Africa has long been known as a continent of contagious and deadly diseases. West Africa would not be listed as the top ten healthiest places to live in the world. For years smallpox and meningitis were yearly plagues across these countries. World Health and African governments have done much to vaccinate against these deadly diseases which can kill thousand of childen in any given year. On the other hand, cancer has not been so prevelant. In all the years Dad did medicine, he only had one severe case of cancer in a young boy. I think nurses see more of it now, however.
Malaria is still a killer among children and adults alike. Health personnel are now giving out sleeping nets to protect people from the malarial mosquito. Some people take regular anti-malarial drugs as well. The last time we went back to Africa, we took a doxycilline pill every day and still had a couple of attacks. Actually, I can remember being sick a lot with malaria as a young child in Africa, but I must have built up my immunity because in my adult years I seldom had a malarial attack even though I did not take prophylactic. But Dad and all of you children suffered malarial attack from time to time.
Dad was way up in Kawe doing evangelism one time. He had ridden his motorcycle up and had decided to swim across the creek on his way back to cool off, sending his moto over in a canoe. Soon after he reached him, he began to shake with chills and burn with fever. He ached in every joint - all symptoms of malaria. Dad was so seldom ill that the news spread like wildfire - it even got back up to Kawe. Poor Dad lying on his miserable sick bed was surrounded the whole time with the village chief, the village elders, pastors, a group of men from Kawe who bicycled down when they heard he was ill. Our bedroom looked like a men's palaver house in the village. People prayed for him and some just sat silently. You would never die alone in Africa! Everyone was so worried. Once the malaria had run its course, Dad was a little weak but up and about - all his visitors went home....and we had a little peace in our house again!
Many missionaries have had hepatitis - I wrote earlier of my weeks of severe hepatitis when I had to lie flat so as not to ruin my liver. That was not fun! Dysentery is another prevalent disease in West Africa, and we always kept medication on hand for that - especially when we lived in the bush. Because of the prevalence of snakes, snakebite is always a possibility. We never would go out of the house after dark without a flashlight to light our way. Pesky pinworms were another uncomfortable infection, and again we kept medication on hand for that as you kids had them from time to time. Markie, you were often sick as a baby and up to about the age of two or three, but it can't have hurt you - look at you now!
I was travelling in Central Africa to do TEE seminars in Gabon and Congo. When I got home at last, Dad met me at the plane on crutches! He had had a spill on his bike and landed on one leg and got a hematoma on the upper part of his leg. It was very sore and he could not walk without crutches until it healed. It was an interesting thing how he had those crutches. When we had been on furlough as MIR at Nyack, Dad turned fifty that year and we had a surprise party for him and asked people to bring gag gifts for an old person. Neal Clarke, a pastor friend, brough a pair of crutches! As we were packing up our crates to return to Burkina, Dad decided to throw those crutches in a crate, thinking he might use them some day for his medical work. And guess what? They came in handy for his own medical need! But over all, our family was a happy, healthy bunch!
Just one funny story, which you have heard before. Each time we landed in the U.S. on furlough, we had to follow the mission rule of the whole family going to Dr. Frame's office (the Alliance doctor) for a general physical exam. When we arrived at our furlough house, the little cups were waiting for us to fill (two each for each member of the family) and to take to New York City on our visit to Dr. Frame. John, you were our youngest and Markie was not yet born. So we had four children and the two of us - two cups full apiece! - and Dad made sure he put the lids on tight. (At least he thought he had!) To get to Dr. Frames office (which was located on the southern tip of Manhattan) we had to drive to the GW bridge, park our car, then take a subway down to the doctor's office. A long trip with four children! As we were riding in the subway, we began to smell this foul smell, and I asked Dad what on earth it was. He was standing in the swaying subway, hanging on to a strap, bag of cups in hand, and he motioned to me to not say anything. You girls began to smell the smell too... one of the caps had come off our little cups and the odor was overwhelming! We finally got off that subway and Dad adjusted the lids again, and we climbed up to Dr. Frames office! What an ordeal. Debbi, you took after me in your aversion to doctor's exams, and we had to insist you take your clothes off for the doctor - as you clung to your blouse and skirt! We were always glad when the doctor's visit was over for another five years! The only other visit we dreaded was getting a furlough picture for a prayer card. You, Elin, were the shy one, and would always duck your head or not smile! Those days were not fun when they happened, but they are funny now. And we have passed the doctor's visits on to the rest of you with your children.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
OUAGADOUGOU.......................................
Paul said to his spiritual son, Timothy: "Godliness with contentment is great gain." And that is a good thing to remember as a missionary. Yes, we are godly for we belong to God who has called us. But we need to also choose contentment in what God asks us to do. The godliness part comes from God and our surrender to Him; the contentment comes from within us and our choice to follow the path God has chosen for us.
I was so content in working among the Bobos and living in Santidougou and then Bobo. This became home to me, and I had to make a calculated decision to be content with a big move when we felt God wanted us to begin the work in Ouagadougou. But I am glad we made that choice, as it was an outstanding year of ministry for us.
Ouagadougou is such an interesting city - pulsating with life, growing every day; it is where the action happens, and we sure saw plenty of action during that year of our ministry in Ouaga! Tim was leaving for the U.S. for his father's wedding, leaving Ruthie, who was pregnant with Michael. So we took her with us to Ouaga. Dad drove the big truck and all of our baggage plus Markie and I drove the little Toyota with Ruthie beside me and the car packed tight. The Luthers were new language students and welcomed us when we got to Ouaga. We were to live in the Colmans' rented house, which was quite spacious and had a small enclosed front yard. We sure put that house to good use that year.
The Colmans had kindly left their video player and a small TV for us to use, and you, Markie, enjoyed having that to take up your time when you were home from ICA. You also enjoyed the American embassy rec center in the city, which had a nice pool, and you even played on the Center's volleyball team as well.
Our house was always full of students, many of them Christians from our Alliance churches, attending University in Ouaga. We had good neighbors as well, so we were well situated there and soon began to feel at home - content! It was a year of growth in the new little Alliance church. The meeting place for our church was our front yard where a hangar had been erected to ward off the very hot Ouaga sun. There was a little storeroom outside in our yard and that became a SS classoom on Sundays and a place for prayer meeting on Wednesday. Our meals were very erratic - we ate when we could find time to do so, often having students join us.
We did have a cook. (Yusufu had stayed in Bobo and worked for someone else during that year.) We also had a young man, originally from Bobo, working for us as house helper. He was very soft spoken and a good worker. I spent all my spare time in my office, typing away on a new PEDIM course I was writing. Fako moved silently as he worked in the house and sometimes he would come to my office while I was working to ask a question. Instead of calling me by name, he would turn the light switch on and off again so as not to disturb me with his voice! He was a good worker and a big help to me. And today he works at CREDO in Ouagadougou.
The cook was another story - he cooked well and could speak French (he was Mossi) and it was a help to have someone fix out meals. He made beautiful salads. But he had a habit of almost always coming to work late and occasionally missing a day of work without letting us know. We did not know what his problem was until Christmas time that year. I was having ten people for a big Christmas dinner and expected him to be there at seven. Eight o'clock and nine o'clock passed and he still was not there, so Dad went to his yard to find him. He was dead drunk and stumbled out of his room! He was in no shape to work and so I hurriedly adjusted my menu and got everything ready myself. Dad had to fire him when we realized he was an alcoholic and thus not dependable. He was so mad he took Dad to the hiring office and the judge made Dad give him some money for us to get rid of him. Other than this man, we always had excellent house help and were thankful for each one.
Ouagadougou is the center of action for much of what goes on in Burkina. In contrast, Bobo was like a sleepy little town. Starting a new church was also exciting for us. We enjoyed the business people and the university students who were part of our beginning group. At first our church people were mainly Christians who had moved there from our part of the country, but soon we had Mossi people join us as well. Many of them were new converts and it was a joy to help disciple them. To this day we still hear from some of them and have many good memories of our year there.
