Ca va?

We were happy to discover that we would be having a roommate from California/Colorado (she moved to Colorado 5 days before coming to Africa) named Emily until November.  After arriving, we got a tour of the compound from Amy.  She informed us of the fact that the vast majority of the children are in their home villages right now visiting with relatives for the summer.  They will be returning at the end of this week as school starts in October.  Amy said that she wanted to be sure to save the babies[1] for the end of our tour, because we would not want to leave their cage.  

During the past week, we have spent most of our time working with (actually playing with) the babies.  This gives us time to get acclimated to their time, their culture, and their lifestyle before starting the work that we have been assigned.  

We were able to work on our first TOMS shoes distributionon Saturday, which was Bekah’s birthday.  Some people from the US embassy came down from the capital and assisted us.  It was really nice to be able to talk with them and actually understand what they were saying.  For the distribution, we went to a nearby village and distributed about 460 shoes to children that needed them.  We were shoe fitters this time, which means that by the end our thumbs and pointer fingers were sore.  It was really cool to see this side of the TOMS program, as we have both previously purchased their shoes in the states.  Lauren also said that she now wants to be able to buy more when she gets home.  

Here are some highlights of the baby cage: 

They really enjoy playing phone and photo.  This means that we have conversations on our pretend cellphones and take pretend pictures with our hand cameras.  They get great pleasure in telling us if the pictures are ‘jolie o no’.  

One of the older boys, Galilou, has stated a new game of put the younger child in the traditional Burkinabe baby wrap and walk around the baby cage.  One of the younger children will walk around behind the older child with a blanket wrapped around them.  We will try to get a picture of this to try to upload to the blog. 

The kids also enjoy practicing their greetings. They will walk around the cage, hold out their hands (we have to remind them sometimes to use their right hand), and say “Ca va?” They will not leave until we respond with our “Ca va” (meaning ‘how are you’ and ‘I’m fine’). 

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[1]Any child under the age of six.

Turkish Delight and Flat Tires

Overall, we had a pretty smooth trip getting here. After saying goodbye to our families, we went through security, and we didn’t have any problems. We made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare, so we were able to sit and talk for a little. 

The real fun started once we got on the plane. The takeoff went fine, and after we were in the sky, the flight attendants came by with some presents for everyone. First, we got Turkish Delight, and Bekah commented on how she now understood why Edmond liked it so much (Chronicles of Narnia reference). Then we received hot washcloths- we had no idea what to do with these. We tried to look around to see what others were doing with them, but everyone else looked just as confused. We decided to follow everyone’s example, so first, we put them on our necks, next we washed our face, and finally we washed our hands. 

Soon after, we got our food. When we had ordered our plane tickets, we were asked what type of meal we wanted. There was no option for the normal meal. We did not want to miss out on a meal though, so Lauren had ordered the vegetarian meal, and Bekah ordered the fruit platter. As the flight attendants brought everyone their food, we realized that we could have just left that option blank, so we had quite a laugh about our unique meals. 

After that, we were able to watch some movies and get some rest on the 9 ½ hour flight. Thank you for all of the prayers for Lauren’s head, as it only hurt as we descended on that flight. When we landed, we only had about 50 minutes until the boarding time for our next flight, so we were a little worried about that. Fortunately, we were able to get to that gate quickly- only needing to ask for directions twice. Once to our gate, Lauren was able to buy very expensive ‘exotic’ orange juice to take some more Sudafed. 

On our next flight from Turkey to Ouaga, we were able to watch some more movies (and Lauren slept some more). This flight was fairly uneventful. We got more of our special meals, some more Turkish Delight, and some exotic Turkish Hazelnuts. We were, however, hopeful that no one would have the seat between us, because we were using that seat for our very large backpacks that didn’t fit in the overhead compartments. We had a scare at one point, when a man seemed to be looking at that seat, but he eventually just moved farther back in the plane without a word. We were grateful for that. 

Once we landed, we went through customs, and got fingerprinted, without any problems. We got our luggage with the help of a porter, and then went out and found Mike and Amy Riddering, who are in charge of Sheltering Wings. Unfortunately, Bekah’s suitcase got a little destroyed on the plane ride, which will make it fun on the way home for her. Mike and Amy then took us to a Missionary Guest House, which was about ten minutes from the airport. Lauren and Bekah were able to get online as well as call home to talk to their families. We slept well that night, and due to Lauren’s alarm not going off, woke up late the next morning.

That day, we went to a couple of different places in Ouaga (the capital of Burkina Faso). We first stopped at a bakery called ‘Cappuccino’ and got pastries for breakfast, as well as mango juice- Yum! We stopped at a couple of places for Mike, as well as the grocery store and the bank. At the grocery store, Bekah got some hair products, and Lauren got cookies and cashews. At the bank, we had some small problems withdrawing money, but that has since then been taken care of. 

