Africa Journal Day 7

Day 7

This morning starts slowly for all of us, after a late night of soccer and Super Bowl viewing.  A regularly scheduled team meeting at the Richter's is scheduled for this morning from nine to noon.  The agenda included prayer and praise, project and activity reports, scheduling and planning, and scope discussion. I am amazed at the busy-ness of this team.  With the three families working in different areas, while moving the ministry ahead in the positive forward direction, there are a lot of moving parts.  Chris, being a long term thinker has helped the team recognize and assess some challenges around achieving their goals while also planning furloughs, retreats, and the 2014 departure of the Johnson’s back to USA.

After lunch, devotion time, and waiting for 3pm (businesses close from 1pm to 3pm), we drive into town to have tea with Mr. Barry.  This wonderful gentleman, a native of Dano and a tailor has been a friend and unofficial language teacher to the team from Texas since their arrival in Dano ten years ago.  While manning his tailor shop during the day, he is the Johnson’s night guard, (not sure when he sleeps), has nine children, and tells me is 56 years old.  He speaks five languages, but does not read or write.  He has been immensely beneficial in helping Andy and now Chris learn French and Dagara.  He is Muslim, but has been doing bible study with Andy for several years, and is seriously considering the claims of Christ.  For him, following Jesus openly will be a costly event, as his entire family is Muslim, and likely a decision to follow Jesus will result in great persecution.  Our prayers are with him as he considers this life changing decision.  Another concern for those of us who have come to know and love him is his health; the life expectancy of a man is about 50 years in Burkina Faso.  How he will provide support for a large family, some of whom are still in school is a concern for the team, and what other employment will he find after the Johnson’s return to the USA, and his night guard services are no longer needed.  

As we sit down outside his shop in a dusty side yard, shaded by a canopy from the hot sun, his young assistant starts to prepare the tea.  A small charcoal brazier sits in the dirt, with a worn metal pot sitting on top.  The tea is brewed, poured into three "shot glasses" and served on a small serving tray.  We spend a couple hours talking and drinking "three cups of tea."  Mr. Barry tells us that:

The first cup is bitter like death

The second is good like life

The third is sweet like love

While we enjoy our tea, a brother of Mr. Barry and another man walk up, and begin to wash themselves, spread their mats on the dirt, and face the east for their afternoon prayers.  As we watch these men pray,  I get another glimpse into the life of a man who will sacrifice much to follow Jesus, just as Jesus talked about in His teachings.

Chris and I drive to the outskirts of town to visit the home of Severin.  Severin is Chris’s day guard, a Christian, Chris’s bible study partner, and language learning partner.  He is also the first participant in the Joseph Project. He is a true entrepreneur, also owning a motorized trike that he uses as a taxi and hauling service, having hired one of his brothers to drive it.  He is the type of person that the team seeks out and invests in with bible study, discipleship, and business leadership training.  This model of leadership training in both business and spiritual training is paying rich dividends and is the key for this ministry to become self-sustaining after all the “white people” leave. 

He shows us the 70+ bags (100kg each) of corn that are stored in his bedroom.  The plan is to buy or build a magasin (storage building) to store additional grain next season.  The corn was bought locally at the end of harvest when prices were lowest.  During the height of the dry season, the price of corn increases.  Severin will sell the corn at then market prices, and give 15% of the proceeds to feed the widows and orphans, keep 10% for himself for his work, and reinvest the remainder in another purchase of corn at the next harvest.

The second Joseph Project item for Severin is to plant a crop of green beans for the next growing season.  He takes us to some property owned by an uncle, who has agreed to let him grow beans instead of corn.  This will not only revive the soil for future corn crops, it will provide another revenue stream from the bean harvest to donate to widows and orphans while providing a profit to Severin, and an investment return to the JP for future use.  Chris hopes to be able to send Severin to The Chalmers Center (http://www.chalmers.org) for additional leadership training later this year.

    Just another example of using business skills, capitalism, and honest hard work to further the cause of Christ.  And yet, I think of the quote by C. S. Lewis: "He who has God and everything has no more than he who has God alone."  We must always keep first things first, and know that money can't solve the world's problems.