In Ouagadougou I had the interesting privilege of leading an old lady to Christ through interpretation. A friend asked me if I would be willing to go and pray with this old Mossi lady who lived near us and was ill. It was the dark of night and the old lady was lying out on her verandah; there was a flickering kerosene lamp lit near her. We sat and talked - through French to my friend, Georgette, and then she in Mossi to the old lady. I prayed for her illness but also asked her if she knew Jesus. She said she had never met him but would like to, and I explained salvation through interpretation and finally she prayed with me for salvation. I had a good ministry of prayer in our home during that year. Several times I had people come to the gate, asking if this was the place where you could be prayed for. Some came with sickness, or other needs. And it was a privilege to have this ministry during that year!
Planting the first Alliance church in Ouaga was a delight that year - we worked hard. It soon became evident that we would need a church building as the group was growing. We had been granted a plot of land for building and then the Muslims came along and took that choice property. Dad and the church elders tried to talk to the Muslims but to no avail. It became known to the land officials in the city that we had been tricked out of our original property and so they decided to give us a good plot of land - right off the big roundabout road that encircles the city! That was a miracle of God. And in the years afterwards a beautiful mother church (octagonal) was build on that large property. It is in view of everyone that travels that circular boulevard around the city! The mother church continues to grow even today and there are numerous other Alliance churches, plus a large Alliance high school complex in that city! This had always been an Assemblies city but we, the Baptists and many others have joined the evangelical community there and Ouagadougou today is full of good churches.
Living in Ouaga was an interesting experience. It is a vibrant city, the center of much that goes on in Burkina Faso. We enjoyed the American Rec Center for an occasional meal or swim. All three of us appeared on Burkina TV that year: Dad was caught as he was coming out of the big fair in Ouaga, stopped by a reporter who asked him what he thought of the goods for sale. Dad answered he thought things were a bit expensive! Mark was on TV when he played with the American volleyball team at the Rec Center, and I was in the way of the roving camera during a seminar I attended at the University!
Sankara's death happened while we were in Ouaga that year. That was a sad time and a time of unrest for the nation. There were shots in town, people running, traffic stopped and the TV went black. News travels fast in Burkina and we soon heard that the shooting meant a coup. Sankara was shot dead as he left his office, dressed for his daily "sports"! Our dear friend, Anne-Berthe, was his private secretary and someone secreted her out of his office and told her to stay hidden for weeks. All of Sankara's twelve loyal men were also shot. Sankara and his men were buried about a block behind our home, in a run down burial ground there. The burials were at night. They were buried in a row. The pro-Sankara people had special material made in various colors - called "tears for Sankara"- and everyone had skirts and robes and dresses made of that material. The masses loved Sankara. Dad went with some local young guys to visit the graves - which were a stone's throw from our house - the morning after the burial, and they found a bloody tennis shoe on the ground. Many youth mourned Sanakara's violent death and it took the country a while to recover from it.
When TV came back on, there was a Catholic priest speaking and a Russian hymn that was first played. Because of the music, and the way things had been done in the coup, there was speculation that Russia was involved - but that never became a reality. Campaoré sleepily stated to the nation that he had been asleep when his friend was killed. Everyone knew that was far from the truth! We all wondered what would happen. The American Embassy only told us to prepare a suitcase and head for the nearest border if things got worse. But we stayed. Our house was constantly full of young people talking about all that was happeding in our country and city. Things got back to normal finally.
Campaoré called for a march of "soutien" for the govenment on a certain day. They were to march out to the gravesite of Sankara and his twelve men. The people marched all right, but the crowds wore clothing made of the Sankara material and the march became a march against Campaoré. The throng marched right down our street! Those were interesting days to live in that city.
Sankara's wife was a cousin of a young woman in our church. She was engaged to a young Alliance man studying at the University, learning to be a medical doctor. They got married that year and we asked to use the big chapel at the Assemblies college as our yard was too small and not adequate. Dr. Adama asled Dad to officiate and asked me to prepare a reception in our yard. So Dad prepared to marry them and I made plans for a big reception on our front verandah and in the front yard. I used all my best silver and dishes and tablecloths for the long head table. It had to be special as Sankara's wife was going to be there! I made all kinds of fancy dishes and salads and pretty decorations to prepare the wedding party table on our long front verandah. Madame Sankara would also be seated there. The rest of the yard was filled with chairs and benches for the crowd that was expected! The women of the church had made big pots of food to feed the masses and I made and decorated a special wedding cake plus extra cakes for the mob.
Everything was in readiness at the house and yard and we left Fako to take care of things while we dressed up and went to the wedding ceremony across town. That was held in a large Assemblies church at their College and was a lovely ceremony. There were also hundreds of people there! And someone got up and invited everyone who could go to attend the reception at our house! I couldn't believe it and was a nervous wreck wondering if we would have enough food. I left the ceremony before the crowd and drove across town to our home to get ready for the mob. It all worked out OK - everyone did not attend - and those who did seemed to have a great time, including Mariame Sankara!
In 2006 when we visited Ouagadougou once again, Debbi and Steve had a lovely reception for us and invited all those old friends who had been involved in that original church planting. What a delight to talk with them all and reminisce about the beginnings of the church in Ouaga and to hear the news of the many churches which had been planted since that time. I had taught a TEE class at that first small church building every Sunday afternoon when we were in Ouaga that year, and what joy to see my former students in places of leadership in the church.
God gave me great contentment - and even great joy - as we spent that year of church planting in Ouagadougou. Recently Pastor Thomas from Ouaga spent a week with us and we reminisced a lot about those early days of the Alliance church in Ouaga. Together we thanked God for His faithfulness in establishing the Alliance church there. And, Steve and Debbi, you have continued that great work started so many years ago now! Praise God!
I was so content in working among the Bobos and living in Santidougou and then Bobo. This became home to me, and I had to make a calculated decision to be content with a big move when we felt God wanted us to begin the work in Ouagadougou. But I am glad we made that choice, as it was an outstanding year of ministry for us.
Ouagadougou is such an interesting city - pulsating with life, growing every day; it is where the action happens, and we sure saw plenty of action during that year of our ministry in Ouaga! Tim was leaving for the U.S. for his father's wedding, leaving Ruthie, who was pregnant with Michael. So we took her with us to Ouaga. Dad drove the big truck and all of our baggage plus Markie and I drove the little Toyota with Ruthie beside me and the car packed tight. The Luthers were new language students and welcomed us when we got to Ouaga. We were to live in the Colmans' rented house, which was quite spacious and had a small enclosed front yard. We sure put that house to good use that year.
The Colmans had kindly left their video player and a small TV for us to use, and you, Markie, enjoyed having that to take up your time when you were home from ICA. You also enjoyed the American embassy rec center in the city, which had a nice pool, and you even played on the Center's volleyball team as well.
Our house was always full of students, many of them Christians from our Alliance churches, attending University in Ouaga. We had good neighbors as well, so we were well situated there and soon began to feel at home - content! It was a year of growth in the new little Alliance church. The meeting place for our church was our front yard where a hangar had been erected to ward off the very hot Ouaga sun. There was a little storeroom outside in our yard and that became a SS classoom on Sundays and a place for prayer meeting on Wednesday. Our meals were very erratic - we ate when we could find time to do so, often having students join us.
We did have a cook. (Yusufu had stayed in Bobo and worked for someone else during that year.) We also had a young man, originally from Bobo, working for us as house helper. He was very soft spoken and a good worker. I spent all my spare time in my office, typing away on a new PEDIM course I was writing. Fako moved silently as he worked in the house and sometimes he would come to my office while I was working to ask a question. Instead of calling me by name, he would turn the light switch on and off again so as not to disturb me with his voice! He was a good worker and a big help to me. And today he works at CREDO in Ouagadougou.
The cook was another story - he cooked well and could speak French (he was Mossi) and it was a help to have someone fix out meals. He made beautiful salads. But he had a habit of almost always coming to work late and occasionally missing a day of work without letting us know. We did not know what his problem was until Christmas time that year. I was having ten people for a big Christmas dinner and expected him to be there at seven. Eight o'clock and nine o'clock passed and he still was not there, so Dad went to his yard to find him. He was dead drunk and stumbled out of his room! He was in no shape to work and so I hurriedly adjusted my menu and got everything ready myself. Dad had to fire him when we realized he was an alcoholic and thus not dependable. He was so mad he took Dad to the hiring office and the judge made Dad give him some money for us to get rid of him. Other than this man, we always had excellent house help and were thankful for each one.