Then… the trip to Yako was very interesting. The first hour and a half went smoothly- Bekah talked to Mike and Amy as Lauren tried (and failed) to keep her eyes open. Then, with about a half hour left in the trip, the back right tire went flat. Luckily, we had Mike to put the spare on. Amy, Bekah and Lauren stood and watched/guarded as Mike did the dirty work. We were once again underway, when, low and behold, the spare went flat. Awesome. This time, we had to wait for someone to come from Yako, so Amy, Bekah and Lauren stood in the shade while Mike guarded the car. 

It took about 20 minutes for Immanuel to arrive with the truck to pick up the tires so that they could get repaired. The ladies would be going back with Immanuel to Yako, while Mike, once again, guarded the van. Bekah and Lauren got in the bed of the truck, excited to ride ‘African style’ back to Yako, but then the truck would not start. We had to get out, push the truck back away from the van, and then push it forward so that Immanuel could get it started. After the truck started, we once again got back in the bed of the truck. 

The ride to Yako was bumpy and windy and blurry for Bekah (she had to take her glasses off so that they wouldn’t fly away or get dirty). Once we arrived, we heard our very first ‘Nazara bonbon’, which all of the kids shout when they see white people. The story behind this, is that when missionaries first came, they gave candies (bonbons) to the children, teaching about Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, white people must always carry around pockets full of candy all the time. We have grown to love this saying over the past week.

Preparing to Leave

It’s hard to believe that we leave in only three days! Somehow (with lots of prayer and help from others), things have managed to come together, and we feel prepared for the upcoming trip. Financially, we are still about $500 short, but we don’t need that money quite yet, since we don’t need all of the money for living in Burkina upfront. We want to thank everyone who helped contribute over the past months- we really would be going nowhere without you!

We both have several prayer requests as September 15 draws nearer:

Lauren has been feeling sick the past couple of days (specifically her throat). She also may have an infected knee from a stellar dive* on the softball field- so hopefully this will heal before leaving the country. Also, please keep Lauren’s family and fiancé in your prayers as they prepare to send Lauren off.

Bekah asks for prayer especially for her nephew, Timmy- that he would understand why she is going to Africa and that he would be comforted. Also, please pray for all of Bekah’s family as they prepare to send her off for a year.

For both of us, pray that we are able to pack everything that we need and that nothing is forgotten. Also, we will only have a 65 minute layover in Istanbul, so prayers that we catch our connecting flight would be appreciated. Finally, please pray for us as we get acclimated to a new culture and that we will not offend others as we adjust to their culture.

Thank you so much for all of the prayer, and the next time we update you, we will be in on our way to AFRICA!

*OK, it was more of a fall, but it was pretty legit nonetheless  

Plenty to Be Thankful For

This weekend is one of my last in America before I leave for a year long missions trip to Burkina Faso.  In two weeks at this time, I will be in an airport in Ouagadougou... well I might be out of the airport by then depending how long it takes to get through customs.

As that time approaches, my nerves are starting to grow.  I am starting to wonder if I made the right decision and if I really need to follow God's prompting at this time in my life.  Am I really able to leave everything that I know-my family, my friends, my whole world-and move to Africa?  What was I thinking?  I have never even been to a third-world country!  Why am I moving to one?  Why don't I just get a normal job!?!?

But then I remember the story of Abraham...  He didn't know God's plan in his life.  He didn't know that God would use him and his descendants to save all people! He just got up and moved when and where God told him.  His faith and his trust in God earned him a place in the Hall of Faith.  Was he scared? Did he ever have doubts?  I don't know, but I think the answer is probably yes.  He was probably scared to leave his homeland.  He probably felt like he was turning his back on his father's grave.  He left his brothers and all his friends.  I cannot imagine his pain at what God was asking him to do.

I am lucky enough to live in a time in which I will be able to connect with and talk to my family and my friends even though I will be living on the other side of the earth.  I am able to share my joys and my struggles with them.  I am able to send them letters pouring out my frustrations with the world.  I am able to learn about the happenings at home.  I am able to look at my newspaper or get on CNN.com to learn about what is going on at home.

I want to thank God for giving my this opportunity and for helping me find the strength and faith in order to actually do it.  I want to thank whomever invented the internet (be it Al Gore or Sir Tim Berners-Lee... it was the latter for anyone wondering) for shrinking the world a little bit and for giving me the chance to talk to my family from across the world.  I want my parents to know that I will be forever grateful that they did not tell me that I could not go.  For all of the people that have supported me in prayer or financially:  I know that I would not be boarding a plane next Sunday without you.  Thanks.  Finally, I am thankful to all of the people that attended my Thanksgiving Dinner on Saturday.  Lauren and I knew that we would be missing this great and encouraging holiday during our time in Burkina.  We wanted to share this time with you.  Thanks for encouraging us and loving us enough to eat Lauren's dinner rolls... 

As you can see there is plenty for me to be thankful for...