  For more information on the Joseph Project and other ways you can participate in this, go to http://www.sandsinburkina.com/

Africa Journal Day 6

Day 6

Sunday is worship day here in Burkina Faso, just as in Texas.  Morning worship will be in a village, and evening worship will be with the team, followed by dinner, and today watching the soccer game between BF and Togo, followed by the Super Bowl (on at 11:30pm here).

We follow Andy and Melissa, and their kids for about an hour, wandering around in the bush, looking for where a particular congregation is meeting.  We receive wrong directions a couple of times, pick up some people who ride in the back of Andy's truck with their bicycles, and finally arrive at a large tree where about 100 people, men, women, and children were gathered.  They started coming toward our vehicles singing a Dagara song, welcoming us.  We were given seats of honor in the front of the gathering, Vickie and I being the oldest guests were given the largest, most comfortable seats.  Most people had brought their own stools to sit on, and some benches had been brought (on the back of motos).  Various people in the congregation would start a song, and the group would start singing.  There was dancing and many songs sung, each with a simple theme of God's provision, His love for them, the great hope they have in Christ, the power Jesus gives them over the devil, and similar themes of a simple but sincere understanding of the great gift they have received because of their faith in Christ.

 I was asked to pray for the gathering, Andy was asked to teach (he taught from Ephesians 2).  His teaching is similar to the way Jesus taught, using a lot of stories and farming examples.  This was followed by the offering, and then communion.  Communion was similar to ours, with a cracker dipped in grape juice, at least for us.  Some of the Dagara drank directly from the cup.  A large portion of the group took of the Lord's Supper, even some teen age children.  It was announced that a baptism would be held in a couple of weeks for those people who had become believers, but not yet baptized.  Being the dry season, there aren't many locations with enough water for baptism, but there is a man-made lake not too far away (maybe a day's walk) that will be used.  We were told a large group will first go into the lake to scare away the crocodiles and Caymans, (yikes).  Wonder how many Americans would go to that length to get baptized?

After church ended, we were asked to stay and drink dolo, their local home brewed beer.  A 5 gallon plastic container was produced, along with wooden bowls (made from gourds) and dolo was passed around to all the visitors and some of the congregation. A non-alcoholic version was available for the kids.  Dolo tastes a bit like wheat beer, but sweeter, and has a low alcohol content of about 2%.  The Dagara are known for their dolo, and it is a staple for celebrations and every day conversations alike.

After lunch and repose' we go with Jennifer to the "Grand Marche", the once a week market that occurs in Dano.  The Dagara week is a 6 day week, and the smaller markets that travel from village to village occur on a different day each week, but this large market is always on Sunday.  There are hundreds of stalls, selling everything from vegetables and fruits to bolts of cloth, and shoes.  There is a building for butchering animals, and as I look through the window at a man yielding a large machete, butchering a goat, I'm splattered with blood (yuck).  

We are for sure the only white people in the market, but many people from Dano know Jennifer and several of the little kids know Benjamin (their # 2 son).  Benjamin is a common French name (meaning last son), so the kids can easily repeat his name. We buy some vegetables and candy for Benjamin, and all appreciate the experience and friendliness of the people.

Sunday evenings are for the team worship service, this week and C and J's house.  Chris leads worship with guitar and we sing several kids’ songs followed by praise and worship music for the adults.  Andy has been asked to deliver the teaching for today, and tells us what he taught this morning at the village (in English this time).  After a dinner of breakfast burritos, men play some ping pong and then watch BF beat Togo to advance to the semi-finals in the African soccer championships.   Soccer is very popular with the Burkinabe, and on nights like this when there is a big game, the people in town gather around the few television sets that are available, either at friend’s houses or at the two or three bars/clubs in town.  I happen to be outside when Burkina scores the winning goal, and I could hear the entire town erupt into a loud cheer which echoed up the hill to the Sand’s house.

  Chris has cable, most channels being French based, but there are several American channels, including ESPN, and a lot of kid's channels.  Later, most of the team comes back at 11:30 to watch the Super Bowl, so it's a very late night for all.