Ouagadougou is the center of action for much of what goes on in Burkina. In contrast, Bobo was like a sleepy little town. Starting a new church was also exciting for us. We enjoyed the business people and the university students who were part of our beginning group. At first our church people were mainly Christians who had moved there from our part of the country, but soon we had Mossi people join us as well. Many of them were new converts and it was a joy to help disciple them. To this day we still hear from some of them and have many good memories of our year there.
In Ouagadougou I had the interesting privilege of leading an old lady to Christ through interpretation. A friend asked me if I would be willing to go and pray with this old Mossi lady who lived near us and was ill. It was the dark of night and the old lady was lying out on her verandah; there was a flickering kerosene lamp lit near her. We sat and talked - through French to my friend, Georgette, and then she in Mossi to the old lady. I prayed for her illness but also asked her if she knew Jesus. She said she had never met him but would like to, and I explained salvation through interpretation and finally she prayed with me for salvation. I had a good ministry of prayer in our home during that year. Several times I had people come to the gate, asking if this was the place where you could be prayed for. Some came with sickness, or other needs. And it was a privilege to have this ministry during that year!
Planting the first Alliance church in Ouaga was a delight that year - we worked hard. It soon became evident that we would need a church building as the group was growing. We had been granted a plot of land for building and then the Muslims came along and took that choice property. Dad and the church elders tried to talk to the Muslims but to no avail. It became known to the land officials in the city that we had been tricked out of our original property and so they decided to give us a good plot of land - right off the big roundabout road that encircles the city! That was a miracle of God. And in the years afterwards a beautiful mother church (octagonal) was build on that large property. It is in view of everyone that travels that circular boulevard around the city! The mother church continues to grow even today and there are numerous other Alliance churches, plus a large Alliance high school complex in that city! This had always been an Assemblies city but we, the Baptists and many others have joined the evangelical community there and Ouagadougou today is full of good churches.
Living in Ouaga was an interesting experience. It is a vibrant city, the center of much that goes on in Burkina Faso. We enjoyed the American Rec Center for an occasional meal or swim. All three of us appeared on Burkina TV that year: Dad was caught as he was coming out of the big fair in Ouaga, stopped by a reporter who asked him what he thought of the goods for sale. Dad answered he thought things were a bit expensive! Mark was on TV when he played with the American volleyball team at the Rec Center, and I was in the way of the roving camera during a seminar I attended at the University!
Sankara's death happened while we were in Ouaga that year. That was a sad time and a time of unrest for the nation. There were shots in town, people running, traffic stopped and the TV went black. News travels fast in Burkina and we soon heard that the shooting meant a coup. Sankara was shot dead as he left his office, dressed for his daily "sports"! Our dear friend, Anne-Berthe, was his private secretary and someone secreted her out of his office and told her to stay hidden for weeks. All of Sankara's twelve loyal men were also shot. Sankara and his men were buried about a block behind our home, in a run down burial ground there. The burials were at night. They were buried in a row. The pro-Sankara people had special material made in various colors - called "tears for Sankara"- and everyone had skirts and robes and dresses made of that material. The masses loved Sankara. Dad went with some local young guys to visit the graves - which were a stone's throw from our house - the morning after the burial, and they found a bloody tennis shoe on the ground. Many youth mourned Sanakara's violent death and it took the country a while to recover from it.
When TV came back on, there was a Catholic priest speaking and a Russian hymn that was first played. Because of the music, and the way things had been done in the coup, there was speculation that Russia was involved - but that never became a reality. Campaoré sleepily stated to the nation that he had been asleep when his friend was killed. Everyone knew that was far from the truth! We all wondered what would happen. The American Embassy only told us to prepare a suitcase and head for the nearest border if things got worse. But we stayed. Our house was constantly full of young people talking about all that was happeding in our country and city. Things got back to normal finally.
Campaoré called for a march of "soutien" for the govenment on a certain day. They were to march out to the gravesite of Sankara and his twelve men. The people marched all right, but the crowds wore clothing made of the Sankara material and the march became a march against Campaoré. The throng marched right down our street! Those were interesting days to live in that city.
Sankara's wife was a cousin of a young woman in our church. She was engaged to a young Alliance man studying at the University, learning to be a medical doctor. They got married that year and we asked to use the big chapel at the Assemblies college as our yard was too small and not adequate. Dr. Adama asled Dad to officiate and asked me to prepare a reception in our yard. So Dad prepared to marry them and I made plans for a big reception on our front verandah and in the front yard. I used all my best silver and dishes and tablecloths for the long head table. It had to be special as Sankara's wife was going to be there! I made all kinds of fancy dishes and salads and pretty decorations to prepare the wedding party table on our long front verandah. Madame Sankara would also be seated there. The rest of the yard was filled with chairs and benches for the crowd that was expected! The women of the church had made big pots of food to feed the masses and I made and decorated a special wedding cake plus extra cakes for the mob.
Everything was in readiness at the house and yard and we left Fako to take care of things while we dressed up and went to the wedding ceremony across town. That was held in a large Assemblies church at their College and was a lovely ceremony. There were also hundreds of people there! And someone got up and invited everyone who could go to attend the reception at our house! I couldn't believe it and was a nervous wreck wondering if we would have enough food. I left the ceremony before the crowd and drove across town to our home to get ready for the mob. It all worked out OK - everyone did not attend - and those who did seemed to have a great time, including Mariame Sankara!
In 2006 when we visited Ouagadougou once again, Debbi and Steve had a lovely reception for us and invited all those old friends who had been involved in that original church planting. What a delight to talk with them all and reminisce about the beginnings of the church in Ouaga and to hear the news of the many churches which had been planted since that time. I had taught a TEE class at that first small church building every Sunday afternoon when we were in Ouaga that year, and what joy to see my former students in places of leadership in the church.
God gave me great contentment - and even great joy - as we spent that year of church planting in Ouagadougou. Recently Pastor Thomas from Ouaga spent a week with us and we reminisced a lot about those early days of the Alliance church in Ouaga. Together we thanked God for His faithfulness in establishing the Alliance church there. And, Steve and Debbi, you have continued that great work started so many years ago now! Praise God!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Expanding ministry...............................
Much of the ministry in which Dad and I were involved required travel. How thankful we are for God's protection as we travelled many miles by road and by plane to fulfil the ministries in which we were involved. Our lives were certainly never boring. As I read about the ministries you girls are having oveseas and the travel involved for many of you, I live again vicariously those days when I was on the road - or in the air - a lot in order to teach and encourage the church in Africa.
CPE was the francophone Africa publishing house and both Uncle Dave and I were on that board for some time. Being on an inter-church board like that gave me the gift of meeting African brothers and sisters from many nations. We had annual meetings at which top level decisions were made. CPE published some French TEE texts, which were used by several of our Alliance fields, so I had to be familiar with those. The Conservatice Baptist mission was the one who organized several of these inter-country ministries.
CEFCA was the brainchild of Marge Shelley, a Conservative Baptist missionary who had come to West Africa from Congo during the crisis down there. She was such a wonderful lady to work with. Her vision was to have a kind of graduate program for francophone Africans where they could do continuing studies and keep them fresh in ministry in their countries. She asked me if I would be professor for the school in the areas of Christian Education and TEE. What an honor and how it expanded my view of the church in Africa. We all lived together in the same large building bought by CEFCA, sleeping there, eating together and studying together. It was a very family atmosphere.
During our last couple of terms in Burkina, the new Alliance graduate program, FATEAC was established by Tite Tiénou, being supported by the various Alliance churches and missions. Another Alliance missionary and I were asked to be members of the board which met about every quarter at first, so I was in on the joy and planning - and sometimes pain - of those early days of our West Africa Seminary. One day there was a lot of disciussion by the committee about some issue, and the other missionary on the committee was opposed to the idea, but I voted with the African contingent. After the meeting he said to me, "" Why do you always side with the Africans when we vote on an issue?" And my answer was: "I thought that was why we are here - to help the African church realize their vision, not ours." We remained friends but did not have the same view of mission and church.
