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.