostly put through by felix as an official initiation of me as a newfound burkinabe jeune homme, labeled a "tea party" because of the main attraction, the local favorite gunpowder tea and peanuts, it was a gathering of a few of the church jeunesse (youth group) with cool music, popcorn, drinks, etc., we hung out and talked about various things, i showed them newton in my pocket atlas (thanks ann adrian) and got asked about a lot of things north america, i did discover that they know of frisbee and that getting a game going is a possibility, we'll see who i can round up for something tomorrow

missionary retreat starts in two days and i leave for doumbala with the dakuo's (their home village) in the middle of the week studio work goes excellently well, i'm almost finished pulling in the cassette half of the source material, and i haven't heard any christmas music to make me sick of santa claus, i'd say life goes wonderfully well

God may teach you life and love
while men may teach you safety and security
but which really happens
when you get to choose

for living is learning
you laugh when you fall
you pick yourself up
and God laughs along

2006-12-02T07:03:00.000-06:00

T plus 2 mois, 10 jours

the quality of english spoken around me continues to improve, mostly do to the work of tom, but every once in a while i get to chip in a little too, my part is usually just random, mostly useless phrases, but none the less english, and all still good fun

plans proceed rapidly around here for the missionary retreat and the events of the month of december, it's more difficult to believe that we're already in such a month since it's nothing like a familiar winter around here, it hasn't rained for quite a few weeks and won't for a few months (though i don't notice too much since i grew up in kansas), the temperature is cooler but it's definitely not a previously known type of winter, i think these 10 months in burkina just might have the distant feel of a long summer

sometimes i wait to long, most times not enough, i continue to find things that are distinctly different from the states and are logical ideas/concepts, yet aren't fully grasped until after an infringement and when revealed by another, c'est vrai quand ils disent que vous ne pouvez jamais apprendre tout en une année

tom and i have been doing some running on the local airstrip each evening, we usually only have to dodge 3 or 4 planes a night ... except for the fact that the strip isn't certified to land on and thus no plane has ever landed or taken off from it; however, we do meet a few younger people also running for to be in shape for soccer, the army, etc., i got to see his courtyard after Barro Mohamadu and i talked for a bit while running, he also came to see the mission and some of my work

this past weekend was another spent in bobo sending samples to israel and also hanging out with tom and kay, swimming, eating out, and going to church with dan and kathryn smith-doerksen on sunday morning where i got to meet lots of old timer missionaries and burkina workers, most knowing someone i knew, from the states or through burkina, then again, that's not too different from home or from playing the mennonite game

God's will is perfect
thus the question becomes
do i wait for it
or follow my own

God's will is perfect
thus the question becomes
do i believe it
or make my own

God's will is perfect
i am part of it
so let me wait
and eventually

i will see it
meet it
walk in it
and live the peace and grace within it

2006-11-20T13:32:00.000-06:00

T plus 1 mois, 29 jours

everything proceeds as smoothly as ever around here, samogho source material still awaits my attention and all english learners (including felix) are improving greatly with the expert help of tom

my french is coming along, don't worry, i do get plenty of opportunities to to speak or listen every day, almost unfortunately, one of which is a mexican soap opera over the noon hour that's dubbed in french, even after a year of that show i don't think i'll be attached to soap operas, or burkina tv (oops, sorry, no offense meant) since i can already recognize each and every commercial by the first few notes of the background song, i told felix that i would be able to sing them all by the time the new year came

donna returns from south africa tomorrow along with pastor abdias and siaka, we'll see how long it is before i get wind of my stuff sent home and anything else sent here

tom and kay have an extremely deep pit in their courtyard (a bit over two seconds for an object to hit bottom) and so one day we borrowed the bolt cutters from the mission's tool shed and cut off the lock in order to check it out and put on a new lock that the flemings actually had a key to, from then we've had some fun tossing the week's trash down it and last saturday night, the flaming remnants of various old water ruined papers, it was interesting to see that, even with the help of some paint thinner, nothing would stay lit all the way to the bottom, all we need now is some glow sticks or some other form of artificial light (that won't be a problem if we can't use it any longer, or get it for that matter), anyway, i have to say this is going to be one of the most fun pieces of entertainment we've found yet, he he he