Tite was the director, and I loved working with him. I even had to fly back to Abidjan for a board meeting while I was on tour in the States on home assignment. I just missed a week of tour and flew to Abidjan for one week before returning to the States to finish up tour. Dad and I were back in Africa - at San Pedro for a year - when our new Seminary buildings were finished and ready to be dedicated. What a delight. I was even asked to pray during the ceremony - what an honor. Our Africa regional director at that time gave the message, and I complimented him afterwards on his good presentation. His answer: "Compliment your daughter, Debbi, she is the one who polished up my French for me!" What a beacon for Christian professional training the FATEAC has been. The last I heard, they had students from sixteen nations and several denominations studying there.
Back home in Burkina, I had the privilege - and fun - of being a representative of our mission (along with a church rep) to the bi-annual Burkina Literacy association. We met in the university meeting hall, several hundreds of us from all over the country of Burkina. This was happening during the Sankara years when everyone was called "Camarade". We got to know each other during breaks and it was a very helpful meeting to attend for contacts and information. Dad and I usually attended together. They were wanting to set up a steering committee for the organization and people were sharing names from the audience, which were then seconded. One of the University profs had been talking to me and he proposed my name for the comittee. He did not know exactly how to present my name, and finally came up with Madame Carmarade Pasteur Nancy Pierce! That is the most flowery introduction I ever had anywhere! Needless to say, I declined the nomination - it would have been interesting but I did not have time for it.
The Same university prof tried to get me to do some teaching in linguiistics for them at the University. I declined on the basis of not having a maitrise, even though I have some masters credits to my count. He said they would work it out with what I had if I would come and teach. I appreciated the honor but there was no way I could do that. Just before we retired - when I was deep in finishing our translation project - I got a call asking if I would join a group of educational professionals in Ouaga for a week of meetings to decide about putting a translation major in the univesity. This was being sponsored by the Dutch goverenment. Dad encouraged me to accept. We stayed with Clousers so had fun family time and I spent each day contributing what I could to the colloque. I was one of three "translators"- the other two were Burkinabe. As you can see, I had lots of variety in my life.
That same year, as I was working against time to finish our translation, we had another call - this time from local educators. The University of Paris was funding and sending people to an all day seminar on various historical subjects. They asked Dad if I would be willing to present a paper on how the Protestant church began in Burkina. A paper in French - presented to a group of highly educated people - Burkinabe and French! What a challenge and my first reaction was to say "No". But Dad thought I should do it, so I took time to prepare the paper and was accompanied by Dad and Bamiky and Prosper and Robert Sanou in a public building in Bobo where the conference was being held. I read my paper and it was really an interesting experience for me. I sat on the platform, along with all Burkiabe, most of whom I had known through the years. They were most encouraging in their support of me when I had to answer some hard questions after the paper was read. When asked a question about the conflict of animism and Christianity, I referred the question to Pastor Bamiky who answered for me. Another interesting experience in a long life of variety of ministry in Burkina Faso and other countries in Africa. I was indeed blessed!
CPE was the francophone Africa publishing house and both Uncle Dave and I were on that board for some time. Being on an inter-church board like that gave me the gift of meeting African brothers and sisters from many nations. We had annual meetings at which top level decisions were made. CPE published some French TEE texts, which were used by several of our Alliance fields, so I had to be familiar with those. The Conservatice Baptist mission was the one who organized several of these inter-country ministries.
CEFCA was the brainchild of Marge Shelley, a Conservative Baptist missionary who had come to West Africa from Congo during the crisis down there. She was such a wonderful lady to work with. Her vision was to have a kind of graduate program for francophone Africans where they could do continuing studies and keep them fresh in ministry in their countries. She asked me if I would be professor for the school in the areas of Christian Education and TEE. What an honor and how it expanded my view of the church in Africa. We all lived together in the same large building bought by CEFCA, sleeping there, eating together and studying together. It was a very family atmosphere.
During our last couple of terms in Burkina, the new Alliance graduate program, FATEAC was established by Tite Tiénou, being supported by the various Alliance churches and missions. Another Alliance missionary and I were asked to be members of the board which met about every quarter at first, so I was in on the joy and planning - and sometimes pain - of those early days of our West Africa Seminary. One day there was a lot of disciussion by the committee about some issue, and the other missionary on the committee was opposed to the idea, but I voted with the African contingent. After the meeting he said to me, "" Why do you always side with the Africans when we vote on an issue?" And my answer was: "I thought that was why we are here - to help the African church realize their vision, not ours." We remained friends but did not have the same view of mission and church.
Tite was the director, and I loved working with him. I even had to fly back to Abidjan for a board meeting while I was on tour in the States on home assignment. I just missed a week of tour and flew to Abidjan for one week before returning to the States to finish up tour. Dad and I were back in Africa - at San Pedro for a year - when our new Seminary buildings were finished and ready to be dedicated. What a delight. I was even asked to pray during the ceremony - what an honor. Our Africa regional director at that time gave the message, and I complimented him afterwards on his good presentation. His answer: "Compliment your daughter, Debbi, she is the one who polished up my French for me!" What a beacon for Christian professional training the FATEAC has been. The last I heard, they had students from sixteen nations and several denominations studying there.
Back home in Burkina, I had the privilege - and fun - of being a representative of our mission (along with a church rep) to the bi-annual Burkina Literacy association. We met in the university meeting hall, several hundreds of us from all over the country of Burkina. This was happening during the Sankara years when everyone was called "Camarade". We got to know each other during breaks and it was a very helpful meeting to attend for contacts and information. Dad and I usually attended together. They were wanting to set up a steering committee for the organization and people were sharing names from the audience, which were then seconded. One of the University profs had been talking to me and he proposed my name for the comittee. He did not know exactly how to present my name, and finally came up with Madame Carmarade Pasteur Nancy Pierce! That is the most flowery introduction I ever had anywhere! Needless to say, I declined the nomination - it would have been interesting but I did not have time for it.
The Same university prof tried to get me to do some teaching in linguiistics for them at the University. I declined on the basis of not having a maitrise, even though I have some masters credits to my count. He said they would work it out with what I had if I would come and teach. I appreciated the honor but there was no way I could do that. Just before we retired - when I was deep in finishing our translation project - I got a call asking if I would join a group of educational professionals in Ouaga for a week of meetings to decide about putting a translation major in the univesity. This was being sponsored by the Dutch goverenment. Dad encouraged me to accept. We stayed with Clousers so had fun family time and I spent each day contributing what I could to the colloque. I was one of three "translators"- the other two were Burkinabe. As you can see, I had lots of variety in my life.
That same year, as I was working against time to finish our translation, we had another call - this time from local educators. The University of Paris was funding and sending people to an all day seminar on various historical subjects. They asked Dad if I would be willing to present a paper on how the Protestant church began in Burkina. A paper in French - presented to a group of highly educated people - Burkinabe and French! What a challenge and my first reaction was to say "No". But Dad thought I should do it, so I took time to prepare the paper and was accompanied by Dad and Bamiky and Prosper and Robert Sanou in a public building in Bobo where the conference was being held. I read my paper and it was really an interesting experience for me. I sat on the platform, along with all Burkiabe, most of whom I had known through the years. They were most encouraging in their support of me when I had to answer some hard questions after the paper was read. When asked a question about the conflict of animism and Christianity, I referred the question to Pastor Bamiky who answered for me. Another interesting experience in a long life of variety of ministry in Burkina Faso and other countries in Africa. I was indeed blessed!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
EXPANDING MINISTRY..............................
Dad and I did many things together in ministry in Burkina. We worked at planting churches together, we taught in short term schools together, when he was director, I helped by entertaining hordes of people, our paths often converged in our ministries.
At the same time, there were many ministries that we were involved in separately. Dad was a church planter and started many new churches among the Bobo people. He started the radio ministry in Bobo. He was also a builder: several of the Maranatha Institute buildings, the downtown Bobo church, the Ouezzinville Sud church and many church buildings (big and small) throughout our district were constructed by him and his building crew. Early in his building career, he hired on Yakuba, a terific Muslim mason. Other missionaries also used this man. He was a staunch Muslim, had his allowed quota of wives, heard the Gospel many times, both from individuals and in church service. But to our knowledge he never turned to Christ. I wonder if he is still living.
My gifts and aptitudes were more in the realm of teaching of all kinds, writing textbooks in a couple different languages, translation and language work, entertaining and witnessing through friendships with local people. My teaching took me to many countries of West Africa. I often served on committees and boards of international organizations - all of this was a terrific education. I learned much through my contacts with Africans of various nationalities and through contacts with missionaries of many missions. I had many opportunities of being an encourager to African leaders in various countries where I taught and/or served on committees.
