Burkina Faso/ Final Post from Krista

“Je voudrais une coca, si vous plait.” (Meaning: I’d like a Coke, please)

Coke is a big thing here. I’ve never been much of a Coca-Cola fan, but nevertheless, I’ve had many cokes this week. When we visit people, we either bring coke for them or they offer it to us. When people visit where were staying, we bring out the coke and offer it to our guests.

Marcel said when he was in America, it was like we had endless fountains of coke! (He was referring of course to the free refills at McDonald’s, in which the supply is pretty much endless). We’re like the land of milk and honey, but with coke. Coke has also indirectly humbled me this week. It’s not cheap for the people here and it’s not often drank by them. We have been offered a coke (or a Fanta) many times, and it humbles me that these kind people would offer us what is so precious to them. They could probably feed their whole family a dinner of sagabo (their millet staple) with the money it takes to buy us coke. In fact, most people drink one coke a year, at Christmas, when people often get it as a special gift.

When Nicholas spoke last week at a church, they rushed us offstage afterwards to sit us down and offer us coke. I was so thankful, not just for the cold fizzy beverage on a hot day, but for the heart behind it. The generosity and selflessness that goes into supplying the white people with coke astonishes me. It reminds me of the widow that gave out of her poverty, all she had in the two small copper coins, not out of her abundance, as I know I usually do.

Coke is not the only thing that has humbled me this week. We have so much stuff in America, yet many (even Christians) lack real joy. The Christians here have much less material stuff, yet their joy is evident in their daily lives! We have many distractions in the States that draw us away from focusing on the Lord. We usually know where our next meal will come from and we can afford to put gas in the car. When kids are sick we don’t think twice about taking them to the doctor, and we have so many books and Bible study aids that we don’t know which to pick up and read. None of these are innately bad things. I thank God that my cupboards are full and that health insurance covers a trip to the doctor.

I also know I need to have some layers stripped away. I need to be bare and exposed so that God can work in me.

Waiting in the Paris airport to fly here, I noticed flight entertainment listed on the screen. The French translation was “Le distraction”, so accurately depicting what entertainment is: a distraction. We distract ourselves from real life. I get so easily distracted by what people think, by my comfort and safety, and relying on my own ability. We have hobbies, careers, television, and so many other things that make us believe we can do everything on our own. Not that there are none of these things in Africa, but we have them to such a greater extent. I don’t even necessarily feel like I need to come home and sell all my things, in order to send all the money to Africa. There is indeed great need here, but I don’t want to give them an American lifestyle. They have a Burkinabe lifestyle, simple and devoted to the Lord. The people we’ve met eat one good meal a day and have a Bible per family. They have livestock to care for or a church to shepherd. They know Jesus and love Him with all their heart. They know daily how much they need Him. Do we really know that every day, that without Him we’d be completely lost and incapable of anything?

What I want, as I return to America, is to find the pure simplicity of loving Jesus when I’m home. Despite being immersed in an over-stimulating culture, I want to be stripped of complexity and filled simply with love for Him and love for others.

-Krista