i've been getting some quality moto time in of late: a trip to somogohiri last tuesday on the moto here at the mission compound and then a trip with felix to kourinion yesterday for the church service and a visit

after church on sunday in kourinion we were invited to the house of an older church lady to pray for her and so got to see a little more of the village than just from the distance of the small grass shelter of the church building, we also shared a meal of to and sauce with some of the elder men in the church, included was an excellent sample of the local water rat, since the town is separated by a river and the rat lives along the river

i missed my first hog butchering this past weekend at the entz farm, i did, however, get some pork on saturday at home and on sunday with the flemings, nothing like the fresh experience at home, but none-the-less one of the best kinds of meat you can get

it's somewhat amazing to me to think of kansas and how it's cold enough now to be sleeping with feather beds and wearing a regular coat outside (and maybe in if you ever go upstairs in the larry and carol entz house) whereas here it's still in the 80's during the day but comfortingly cooler as night passes

the first real flashback to home (kansas home, that is) was yesterday as felix and i were returning from delivering some corn from kourinion to someone in orodara, as we passed a courtyard that happened to have those infernal animals referred to as turkeys, i was strangely reminded of kansas by their gobbles, there have been other sighting of turkeys in orodara, but i wasn't transformed into the good ol' kansas farm boy again until i heard their annoying chorus, i never would have thought that such an irritating sound would give me the first significant recollection of my other home

God has power over us
and God has mercy for us
for we as his sheep
and the people of his pasture

all i do is because of Him
thus all i do
must be for Him
and in Him

2006-11-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

T plus 1 mois, 15 jours

i've already had lots of success with my projects this week (that is the week that started this morning), i got my hard drives working with pro tools and i got some more audio software to work with from orlando on saturday (the package was a couple cd's and took just less than 3 weeks to arrive), it looks like i've got plenty of work to do between pulling in source material and cleaning up it and other recorded material

it's pretty sweet, i just hooked up the two hard drives that i have for the mac, in a row, on one firewire cable, oh the beauty of macs, we call that a little bit fo daisy chaining, then again, maybe that's just orlando's word for as much, either way, i like it

the studio did it's first official recording starting tuesday last week (October 31, 2006), fabé, kari, and i recorded five newly translated psalms, the book of james, and the book of matthew into samogho (of course, they did all the talking, i only sat and pressed record and stop on the computer), this material will be used, all or in part, for the samogho megavoice (mv) player that is my main project this year

i've still got a few egg cartons to put on the ceiling of the studio, the east wall is also yet uncovered, as is the floor, i'm going to be getting some mats (like the muslims use for daily prayers) in storage at the church to cover the floor, the east wall has the window, door, lights, and holes for air flow which make it a puzzle to cover, there's isn't near the auditorium echo like before we started, but there's still a very short but noticeable echo on louder sounds

donna left for south africa early this morning and loren left for saraba in the middle of the morning, the mission compound is empty as always when loren and donna are gone to saraba (except for toussaint, pascal, the guard, and/or the occasional visitor), but tom and kay are around, returning from ouaga last night, thus english resumes once again in the front/main room of the studio building

tom and kay were touring SIAO 2006 (don't ask me what it stands for), an artisan festival that takes place in ouaga every two years, since kay is an artist, this was an excellent opportunity for them to see various arts and crafts from multiple different african countries, since i have a collection of carved wooden animals (a couple stone too) i asked them to possibly find something that would fit such a collection, they ended up bringing back two malachite figures, a lion and a hippo, excellent specimens to add to my collection,

of course, i should have no problem transporting them back to the states since one, they are only about two inches tall and three long, and two, i get two fifty pound bags from ouaga to paris as well as to home, a change that happened last year and of which i was informed last night by loren and donna (as of my question regarding the matter of carry on weight limit), this is quite an improvement from the supposed 20 kg (44 lbs) from ouaga to paris, any requests