One of Dad's challenges for about seven years was to be the Alliance representative, appointed by Colorado Springs, to the country of Nigeria. What an interesting and challenging assignment! He was to visit the Nigerian Alliance church leaders at least twice a year. He also accompanied Alliance leadership there to see the work.
Nigeria is not a country - it is an experience! And what an experience. Dad took me with him on two trips and I saw and learned a lot. The first time we went, Dad took me to the beautiful Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, and we were housed there. The place was clean, the food abundant and American, it was like being in a high class hotel in the U.S. But we did not stay in Lagos, that was just a stopping off place. The Alliance churches are on the other side of the country, so we had to board another plane to get to Alliance territory. Boarding a plane in inland Nigeria is a life changing experience in itself! The terminal looks modern, there are even boarding cards, that look just like those in American airports. The men were dressed in beautiful business suits and the women all wore flowing Nigerian robes and beautiful high heeled shoes. As boarding time drew near (the terminal was full by then), Dad said "Now get ready to run when they call our plane so that we can get a seat." I indicated to him that we already had seats assigned - right there they were on our boarding passes. "Oh no," said Dad, "that has nothing to do with a seat on the plane - you run to the plane (quite a distance out on the field) and grab the first empty seat inside." If there were no seats left, I guess you just waited for the next flight! And so we ran - and got seats and were off for the interior.
The return flight to Abidjan was even funnier. We got on the plane and got seats but the aisles were full of unseated women passengers. Most of them had all kinds of cloth and other items for sale under their clothes to take to Abidjan to sell, so their clothes were voluminous. The airline personnel got most of them seated, but it was a circus watching the purser physically pushing one lady (on her well padded seat with both his hands!) out of the plane and down the stairs as there was no seat for her. There is only one Nigeria in the world and it is a good thing! We enjoyed most of our time there.
We always kept our papers with us (passports, etc.) and one days we were physically stopped on the street by some tough looking police who took us into an office to search us and take our papers. They had some reason, they thought, to stop us, but did not tell us what it was. There was a very important government chief associated with our Alliance church in Nigeria and we invoked his name, Chief Okeke. When we told them he was our friend, their demeanor changed and they let us go. But it was not a fun few minutes to be detained in a strange country!
One evening the church leaders had prepared a beautiful meal in one member's home. As we sat at the table, they wanted to ask us questions about Burkina - as if it were on another planet! They asked if we could sing a song and wanted us to quote John 3:16 in our languages. They got a kick our of our answers, and it almost felt like being on tour in the States, with the questions they asked! We enjoyed the people of Nigeria, but were also glad to go back home to our own people in Burkina!
We were both in Nigeria to meet the Schaeffer family when they arrived, with the children and her folks all in tow! Plus a huge cartload of baggage. We went to the airport, Dad had to pay his way through ( as Nigerian custom demanded) and we got them all through and into a big van loaned to us by some Baptist missionaries in Lagos. Dad had been looking for a place for all of us to stay the night they arrived, and he chose a rundown hotel where he and Ben deJesus from Phillipines had stayed one night. So we signed in there for a night of trial before the Schaeffer crowd arrived. I have never had an experience like that in my life. The bed was narrow and lumpy and had brown wrinkled sheets on it - you wondered how many other people had used those sheets before you! The water was just a tiny trickle in the rusted out bathtub. The prostitutes ran the halls all night, knocking on doors and calling out their wares. Outside the open windows it was chaos on the streets! Wow - what a night. My verdict in the morning was that the Schaeffers would turn right around and go back to the USA if we took them to that hotel.
So we looked for another place and came across an old SIM mission station, now occupied by the church. They gave us a large mission house which we could rent, where there were some chairs and tables and also beds, as well as the basics of dishes, cookware and silverware. There was a Baptist couple also living on the compound who offered us their van to pick up our family from the airport and take us later on to the smaller airport for the up country flight! It seemed like a gift from Heaven and we were grateful. Ah yes, Nigeria! Dad made many trips there - sleeping in a saggy double bed with Bob Fetherlin one time, with Ben DeJesus another, and with me in a barely three quarters size bed another time - another place where the prostitutes shrieked in the halls at night. Dad's head was at the top and mine at the bottom and we sort of fit ourselves together like that to get a night's sleep!
Life was never boring for us and if variety is the spice of life, our lives were pretty spicy. Dad also flew to Nairobi for inter-mission meetings. And another time I was flown to Nairobi for an educational conference which Bamiky and I attended together. No wonder we had some boring days when we returned to settle in Toccoa, Georgia, which in the meantime, has become home to us. And wherever we have lived, we have always found work to do for God.
At the same time, there were many ministries that we were involved in separately. Dad was a church planter and started many new churches among the Bobo people. He started the radio ministry in Bobo. He was also a builder: several of the Maranatha Institute buildings, the downtown Bobo church, the Ouezzinville Sud church and many church buildings (big and small) throughout our district were constructed by him and his building crew. Early in his building career, he hired on Yakuba, a terific Muslim mason. Other missionaries also used this man. He was a staunch Muslim, had his allowed quota of wives, heard the Gospel many times, both from individuals and in church service. But to our knowledge he never turned to Christ. I wonder if he is still living.
My gifts and aptitudes were more in the realm of teaching of all kinds, writing textbooks in a couple different languages, translation and language work, entertaining and witnessing through friendships with local people. My teaching took me to many countries of West Africa. I often served on committees and boards of international organizations - all of this was a terrific education. I learned much through my contacts with Africans of various nationalities and through contacts with missionaries of many missions. I had many opportunities of being an encourager to African leaders in various countries where I taught and/or served on committees.
One of Dad's challenges for about seven years was to be the Alliance representative, appointed by Colorado Springs, to the country of Nigeria. What an interesting and challenging assignment! He was to visit the Nigerian Alliance church leaders at least twice a year. He also accompanied Alliance leadership there to see the work.
Nigeria is not a country - it is an experience! And what an experience. Dad took me with him on two trips and I saw and learned a lot. The first time we went, Dad took me to the beautiful Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, and we were housed there. The place was clean, the food abundant and American, it was like being in a high class hotel in the U.S. But we did not stay in Lagos, that was just a stopping off place. The Alliance churches are on the other side of the country, so we had to board another plane to get to Alliance territory. Boarding a plane in inland Nigeria is a life changing experience in itself! The terminal looks modern, there are even boarding cards, that look just like those in American airports. The men were dressed in beautiful business suits and the women all wore flowing Nigerian robes and beautiful high heeled shoes. As boarding time drew near (the terminal was full by then), Dad said "Now get ready to run when they call our plane so that we can get a seat." I indicated to him that we already had seats assigned - right there they were on our boarding passes. "Oh no," said Dad, "that has nothing to do with a seat on the plane - you run to the plane (quite a distance out on the field) and grab the first empty seat inside." If there were no seats left, I guess you just waited for the next flight! And so we ran - and got seats and were off for the interior.
The return flight to Abidjan was even funnier. We got on the plane and got seats but the aisles were full of unseated women passengers. Most of them had all kinds of cloth and other items for sale under their clothes to take to Abidjan to sell, so their clothes were voluminous. The airline personnel got most of them seated, but it was a circus watching the purser physically pushing one lady (on her well padded seat with both his hands!) out of the plane and down the stairs as there was no seat for her. There is only one Nigeria in the world and it is a good thing! We enjoyed most of our time there.
We always kept our papers with us (passports, etc.) and one days we were physically stopped on the street by some tough looking police who took us into an office to search us and take our papers. They had some reason, they thought, to stop us, but did not tell us what it was. There was a very important government chief associated with our Alliance church in Nigeria and we invoked his name, Chief Okeke. When we told them he was our friend, their demeanor changed and they let us go. But it was not a fun few minutes to be detained in a strange country!
One evening the church leaders had prepared a beautiful meal in one member's home. As we sat at the table, they wanted to ask us questions about Burkina - as if it were on another planet! They asked if we could sing a song and wanted us to quote John 3:16 in our languages. They got a kick our of our answers, and it almost felt like being on tour in the States, with the questions they asked! We enjoyed the people of Nigeria, but were also glad to go back home to our own people in Burkina!
