Burkina Faso/ Nicholas and Krista update

Barkwhenam! (Praise God!, in the Moore language)

There has been so much going on for us here in Ouagadougou, in our hearts, our minds, our activities, and our experiences!

Hopefully, by blogging while here, we can give you all some snapshots of Burkina Faso and life here. We’re excited to share even more in a few short weeks.

The pastors conference started Tuesday and went through Friday of last week, continuing through this Thursday. The Burkinabe (burr-kee-na-bay) pastors say they have been learning so much and appreciate us coming all this way. They have also come from great distances to hear the Word of God taught verse-by-verse. Daily we have new adventures, taste new flavors and see new things. The first day we were given lunch in a big pot to take back to our house. It was in incredibly flavorful stew of goat meat, potatoes,green beans, tomatoes, and spices. The goat was raised specifically for this conference and killed just that morning to feed the pastors. I don’t think I’ve had fresher meat than that!

I think we all spent the first few days adjusting to the heat. It’s probably about 110 here on average, and we have been eating hot food just about every day. The guys have been freezing bottles of Coke to make slurpees, so that cools us off in the heat of the afternoon. It’s very hot, but we drink lots of water and maybe by the end of this week we’ll hopefully adjust like the people here- they don’t even sweat most of the time! Well, maybe it would take more than 2 weeks…

Yesterday I was honored and humbled to be able to share with a group of Burkinbe women. We were in a brick building in the suburbs of “Ouaga”, with fans blowing much needed air throughout, and rows of handmade wooden benches. There were probably about 70 women, dressed in colorful attire, plus their adorable children gathered in this one church. They were from the surrounding area, and I heard some had even come farther.

I shared about Biblical womanhood and why it’s so important to hear what God has to say about marriage and family. I told them how exciting it was that we had both traveled long distances to teach and learn the Word of God, respectively. I had a time slot of 9am-12:30pm, so when they seemed to look tired and the room was getting really hot, at about 11am, I told them (through the translator) we could stop and do lunch soon. After some discussion with the ladies, the translator turned to me and said “no”, with a smile. They had said they came to hear me teach, and they wanted to listen until 12:30, the full three and a half hours! I was so excited to realize their hunger for the Word of God. It was more real than any hunger for lunch. Praise God that these ladies desire Him and what He says to us.

After teaching about what it looks like to submit, to love our husbands and children, to be a crown, and a little about wisdom, I opened it up to questions before concluding. These ladies asked tough questions, like “What do I do if my husband is lazy and doesn’t provide?” “What if I have problems with my in-laws?” “how can I get my husband to act differently?” And these are the same tough questions we deal with in America. Marriage and childbearing raise difficult issues in every culture. We face the same trials, though they come wearing different coats according to culture. In the end, our trials are a result of the fall, of our own sins, and of our lack of focus on Jesus, who is the only One who can help. When I went to conclude with the section of teaching about Satan’s attacks, I found the material I had prepared was answering the concerns of the ladies. Scripture confirmed that we need to look to the author and perfecter of our faith, no matter what country we’re in or how long we’ve been married, or what our culture looks like! With Nicholas and Loren’s help, I was able to answer these ladies’ questions and hopefully encourage them! It was humbling, being younger than some of them, and probably less wise than many of them, to convey what the Lord says to us all as women and daughter’s of God.

To thank me for teaching, they presented me with two chickens! Live ones! They were roosters, tied together by the feet and hanging upside down (they looked dead to me). We took them back to Pastor Marcel’s house, and they were to be lunch for the next day. And I wanted to have a part in the prep. When am I next going to have the chance to learn to pluck a chicken? I asked Marcel if I could help and he said I didn’t’ want to see him kill and pluck it. I begged to differ. He the agreed to let me help (but may think I am a crazy white woman.) Nicholas actually got to kill one rooster and Marcel killed the other. I was happy to learn how to pluck it. We let the blood drain out after the chickens’ necks were slit, and then we put the two birds in a bucket of boiling water. It cleans them and helps loosen up the feathers, apparently. Marcel’s son demo-ed the process for me. I then plucked one whole bird and cut it into pieces. Today after church we had it for lunch, barbecued! Mmm, good! (Well, a little scrawny and tough, but very flavorful!) I will never look at a package of drumsticks from Fred Meyer the same way again!

Today Nicholas and I got the privilege of returning to the church that I spoke at for their Sunday service. There are so many great things to say about it! The music was so fun, full of passion and clapping, dancing, and praise! The ladies wore the most beautiful dresses, with vibrant prints and fancy head wraps. Two choirs sang, many people danced and prayed, and my husband got to do the teaching! He shared about faith, giving examples from Hebrews 11 and stories from the Old Testament. It was really encouraging when our well-educated translator, Abraham, told Nicholas how well he did. He said he liked that the Word of God was taught and he had lots to think about and be challenged with. We went to this church to bless them, and ended up being so blessed ourselves! Isn’t that always how it is? So fun!
We then got to share a wonderful meal with Marcel’s family and our whole team here. We had split up and gone to different churches in the morning, but met at Marcel’s house afterwards. We had the fore mentioned chickens, a national dish called sagabow (millet that tasted like cream of what to me), cooked veggies with aioli-like sauce, French bread, okra sauce, fried plantains, and pasta! They treated us like kings and we thoroughly enjoyed our authentic Burkinabe cuisine!

Time to sign off for today, but we’ll try to share again soon!
Love from Burkina,
Krista and Nicholas