this last friday night presented another opportunity for me to pray to the porcelain god, though not near as many times as the last event, i had had supper with loren and donna that evening and we had lots of good stuff, including some really good chicken from a vendor in town, based on our deductions from food properties and content at these two incriminated meals, we concluded that the cause of the problem on both occasions was the MSG in the bullion/jumbo i consumed with the foreign dishes; the first time was a dish the neighbors brought as a gift at the end of ramadan, the second time was the chicken from downtown on friday night and the sauce with which it was basted, the chicken's excellent, but now i can't eat it (or very much anyway)

evidently toussaint has the same problem and so now i must be wary of foods from town or from neighbors, i realize now that this is another God-send reason for me to be hosted by the dakuo's because justine doesn't use any bullion/jumbo in her cooking, amen for that

i also scraped the side of my left foot on my bike pedal friday night returning to the mission after ordering the chicken, thus i am learned about how easily things become infected here, don't worry, it's not infected yet, i just get to put on some antiseptic stuff three times a day that also has the affect of red dye on the location of application, so i've got a big red upside down half circle on the inside of my left foot that looks like a big bloody gash, ha ha ha, as donna said, it's better than the alternative

when God says go
you go
when God says stay
you stay
but when God says listen
you do both

2006-10-27T14:39:00.000-05:00

T plus 1 mois, 5 jours

i've sent in samples to megavoice, but as of yet no response, that of course was only this last weekend, i sent in 16, 15-second samples, it took me just less than two hours on friday afternoon in bobo at a nice air conditioned internet cafe, oh yeah, and about that, i ended up returning home on saturday morning rather than friday night ...

the plan was to come back by the last bus on friday evening, the 6:00, home by 7:30, however, susan (the fulbright scholar from john's hopkins doing research here in burkina and staying at the mission) was returning the states and was meeting friends for pizza and invited the flemings and myself, this was at 7 and so this would mean i would have to stay the night in bobo and return the next morning; i hadn't decided for sure whether i would stay and so at the time when we got on the bus it still stood with the family that i would return that evening, therefore, to get a message to felix, i wrote "if i wasn't back by supper time i will have stayed in bobo for the night and will return in the morning" on a piece of paper, folded it into a paper airplane and threw it out the window as we passed the walkway to the house, i wasn't sure if felix would receive the message and so i figured that i would call pascal and have him deliver a message to felix if i decided to stay; i ended up staying, as you know, and tried to contact pascal but couldn't reach him, thus i remained in bobo and decided to return home on a bus the next morning; i returned on the 10:00 and got home about 11:30, i discovered that felix had received my message earlier that morning and had thus known what i had done, he had figured that i wouldn't be able to get home friday evening because the bus would be full of people coming to the market the next day and so figured i had stayed with the flemings; God is a worker of miracles and somehow got the message to the house and to felix, and i can even put it on my resume as real world experience with airplanes

donna and kay are working on muffling the echo in the recording room of the studio with egg cartons, 500 of them arrived on saturday form bobo and are sitting in my "office" as we speak waiting to be hung on the walls and ceiling

i've got a few things to find in the market tomorrow, so that should be fun, actually going to the market with a purpose rather than just looking around and seeing what's available

my place/job/various tasks in the megavoice project clicked the other day when donna and i were talking about the various source material that she had for me, i had read the process for cleaning audio and now was seeing the material and the future of my work here, my job is clear and it looks like fun, especially because i get to work with nice, new studio, building and equipment