We were both in Nigeria to meet the Schaeffer family when they arrived, with the children and her folks all in tow! Plus a huge cartload of baggage. We went to the airport, Dad had to pay his way through ( as Nigerian custom demanded) and we got them all through and into a big van loaned to us by some Baptist missionaries in Lagos. Dad had been looking for a place for all of us to stay the night they arrived, and he chose a rundown hotel where he and Ben deJesus from Phillipines had stayed one night. So we signed in there for a night of trial before the Schaeffer crowd arrived. I have never had an experience like that in my life. The bed was narrow and lumpy and had brown wrinkled sheets on it - you wondered how many other people had used those sheets before you! The water was just a tiny trickle in the rusted out bathtub. The prostitutes ran the halls all night, knocking on doors and calling out their wares. Outside the open windows it was chaos on the streets! Wow - what a night. My verdict in the morning was that the Schaeffers would turn right around and go back to the USA if we took them to that hotel.
So we looked for another place and came across an old SIM mission station, now occupied by the church. They gave us a large mission house which we could rent, where there were some chairs and tables and also beds, as well as the basics of dishes, cookware and silverware. There was a Baptist couple also living on the compound who offered us their van to pick up our family from the airport and take us later on to the smaller airport for the up country flight! It seemed like a gift from Heaven and we were grateful. Ah yes, Nigeria! Dad made many trips there - sleeping in a saggy double bed with Bob Fetherlin one time, with Ben DeJesus another, and with me in a barely three quarters size bed another time - another place where the prostitutes shrieked in the halls at night. Dad's head was at the top and mine at the bottom and we sort of fit ourselves together like that to get a night's sleep!
Life was never boring for us and if variety is the spice of life, our lives were pretty spicy. Dad also flew to Nairobi for inter-mission meetings. And another time I was flown to Nairobi for an educational conference which Bamiky and I attended together. No wonder we had some boring days when we returned to settle in Toccoa, Georgia, which in the meantime, has become home to us. And wherever we have lived, we have always found work to do for God.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Increasing ministries................................
We were involved in so many church and mission ministries in Burkina, all of which we loved doing. And often God increased our fields of ministry, in Burkina and also in other West African countries. The West African grapevine works very well among churches and missions, and soon I found myself invited to teach principles of TEE for the Baptists, the Mennonites, the SIM - in Burkina and also in Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast and Bénin. This sometimes meant travel by road and by plane.
In more recent years, the government has gotten involved in teaching literacy in the local languages, something we missionaries had been doing for years. The National Agricultural association prepared literacy materials and published books on farming for local populations. This was something we needed among our churches, and I organized a several days seminar in Bobo, where the government literacy man taught us in the new Jula orthography. We invited our Poundou professors (educated at Ntorosso years ago) to attend and be trained in the current spelling system. A number of our missionaries also took that training.
For many years there was no new missionary orientation to speak of in our West African fields, and so while Dad was field director I started a program of organizing monthly seminars in Bobo-Dioulasso, where our new missionaries could gather together for cultural learning, adaptation to the West African way of thinking, learning about their own actions and reactions in a new culture. We had gathered a series of very good missions books that we asked them to take home and read. And of course it was also a time for good fellowship, questions and the exchange of ideas. When Dad and I were sent to Mali for a year in 2004-2005, we had thirteen brand new missionaries who arrived on that field that year. Again we used the training program we had developed for Mali, and these times together were very profitable for all.
Teams from the States and Canada have become in vogue at this period of missions history. We helped out in some of these teams when the idea was just starting to catch on. After our year as MIR at Nyack College, the missions department arranged a tour of about twenty students to come for a three week stay with us in Santidougou. Wow, that was a challenge. They all slept and ate with us at Santidougou. Elin, you worked hard to make that team a success, helping Yusufu with the food and generally making those weeks a great experience for those students!
Dave Rambo thought that trip was such a success that he arranged to have another team come the next year. Wow! What a difference. Ralph Ellenberger came with them and there were only a handful of students who came. Dad was fulltime in mission committee meetings and other office responsabilities, so John was there to help me host that gang. This group was much less enthusiastic, they missed their spouses, they counted the days until they could leave from the time they arrived. Dad was in excom meetings and so you and I, John, took the group on a trip up country to Clousers' town of Safane. You remember their house - strictly bush, mat ceilings, no electricity, bugs and snakes around. We got their in the afternoon and I had taken along an alfresco meal to serve that evening. I spread out the food - sandwich makings (I had even bought expensive sliced ham!) and we had lettuce and there were hard boiled eggs and chips Yusufu had made. It looked pretty good to all of us and some of our guests also ate the food. One girl would not touch anything - she "didn't care for deli meats" so I offered her some boiled eggs and chips, but she "wasn't into boiled eggs"! John, you were getting madder by the moment and finally exploded, "My mother fixed this good food for all of you and I want to see every one of you eat what she prepared!" And that was the end of complaining! When we left the next morning to go on to Ouarkoye, one of the girls rolled her eyes as she shook hands with Clousers, and said, "God bless!" I guess she figured they needed God's blessing in that forsaken spot!
So we drove on to Ouarkoye and stopped in the downtown village to greet Daniel Bonzi, the church president. He greeted us all and set out some small stools and logs for all of us to sit down and talk. As we were talking, a man came in from the fields - it was planting season - and he carried a stick out in front of him with an enormous cobra (dead and a bit bloody) hanging fom it! He had killed the snake in his field and was thanking God he had not been bitten! All of a sudden, one of the girls began to topple off her low seat - her face white as a sheet! She had never seen a snake that close and was terified. The winds were blowing hard that day and the church president said to me, "It's our wind blowing so hard today that makes your young person sick - you don't have these winds in your country!" He never tumbled that it was the snake that made two of the girls start to faint. John came to the rescue and got them to stand up and get some color back in their face. Soon we asked for the road and went up to the empty mission house on the hill, where we were going to have lunch, tuna sandwiches which I had prepared and brought from Clousers'. You can turn over almost any stone on that hill and find a small viper or a scorpion, there were no trees so the dry winds were blowing. Someone said eagerly, "What's for lunch?" And I opened the cold chest and said "Tuna sandwiches, chips and fruit." One guy said, "Sorry I don't eat tune fish!" (Mc Donald's was not nearby so what to do) Trust John who gave a loud lecture to all - "My mother fixed good tuna sandwiches for our lunch today and we are ALL eating tune sandwiches!" End of words, and we all ate and went on our way back to the city of Bobo.
Ah yes, teams...they can be both a blessing and a curse! One more team experience and I won't bore you with any more. We were living in Santidougou and Bob Niklaus brought a team out from the States, five people I think. We were in Bobo to meet them and we sat around in the living room in the main house talking. Dad saw that the one lady was sitting alone so he went over to sit beside her and make her feel at home. She about drove him crazy with her remarks, and we found out later she was driving them all crazy. Afterwards Bob Niklaus asked us if we could take the one couple to our station just to get them away from this lady, and we readily agreed. The couple was from Long Hill Chapel, so that was a good connection for us. Our van was in the shop and so we borrowed Dave Shady's old truck which happened to have several basic things wrong with it, but we had learned to make it work. Coming back into town from Santidougou we enlisted the help of our guests to get us back to the city. The pickup was bright yellow. It looked pretty good but nothing much worked. Dad sat and drove with one hand and blew into a tube the whole time to make the gas come through as it should. The man rode in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life (it was on that old dirt road!), I sat in the middle and shifted with one hand and put my other arm behind the lady's back (who was sitting in front with us) to keep her door shut, as the catch was broken. And thus we bounced into town! These people were horrified that this was our transportation and we explained to them that we had a van that was in the garage right then. Well, these people did not appreciate our mode of transportation! So much so that a couple of months later when you, Cheryl, came back for summer vacation to Santidougou, along with Baba Etienne who had been at a US conference, the first thing you told us was that Long Hill Chapel had sent a check for ten thousand dollars to buy us a new car!! What a welcome surprise!
