Burkina Faso in April
It was eight o'clock in the evening on Saturday when our Air France flight landed in Ouagadougou (pronounced 'wa-ga-du-gu') Burkina Faso in West Africa. The temperature soared in the 90's and perspiration began to trickle down my back as we waited and waited for luggage. All of it arrived for the six students who came to 'experience Bible translation' for two weeks. The bags for the Urban Ministries youth leaders, curriculum writer and the video crew finally arrived on Monday. I did not know that my carefully packed bag would not arrive until three days before our return trip to the USA. I was thankful for it to happen to me so that the youth could focus on experiencing language and culture and just being in one of the ten poorest countries in the world.
It was dry season and the hottest time of the year but we needed to capture the experiences of the youth on video. These six young people would star in a vacation Bible school video on missions. I am still amazed at how well six teenaged girls and boys kept their focus while learning what God is doing to bring the translated Word of God to Nuni people of Leo, Burkina Fasa. Their emotions seemed to range from fascination with the people and culture and language to compassion at the sight of starving babies to downright repugnance of the different standard of living and customs in the villages and towns.
My role was that of coordinator of the trip and liaison with the Bible Translation and Literacy Association (ANTBA). The ANTBA staff were great hosts who escorted us from one place to the other translating from French to English. Pastor Boureima, Jacque and Marie were helped us from the time we arrived until the day we left the country. When we were in Ouaga we resided in guest flats of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, a sister organization of Wycliffe. These two organizations welcomed us all but I was particularly blessed when my sister missionaries shared their clothing with me until my own luggage arrived.
I thank God for the team work and camaraderie between ANTBA and SIL Burkina Faso. My heart warmed to hear the testimonies of the six youth on our last night in Ouagadougou. After two weeks of immersion in West African culture, they commented that their worldview had changed forever. They would never take a simple thing like clean drinking water for granted again-not to mention air conditioning on a very hot day. As we left Burkina Faso they were still contemplating the deeper spiritual impact of their experiences.
Personally, I came away with deeper appreciation of what God is doing in today's Christian youth. As one or the other suffered or struggled all seemed to enter into the experience to comfort each other and to care for each other. At least this group seemed very serious about their faith in God and the power of prayer and unity. What a testimony their videoed experiences will be for other youth. Please pray that the Lord will prepare and greatly impact the 5500 churches who will receive their story in the Urban Ministries (UMI) 2005 Vacation Bible School package.
Read more about the trip to Burkina Faso from another perspective... Rev. James King Story.
Created on ... March 06, 2005..................................Last edited March 13, 2006