2006-10-20T07:50:00.000-05:00

T plus 28 jours

sorry, i just realized this post is 10 days after the last one, but then again, that'll probably be fairly regular later in the year

the past week has gone well in the studio, i've been getting together some samples to send to ed zagofsky, the megavoice technician in israel, i'm heading to bobo soon to get to a faster internet connection which will hopefully take less time to post the files on ed's ftp site, it turns out i might get pizza in bobo with susan and the flemings if i stick around long enough

the equipment is still working beautifully, especially the mac, he he he, i'm actually starting to get a little hooked on the whole setup too, for recording/editing audio kinds of things, it's really pretty cool what i can do with all this stuff

felix and i have been working on typing in the evenings every once in a while, i read a bit from a national geographic and he types it out on the old pentium two comp running win 98, then again, it's still newer than the one my family had as our second to most recent home computer (though he does have an ancient laptop and i've seen two of them that are maybe close to as old as i am)

he and i butchered one of his roosters the other night to have for meals the next day, it was very tasty and very intriguing to see the differences between north american and african processing, they sure do save and eat a lot of things that we would never think to do

we've had fruit for lunch everyday and so going to buy it we've found that the price doubles when a white man walks up to buy instead of a black man (or woman), they think that the white man has too much money that he doesn't know what to do with it all, i'm starting to think that's really the case, even in other countries than the u.s.

God is great
God is good
He teaches me patience
He teaches me truth
He shows me the way
to be real

2006-10-13T11:46:00.000-05:00

sorry i can't get some pictures out just yet, i've had some complications on this end but will hopefully get it going here soon

just for information's sake, i don't think i'll be taking near as many pictures as i figured, but i've got some decent ones

2006-10-12T10:54:00.000-05:00

T plus 18 jours

deb byler is arriving in orodara at approximately 5:00 (this evening), donna went to meet her in bobo

the internet cafe in orodara finally has a connection, i haven't used it yet so i have no idea how fast it is, it's 500 cfa for and hour, and a respective amount for a half-hour

i'll be sending some samples of what i've recorded to megavoice in israel, they'll then give me feedback on how i can clean it up and make it good enough for them to make an audio player with it

i got the speaker back that i blew, they work beautifully now, though i can't ever hook them up to a 110V current, the new transformer won't accept it, and yet that's not a problem because you can get just 110V straight from the wall in burkina, so we're good

we've had rain for the past few days in a row, today we had a fair bit of rain and so i don't know how i'm going to get from the studio to the main compound without getting myself muddy up to my ankles, this is gonna be fun, and i get to bike home yet too (~ 2 km)

i talked with phil bergen the other day about cool hobbies to pursue, not just here in burkina, and we talked about some of the things that he and john mark (his son) had the silversmith make, to make a long story short, i'm planning to hang around the blacksmith's place and maybe pick up a few things

i'm learning how to:
- stop counting days
- have a life
- learn

2006-10-07T08:33:00.001-05:00

T plus 15 jours

the studio work is coming along nicely, i got some of the lessons for loren and donna's radio program pulled on to the mac, it looks as though everything will come together nicely and i might start recording with pastor abdias next week sometime

"la table ronde" is going on this weekend here at the mission compound, we met last night, got an overview of aimm's work here and the current situation on a bunch of things, i also met a bunch of the missionaries that are still working in burkina, phil and karen bergen, blaine and michelle , and anne kampaore, it was good to be part of their discussion on staying mennonite and evangelising through relationships rather than through large blanket campaigns

the dakuos have received me well, as i did not doubt they would, and i am beginning to settle in to their family on some levels, though i still don't understand half of what passes between them, felix and i talk a fair bit of english together and so i am learning what he perceives in this curlture and his beliefs on many things, and he still maintains that i do not ride a bicycle to the studio everyday, i ride a horse

one thing i have heard previously and also pulled from the conversation last night was that this is a culture of fear, as phil said "when the child asks if there are monsters under his bed his mother will reply 'yes, and they will eat you if you talk to loudly,'" with this came their concept of missionary work as being involved with relationships rather than making converts

another good quote came from loren "mennonites are like manure, if you heap them in a pile they begin to heat up, but if you spread them out in the field they can start to do some good"