One more team story. The year we moved to Bobo to the director's job, a group of twenty Alliance women came to Burkina for a tour. We got ready for them and planned meals and sleeping arrangements, etc. Their train came in from Abidjan at about midnight. And those were the days of the curfew at sundown. So Dad got special permission from the police and they sent an armed soldier down to sit beside Dad in the Rapide and accompany him to the train station to meet the midnight train. He sat there with his rifle standing up in front of him - and these ladies had the ride of their life sitting on those hard Rapide seats, with Dad driving and the soldier guarding them through the darkened streets. They had their bags searched and it was a never to be forgotten trip for those ladies! They were great guests, loved the people, the work they saw, the food (Yusufu turned out mountains of food each day!) and to this day I still meet people who took that trip to Burkina and experienced what a coup looks like on the ground!
In more recent years, the government has gotten involved in teaching literacy in the local languages, something we missionaries had been doing for years. The National Agricultural association prepared literacy materials and published books on farming for local populations. This was something we needed among our churches, and I organized a several days seminar in Bobo, where the government literacy man taught us in the new Jula orthography. We invited our Poundou professors (educated at Ntorosso years ago) to attend and be trained in the current spelling system. A number of our missionaries also took that training.
For many years there was no new missionary orientation to speak of in our West African fields, and so while Dad was field director I started a program of organizing monthly seminars in Bobo-Dioulasso, where our new missionaries could gather together for cultural learning, adaptation to the West African way of thinking, learning about their own actions and reactions in a new culture. We had gathered a series of very good missions books that we asked them to take home and read. And of course it was also a time for good fellowship, questions and the exchange of ideas. When Dad and I were sent to Mali for a year in 2004-2005, we had thirteen brand new missionaries who arrived on that field that year. Again we used the training program we had developed for Mali, and these times together were very profitable for all.
Teams from the States and Canada have become in vogue at this period of missions history. We helped out in some of these teams when the idea was just starting to catch on. After our year as MIR at Nyack College, the missions department arranged a tour of about twenty students to come for a three week stay with us in Santidougou. Wow, that was a challenge. They all slept and ate with us at Santidougou. Elin, you worked hard to make that team a success, helping Yusufu with the food and generally making those weeks a great experience for those students!
Dave Rambo thought that trip was such a success that he arranged to have another team come the next year. Wow! What a difference. Ralph Ellenberger came with them and there were only a handful of students who came. Dad was fulltime in mission committee meetings and other office responsabilities, so John was there to help me host that gang. This group was much less enthusiastic, they missed their spouses, they counted the days until they could leave from the time they arrived. Dad was in excom meetings and so you and I, John, took the group on a trip up country to Clousers' town of Safane. You remember their house - strictly bush, mat ceilings, no electricity, bugs and snakes around. We got their in the afternoon and I had taken along an alfresco meal to serve that evening. I spread out the food - sandwich makings (I had even bought expensive sliced ham!) and we had lettuce and there were hard boiled eggs and chips Yusufu had made. It looked pretty good to all of us and some of our guests also ate the food. One girl would not touch anything - she "didn't care for deli meats" so I offered her some boiled eggs and chips, but she "wasn't into boiled eggs"! John, you were getting madder by the moment and finally exploded, "My mother fixed this good food for all of you and I want to see every one of you eat what she prepared!" And that was the end of complaining! When we left the next morning to go on to Ouarkoye, one of the girls rolled her eyes as she shook hands with Clousers, and said, "God bless!" I guess she figured they needed God's blessing in that forsaken spot!
So we drove on to Ouarkoye and stopped in the downtown village to greet Daniel Bonzi, the church president. He greeted us all and set out some small stools and logs for all of us to sit down and talk. As we were talking, a man came in from the fields - it was planting season - and he carried a stick out in front of him with an enormous cobra (dead and a bit bloody) hanging fom it! He had killed the snake in his field and was thanking God he had not been bitten! All of a sudden, one of the girls began to topple off her low seat - her face white as a sheet! She had never seen a snake that close and was terified. The winds were blowing hard that day and the church president said to me, "It's our wind blowing so hard today that makes your young person sick - you don't have these winds in your country!" He never tumbled that it was the snake that made two of the girls start to faint. John came to the rescue and got them to stand up and get some color back in their face. Soon we asked for the road and went up to the empty mission house on the hill, where we were going to have lunch, tuna sandwiches which I had prepared and brought from Clousers'. You can turn over almost any stone on that hill and find a small viper or a scorpion, there were no trees so the dry winds were blowing. Someone said eagerly, "What's for lunch?" And I opened the cold chest and said "Tuna sandwiches, chips and fruit." One guy said, "Sorry I don't eat tune fish!" (Mc Donald's was not nearby so what to do) Trust John who gave a loud lecture to all - "My mother fixed good tuna sandwiches for our lunch today and we are ALL eating tune sandwiches!" End of words, and we all ate and went on our way back to the city of Bobo.
Ah yes, teams...they can be both a blessing and a curse! One more team experience and I won't bore you with any more. We were living in Santidougou and Bob Niklaus brought a team out from the States, five people I think. We were in Bobo to meet them and we sat around in the living room in the main house talking. Dad saw that the one lady was sitting alone so he went over to sit beside her and make her feel at home. She about drove him crazy with her remarks, and we found out later she was driving them all crazy. Afterwards Bob Niklaus asked us if we could take the one couple to our station just to get them away from this lady, and we readily agreed. The couple was from Long Hill Chapel, so that was a good connection for us. Our van was in the shop and so we borrowed Dave Shady's old truck which happened to have several basic things wrong with it, but we had learned to make it work. Coming back into town from Santidougou we enlisted the help of our guests to get us back to the city. The pickup was bright yellow. It looked pretty good but nothing much worked. Dad sat and drove with one hand and blew into a tube the whole time to make the gas come through as it should. The man rode in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life (it was on that old dirt road!), I sat in the middle and shifted with one hand and put my other arm behind the lady's back (who was sitting in front with us) to keep her door shut, as the catch was broken. And thus we bounced into town! These people were horrified that this was our transportation and we explained to them that we had a van that was in the garage right then. Well, these people did not appreciate our mode of transportation! So much so that a couple of months later when you, Cheryl, came back for summer vacation to Santidougou, along with Baba Etienne who had been at a US conference, the first thing you told us was that Long Hill Chapel had sent a check for ten thousand dollars to buy us a new car!! What a welcome surprise!
One more team story. The year we moved to Bobo to the director's job, a group of twenty Alliance women came to Burkina for a tour. We got ready for them and planned meals and sleeping arrangements, etc. Their train came in from Abidjan at about midnight. And those were the days of the curfew at sundown. So Dad got special permission from the police and they sent an armed soldier down to sit beside Dad in the Rapide and accompany him to the train station to meet the midnight train. He sat there with his rifle standing up in front of him - and these ladies had the ride of their life sitting on those hard Rapide seats, with Dad driving and the soldier guarding them through the darkened streets. They had their bags searched and it was a never to be forgotten trip for those ladies! They were great guests, loved the people, the work they saw, the food (Yusufu turned out mountains of food each day!) and to this day I still meet people who took that trip to Burkina and experienced what a coup looks like on the ground!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Adjustment of ministry..........................
When we lived in Santidougou, I had plenty to do. I had small children then. We were working among a people who had no written language, so it was a big job giving the Bobo Madare language a written form. There was a Sunday School to start and mentor the teachers, producing SS lessons in Bobo each month for them. I worked with the ladies. We taught short term schools, with people coming from several villages to study with us at Santidougou. Dad had district work, preached somewhere every Sunday. He had a big medical ministry as well. He served on mission committees, which took a lot of time as welll. And he physically built churches in the new villages as well. He spent hours in counselling pastor and young men.
While we still lived in Santidougou, I was asked to come to Bobo one day each week to teach at Maranatha Bible Institute. I would go directly to the school in the morning, then come back to Kennedys' at the mission for lunch and a noon rest, then back to teach another course at the Bible School in the afternoon - and home again to Santidougou. That was my weekly Wednesday schedule.
But once we moved to the city, my ministries branched out. When Dad was director, I was mission hostess and in charge of the guest house, plus serving many meals. I also increased my teaching at Maranatha. What a privilege to teach young men and women from Burkina, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, and then to follow them as they went out in ministry in these three countries. Our lives were enriched by them.