Africa Journal Day 5

Day 5

Today is a special day in the church and in Dano.  Patrice and Astrid are getting married.  Patrice was one of the original house workers of Geoffrey and Suzanne, when they arrived in Dano four years ago.  Through Geoffrey's efforts, much prayer, the help of the other missionaries, and the work of the Holy Spirit,  Patrice is now one of the leading citizens of the community.  He is a believer and leader in his church, and has been certified as a licensed plumber, with the help of the team who sent him to plumbing school in Ouaga.  He is truly an amazing example of what happens when Jesus's teachings are applied in our lives and the lives of those we impact.  

One of the projects Chris wants to do is start a plumbing school in Dano, led by Patrice.  This and all of the proposed and existing projects including Living Water, are done through the local church association (More about LWI and other projects in another post).

As I told my wife, Vickie, later in the day, we today experienced something that probably 99.9% of Americans have not, an African Christian wedding.  The couple started the day at 9am with a civil service at the house of the Mayor of Dano.  After this, the church portion of the wedding started at 10am.  Arriving at the church building in Dano, I saw tents erected all around the church with hundreds of people standing, sitting, and milling around.  We were, with the Sand's, quickly ushered to the front row of the church, along with the other local missionaries.  Chris was one of the official photographers, and took over 1,000 pictures that day.  At least 20 pastors were introduced, including about ten that were on the stage.  The couple was led in by young children, and a bridal party, and seated front and center, and the preaching began.  About two hours later, the singing and dancing started, and we were beginning to wonder how much longer.  The duration of the ceremony was about four hours, pictures were taken, and a meal was served. We didn't stay for the meal, but were told that the food was very good, and there was plenty for the hundreds of people that were there.  A collection was taken for the couple, as the groom's responsibility is to pay for the food.  Chris told me that Patrice would go into debt to pay for this wedding, so the missionaries and us are all giving gifts of $$ to the young groom, per his request.  Two additional parties are planned for the couple into the evening and night, where there will be plenty of food and dolo (their home-made beer).

Africa Journal Day 4

Day 4

 Today began with a fishing expedition to a community fishing hole with Chris, his sons Benjamin and John Wesley, and Chris' friend Gery, a stone mason, who has done some work for Chris.  We follow Gery into town, where he leaves his moto with a friend, joins us in the truck, and directs us to the local bait shop. The bait shop is in the town market area across from the bus stop.  There are many stalls selling grain, other foodstuffs, and a number of items that are unknown to me.  He returns with a small plastic bag containing some sort of meat, and we proceed out of town on the highway a few miles, where we turn off on a dirt road, and wind around in the fields containing the remnants of the previous corn harvest till we come to a heavily wooded area.  After tracking through the tall grass and trees we see the water. I’m wondering what might be lurking in the tall grass, as snakes and snake bites are very common here. Varieties include the black and green mamba, which are the quickest and most deadly, the puff adder, and various kinds of vipers.  Gery warns us there may be a crocodile nearby, so while watching carefully for snakes and crocs we prepare our fishing equipment, just rod and reel with a treble hook, and a floater to try and catch some fish.  With no luck in our first spot, we move to another to try our luck.  After a time with no nibbles, I notice Gery stripping down to his underwear and wading into the water.  I realize then that he is running trot lines in this lake, and as he wades in the waist deep water checking his lines, I can't help but wonder about the crocodile.  With no fish, no croc siting, and no snakes, after a couple of hours we drive back into town, dropping off Gery, and heading home for lunch.

Many days, here in West Africa, naps are common for the locals.  After a long relaxing nap, Chris, Vickie, and I go into town to say "hi" to Mr. Barry (more about him in a later post), and pick up Andy, who was visiting with Mr. Barry in his tailor shop.  This afternoon's plan is to visit the site for the "widow's garden".  Along the way, as we look for our guide to take us to the area, Andy explains that his goal for this project, the Widow's garden, is to provide a sustainable source of food and/or income for the many widows in this village.  The church in this village has had many men die, leaving their widows destitute, and Andy and his wife Melissa have been providing support as needed.  As he and his family are moving back to the US in 2014, he has hopes that this project will replace the support he has been providing. 