God offers freedom

Jesus said "follow me"

and i chose a relationship with both

T plus 13 jours

today was the first full day of work, no more messing around with the software and microphones (like in church when they leave the microphones on after the service), i got some samples of the story of amos recorded with two different tape players, deciding which one gives the best recording and thus which one to use to collect all of the cassette material, oh yeah, i also fried a speaker by hooking it up to 220V without flipping the switch in the back from 115V to 230V, we'll see what it takes to fix, it doesn't look to be worst case scenario (i promise i won't do that again)

i moved in to felix's house last night at 11:30 (my time) and got everything set up, everything is going well, it looks to be a good year, the kids are great and felix and justine are very kind, it is good that felix speaks english so that i am not lost at all times for these first few months

i still have plenty of time to read, i think i will be doing a immense amount of that this year, still plugging away at sherlock holmes, i'm thinking i'll have to save some of that to read throughout the year, i'm also starting things fall apart by chinua achebe (we read a critique by him of the heart of darkness, joseph conrad, in ap english), i've got a few books on islam to read after i finish the achebe book, and, yes, loren and donna do have "celebration of discipline" (which i plan to read)

when felix took me to the studio this morning on his moto, we noticed that the children said "toubabu ca va?" but didn't greet felix as well, interesting, i also had a talk with felix at lunch yesterday about black people changing their skin color to try to look white, he is disgusted at the practice, coincidentally, the first time i say anybody that had done this (besides michael jackson) was as i was riding home on toussaint's moto that same day

God is showing me africa

God is revealing their lives

God is pointing out my privileges

God is showing me that i am a white man

2006-10-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

T plus 11 jours

we arrived home (orodara) from saraba later than expected, we actually finished the journey in the dark, loren and donna have always said that nothing is that important that you need to travel at night in burkina faso, you must surmise the rest

village life is very relaxed, it's kind of nice, naps every afternoon for an hour (or maybe two) plenty of time to read, and always someone coming around to give their greetings, stopping to talk before going to the field, etc.

currently in saraba, everyone is harvesting their crops after a very wet rainy season, loren and i walked out to the fields this morning to see friends and their crops, we walked around various fields and even saw a farmer that was working there for a year to earn some money to take back to his family in bobo, i also got some pictures of an enormous termite hill and a few scorpions we found in a tree

we keep getting rain, the big topic of discussion was how much it has rained, they've had a rain a week for the past 5 months, it was raining this morning when we went out to the fields and so on the trip home, loren got a good running start with the car and flew over the bridge and up the hill on the road going back to somogohiri just north of saraba

i was known in saraba as the nephew of the man that helped roof the kitchen/storage building in the entz courtyard (that would be russ toevs, my mother's older brother)

many people said that my work was important because it was best to have loren and donna present in that area, i was freeing them of the job of being in orodara doing the computer work so that they could live with the somogho people

God has patience to be with his children

God has time to wait

God has time to listen

why shouldn't i

T plus 8 jours

i think that this blog thing may end up being just me telling stories, after looking at yesterday's entry i realized that each paragraph was probably twice as long as any previously published

the second day of lunch with the dakuo's was noodles and fish, i am still being treated as a special guest there, slightly more simple than yesterday but more expensive, we also had china green tea afterwards today, it was very sweet and strong, good stuff though somewhat of an acquired taste, felix says that he cannot sleep after drinking it

felix also says that he likes his afternoon naps, he says he always takes one or else he feels tired the rest of the day, i told him i like naps as well

the internet is still being annoyingly slow on the entz's computer, they have 40 messages and they aren't cooperating in coming in, though tussaint's computer seems to be doing fine, that's the one i'll be using after he is done each day

we got the flemings' "vila" cleaned out today so that they can paint the living room, stored a few things and then did a bit of repair work as well

i got to go to the market this morning with donna and kay, they bought lots of things, mostly food, and i walked around with them carrying a few things and taking some pictures

i am getting better at catching more french but there's a lot to go, it seems as though everybody that knows english knows a lot more english than i know french, then again that may be because they aren't afraid to speak

it's the last day of the quarter, loren checks the exchange rate and i realize, hey, tomorrow is the first day of october

i'm an american

but i can change

because i have to

to burkinabe

with His help

i will change

with His power

i will abandon america

with His grace

i will become a missionary

in burkina faso, western africa

2006-10-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

T plus une semaine (7 jours)

things are coming together for the studio, i got a desk for the computer and accessories today when loren, tanko (daytime guard), and i cleaned out one of the storage sheds (magazins, yes i already knew that word) we also found some long lost language tapes which will be given to the bergens (another missionary family here), everything is shaping up and starting to roll forward

today i got some things recorded with the mbox, pulled it out of the box (not really since it was packed in a suitcase without the manufacturer's box), plugged a mike in and set it rolling, of course i read a little in the book to figure out how to start the thing recording, but other than that it's pretty simple, i ended up just keeping 11.5 minutes of the power-glide french tapes that i had this summer for study, i had recorded a little of my voice to test the microphone, but put that aside in order to get something that mirrors my first job(s), now all i need to do is read some more on how to clean up these audio tracks that i'm recording and i'll have everything down pat that i need to know for the year, ha, i'll just have to start getting creative if that ever happens, that could be really fun (evil smirk), don't worry, i'll bring it back with me

i was talking with donna this evening and she said that we might just have one of the best systems in the country, for audio recording that is (by the way, the mac will last for, max, just less than 5 hours on it's own power, another reason to get a mac), she then told me that i should go look at the setup at the the radio station if i doubted her, as she was talking she said "... they got a computer ...," i laughed pretty hard at that one, thus they may eventually have people/groups coming from far and wide to do some work or have it done, that way the church can pay for the electricity for the building, etc., sounds like a plan to me, we'll see how many times they get me to come back here, or maybe somebody professional like orlando penner, the guy from canada that helped them decide on all the equipment in the first place

the internet finally started working for us again today, the company had cancelled the whole missionary account instead of just the sub-accounts that were requested to be cancelled, evidently loren and donna have 40 emails coming in to them, however, they've only been able to receive 8, the system is still being a little sluggish, but the connection is 46.6 kbps, rather than the usual 52

i also have many emails waiting for me on tussaint's computer but haven't read one yet because we had a hopping game night tonight with "the old geezers" (it's their own words not mine), the entzes, tom fleming, and i played a game of seven-up while kay (tom's wife) observed and joined in story telling, it was pretty great, what a friday night of entertainment

lunch today for me was with the dakuos, felix came and picked me up on his moto and returned me as well after an excellent meal of rice and cabbage sauce along with cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, also a couple hard boiled guinea eggs, oh yeah, and evidently his family is fond of a mexican soap opera that they have on at two that's pretty horribly dubbed in french, the mouth doesn't really match and then you see the mouth do the break-into-pixel-squares thing, anyway, tv may have beneficial value after all if i learn some french from it yet, don't worry, i won't be attempting to star in any french soaps until hell freezes over; however, the rolling stones did get back together

saturday is market day, i may get to take some more pictures, i've only taken about 90 so far, if this was any other vacation or entertainment event i would've easily had 300 by now if i hadn't already started my second card (409 on the one card), looks like i might have to get with it, pictures here are more the property of the subject than the photographer

God is teaching me to see his plan

God is teaching me to have fun

God is teaching me life

T plus 6 jours

the studio is now cleaned out, all the extra wood is removed and all the doors are painted, the floors are also swept and washed (relatively clean), however the fumes are still fairly potent and so i don't get to move all the stuff in until later this week, there is also a need for tables in both the recording room and the computer room, when both of these things are accomplished, i will move the goods in, until then, i'm still enjoying writing these entries on the beautiful mac

donna and i met with felix today about my moving in to his place, the other young man that was staying there, immanuel, vacated his place prematurely, so i am able to make my permanent residence when i am ready, yeah for pit toilets and toe and sauce, but the dakuo's (pronounced dock-yo, that is felix, justine, and family) do have an indoor shower