 The chief of this village has donated land for the garden, and today we are visiting with some other villagers who already have gardens along the river that meanders through this area.  After a long walk dodging large rocks, cow poop, and tall grass, we come to a substantial green grassy area surrounding both banks of the river.  We see two local young men tending a 1/2 acre garden abutting the river, with a mud wall and a moat around it (to keep out the animals and livestock).  The mud wall is about 4 feet high, and the moat is about a foot deep.  The garden is filled with okra in straight rows, with zucchini growing up the walls.  The young men explain how the garden floods in the rainy season, when they grow rice, and in the dry season they grow okra.  They carry water from the river in buckets and irrigate the plants every third day.  This plot belongs to their father, but they farm it for their income.  For the widows, the chief has donated a hectare (about 2.5 acres) and Andy has a donor from the USA who has already given about $10k to fund the project.  After much discussion with the local "experts", Andy thinks that with the proper preparation by the team, the widows will be able to maintain that large of a garden, to provide food for their families.  The basic plan is to hire some equipment, a dozer and tractor, to prepare the raised garden, till the soil, build the wall, and truck in enough cow manure for fertilizer.  Then the team will utilize some men in the church who are farmers (most of the Dagara women are gatherers) to teach the women how to plant  the garden.  Once this is done, the widows s/b able to maintain the garden.  After all this discussion, our guide Hermann, who is also the local Living Water manager, employed by Geoffrey, explains to the farmers there that these white people are here to help with a garden that will last a long time, even for their widows after they die.  These young men aren't even married yet, and I wonder what they think about this explanation.  They appear to be amused and enthused about the explanation, by their laughs and smiles.  Hermann continues to explain to them that many of the white people that have come here do not plan for the long term, but these white people love God, and want to help the widows and orphans with projects that continue for many years, even after they have gone away.  This is the goal of all of the activities of the team here, sustainable projects and initiatives that the Dagara can “own” and manage long after the white people leave.

After dropping off Andy in town, Chris takes Vickie and me to the other side of town to show us the land that the Mayor of Dano has donated to the local church association.  We drive through the quarry, where men are making bricks out of mud, using machetes to shape and cut the bricks.  The red dirt mixed with water makes a substantial brick that after hardened by the sun is used widely as a building material.  

The association consists of the approximately 80 Christian churches that have been planted in this area in the last nine years since these original missionaries, including Andy and Melissa arrived.  There are now nearly 10,000 followers of Jesus in this area, where nine years ago, the Dagara were an unreached people group, nominally Muslim, with a few scattered Catholics, and all practicing animists.  

When I say church, it is in the context of the first century Christian church, no building, just a community of believers, meeting together regularly, led by one of their own, and learning to live in a way that puts others first, worships God, and tells the Good News of Jesus to non-believers.  The land that has been donated is atop a hill overlooking the town of Dano, and consists of about 10 hectares.  The team's plan with much input from the local association is a multi-step process.  First, is to dig a well for water, then build a wall around the property, a local government requirement.  Next is to bring in electricity, build a model Dagara house to teach the local women proper hygiene and clean water routines, and build a building for the Infants in Distress program (more on this in another post).  After all of this, help the local association decide what further plans are needed.  A concern that the team has is that the local church association will want to build a church building.  The team’s concern is that it would be a waste of $$ that could be better used, tempered with the understanding that the local church must make their own decisions, not to be told what to do by a bunch of white missionaries.  I suggested that the team start a time of teaching that would reinforce the idea that the "church" is not a building, but exactly what the Dagara have today; many local congregations or communities of believers that meet in their local area (always under the biggest shade tree), and continue to concentrate their efforts on the things that really matter in the Christian community.  Having read The Hole in Our Gospel (http://www.theholeinourgospel.com/) I have come to believe that most of our churches spend way too much money on ourselves and not enough on the needs of others.  

We drive back into town, through the quarry, as Chris gets to use his four wheel drive to navigate the narrow and steep "trail" over the steep cliffs of the quarry.  I am glad that this vehicle is built for off road use, because we are definitely utilizing its' attributes today.  Once we arrive back at Chez Sands, it's time for archery lessons for the boys.  Chris has compound bows and regular bows along with a variety of arrows and targets for practice.  So far, the chickens have been safe from the arrows of Benjamin, but it's probably just a matter of time.....................

Friday night at the Sand's house is always pizza and double feature movie night, so we enjoy home-made pizza, a kid's movie (Jungle Book) and the grown up movie (MIB III), after the kids are in bed.