it sounds as though loren and donna will be returning to saraba for a short time (three days) to introduce me and set a few things back in order after their absence, we will most likely head out on sunday, the 1st, and stay until tuesday sometime, loren and donna still have to get ready for and host "la table ronde," a meeting of the area missionaries on the following weekend, by which time i will be moved into the dakuo's and possibly have the studio set up in the new building

i am just now experiencing my first little bit of sickness, that is from the unfamiliar germs/bacteria with which i have chosen to surround myself, nothing much, just a little, oh wait, you don't really want to know, never mind

God is dependent

God is omnipresent

God is omniscient

God is omnipotent

God is the creator of the entire universe

God is my friend

God is worth my time

am i worth God's time

2006-10-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

T plus 5 jours

i am beginning to understand more and more french, by no means am i close to perfect, however, i can respond every once in a while, though i be not secure enough to do so, and i can grasp much of a any average conversation; ha, all those years of french and this is all i can do, gotta love my language skills

meeting pastor abdias coulibaly today was an interesting event, we talked about many things related to the studio and set up to meet there tomorrow and work on cleaning it out so that i can set up the equipment as soon as possible, for now i am possibly setting up in my room at the compound

also, pastor abdias has worked out my housing situation with felix and justine and i will learn of the details tomorrow when donna is present to hear as well, he only informed loren and i today at our meeting that he had it finalized

well, it turns out that i haven't seen a monkey yet, then again i am in a "city" and probably won't see many all year, thus the chances of me getting one as a pet are quite minimal, also, it would most likely add another responsibility to a year that can easily be occupied elsewhere, though it would have provided a welcome distraction from other puzzling/troubling thoughts

it's kind of nice to take life slower for once, the break in the afternoon is absolutely beautiful, also, the sun seems to set much earlier and then there's not much else to do but have supper, converse a little, and then go to bed, it'll be nice throughout the year

oh what i would not like to give for a maybe a little taste of america again, yet i've realized that it's wonderfully fulfilling to not see waste like in america, nothing is wasted here, not even the cicada that kay fleming killed today, after leaving it on the floor and coming back a few hours later, most of it was gone due to the ants that had been at work in their absence, then again, evidently these two inch long cicada are also caught and eaten by the children, evidently they have some decent body mass to them, hmm, sounds like a tasty treat

need i be hesitant in my walk

need i stumble on a pebble

must i be distracted by insignificance

must i ponder secondary things

i am learning to be burkinabe, and

God is teaching me to be a missionary

T plus 4 jours

i see a little more of this beautiful country everyday, the bus ride out to orodara gave some good views of the stumpy trees and fairly widespread vegetation in the southern and eastern parts, farther from the desert and closer to the ocean

it truly will be interesting to learn more of islam as i grow up in this city of predominantly muslims, loren and donna asked if i wanted to read about a certain topic this year since they have quite a personal collection of books and so i am soon to be set up to read all i could ever wish on islam and muslims since they have an extensive collection of books on that topic, the year will tell whether i wish to move on to other topics as well

i continue to be reliant on God to keep me going amidst tiredness (not too much jet-lag, just the normal college kid needs more sleep kinda thing) and lacking in connections with more familiar things, especially because of the language barrier that i have kept in front of myself, partly still pride in not wanting to make a fool of myself and also perceiving that i do not have quite the vocabulary that would be good to have for relatively fluid conversation, i look forward to living with felix and justine so that i may feel more comfortable in showing myself the great fool that i am

God is faithful

God is just

God is willing to help me out

God is willing to let me learn

God is the one with his hand over all

God is the one who never sleeps

God is God

God is my God

2006-09-25T17:33:00.000-05:00

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

2006-09-24T18:20:00.000-05:00

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

2006-09-21T21:06:00.000-05:00

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

2006-09-20T00:02:00.000-05:00

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

2006-09-18T10:20:00.000-05:00

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