We had planned a city-wide evangelism crusade in Bobo-Dioulasso, and worked hard to set up everything - for church meetings and street meetings. I entertained the Zaire trio and Jim Sawatsky who travelled with them and came for our musical ministry. I was also asked to plan to do a follow up program for the new people we expected would come to Christ. So we planned and prepared. The trio and Jim Sawatsky, plus Isaac Keita (our evangelist) stayed in our guest house and ate their meals with us. They all arrived as planned, and our first meeting was Sunday morning in the Alliance church. It was a great service and a good response to the invitation to receive Christ.
But we had an unexpected surprise - our first Burkina coup (followed by several others in the following years) started that night! This meant very strict rules for everyone: curfew at dark each afternoon, no driving in the city at night, armed police and soldiers driving around to make sure everyone stayed inside, no crowds could gather anywhere in the city streets - there went our planned outdoor meetings. And it meant that we had a houseful of people staying with us. We got to know each other very well during that time. They had to stay until their flight would take off later in the week. And we enjoyed each other so much. We did have some meetings in the afternoons in our yard, and from those meetings we also had some fruit - people who received Christ as Saviour.
So after the team left us, I started my followup classes ever Monday night. There were several highly educated people who had come to Christ and they all came to the class. One of those people was Emmanuel Bamiki. He was a school teacher and had never had any contact with church or Christians. I remember during one evening class, he asked, "How do those people get up in church and close their eyes and talk to God? How do they know what to say and can I learn that too??" It was a delight to help an educated young person to learn to pray and give testimony and to see him blossom in his faith. He went on to Bible School and kept studying to a high theological level in a couple of schools. Today he is a pastor in the church and a professor at Maranatha as well as a national church leader. Those are the kinds of investments we remember from our many years in West Africa. And today we are able to communicate with many of them on SKYPE or Facebook! How the world has changed!
During those years we also had a TEE expert from Australia come and give us a seminar on the value of theological education by extension. This really caught hold with me and I began to draw up a program for people in our area and their felt needs. We organized and started to write and/or translate books. We formed a committee of pastors and missionaries. I headed up that program until we retired from Burkina Faso. Many students went through the whole program and some parts of the church still use the materials. I used to travel to other missions in Burkina and to Mali and Ivory Coast to give seminars on how to get started in TEE.
Ouézzinville Sud was our church when we were in town, and I enjoyed heading up a Christian Ed program for that church, training teachers, suggesting cirriculum, etc. One year when I was working day and night in the Bobo translation, I decided I needed a change of language on Sunday. The Bobo district church was trying to start a church in Sarafaralao in the yard of a church elder. So I worked with that church on Sunday and attended there and encouraged them and also started a SS for children. I worked in Jula on Sundays and that gave me a change of being steeped in Bobo Madare. I also had to learn to ride a motor bike then as Dad took our van every Sunday to the bush!
I was often asked to speak at national and local women's conferences. When we returned to Burkina in 2006, I had been asked to speak to a large group of women in the Bobo Central church one Sunday, so I agreed. I prepared in French, thinking someone would translate me, but no one was there who could do that. So I just switched to Jula and was delighted to see that I had no problems doing that. My languages are something I miss badly, living in this anglophone country! I was alwaus asked to preach at different churches for women's Sunday each year in Bobo.
A funny incident occured one day - a student pastor, André, was pastoring a new church group not far out of Bobo. He came to me one day and asked if I would come to preach in his church the next week! I said you mean you want Papa to preach? "No", he said, "I want you to preach. I want our women to understand that women can also teach and preach God's Word. I already asked Papa if he would be your chauffeur!" I was his prof in Bible School and I guess he knew I could preach, but was not sure if I could drive in the bush! That was the only time Dad had to sit in a little mud chapel and listen to my sermon!
My years of ministry in Burkina were rich indeed. It is also a delight to me to see you three girls continuing on in ministry in Africa and the Middle East. You will never be sorry for the time you have invested in others, through teaching, leading people to Christ, through friendships and just being an example of living the Christian lifeGod bless you!
While we still lived in Santidougou, I was asked to come to Bobo one day each week to teach at Maranatha Bible Institute. I would go directly to the school in the morning, then come back to Kennedys' at the mission for lunch and a noon rest, then back to teach another course at the Bible School in the afternoon - and home again to Santidougou. That was my weekly Wednesday schedule.
But once we moved to the city, my ministries branched out. When Dad was director, I was mission hostess and in charge of the guest house, plus serving many meals. I also increased my teaching at Maranatha. What a privilege to teach young men and women from Burkina, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, and then to follow them as they went out in ministry in these three countries. Our lives were enriched by them.
We had planned a city-wide evangelism crusade in Bobo-Dioulasso, and worked hard to set up everything - for church meetings and street meetings. I entertained the Zaire trio and Jim Sawatsky who travelled with them and came for our musical ministry. I was also asked to plan to do a follow up program for the new people we expected would come to Christ. So we planned and prepared. The trio and Jim Sawatsky, plus Isaac Keita (our evangelist) stayed in our guest house and ate their meals with us. They all arrived as planned, and our first meeting was Sunday morning in the Alliance church. It was a great service and a good response to the invitation to receive Christ.
But we had an unexpected surprise - our first Burkina coup (followed by several others in the following years) started that night! This meant very strict rules for everyone: curfew at dark each afternoon, no driving in the city at night, armed police and soldiers driving around to make sure everyone stayed inside, no crowds could gather anywhere in the city streets - there went our planned outdoor meetings. And it meant that we had a houseful of people staying with us. We got to know each other very well during that time. They had to stay until their flight would take off later in the week. And we enjoyed each other so much. We did have some meetings in the afternoons in our yard, and from those meetings we also had some fruit - people who received Christ as Saviour.
So after the team left us, I started my followup classes ever Monday night. There were several highly educated people who had come to Christ and they all came to the class. One of those people was Emmanuel Bamiki. He was a school teacher and had never had any contact with church or Christians. I remember during one evening class, he asked, "How do those people get up in church and close their eyes and talk to God? How do they know what to say and can I learn that too??" It was a delight to help an educated young person to learn to pray and give testimony and to see him blossom in his faith. He went on to Bible School and kept studying to a high theological level in a couple of schools. Today he is a pastor in the church and a professor at Maranatha as well as a national church leader. Those are the kinds of investments we remember from our many years in West Africa. And today we are able to communicate with many of them on SKYPE or Facebook! How the world has changed!
During those years we also had a TEE expert from Australia come and give us a seminar on the value of theological education by extension. This really caught hold with me and I began to draw up a program for people in our area and their felt needs. We organized and started to write and/or translate books. We formed a committee of pastors and missionaries. I headed up that program until we retired from Burkina Faso. Many students went through the whole program and some parts of the church still use the materials. I used to travel to other missions in Burkina and to Mali and Ivory Coast to give seminars on how to get started in TEE.
Ouézzinville Sud was our church when we were in town, and I enjoyed heading up a Christian Ed program for that church, training teachers, suggesting cirriculum, etc. One year when I was working day and night in the Bobo translation, I decided I needed a change of language on Sunday. The Bobo district church was trying to start a church in Sarafaralao in the yard of a church elder. So I worked with that church on Sunday and attended there and encouraged them and also started a SS for children. I worked in Jula on Sundays and that gave me a change of being steeped in Bobo Madare. I also had to learn to ride a motor bike then as Dad took our van every Sunday to the bush!
I was often asked to speak at national and local women's conferences. When we returned to Burkina in 2006, I had been asked to speak to a large group of women in the Bobo Central church one Sunday, so I agreed. I prepared in French, thinking someone would translate me, but no one was there who could do that. So I just switched to Jula and was delighted to see that I had no problems doing that. My languages are something I miss badly, living in this anglophone country! I was alwaus asked to preach at different churches for women's Sunday each year in Bobo.
A funny incident occured one day - a student pastor, André, was pastoring a new church group not far out of Bobo. He came to me one day and asked if I would come to preach in his church the next week! I said you mean you want Papa to preach? "No", he said, "I want you to preach. I want our women to understand that women can also teach and preach God's Word. I already asked Papa if he would be your chauffeur!" I was his prof in Bible School and I guess he knew I could preach, but was not sure if I could drive in the bush! That was the only time Dad had to sit in a little mud chapel and listen to my sermon!
My years of ministry in Burkina were rich indeed. It is also a delight to me to see you three girls continuing on in ministry in Africa and the Middle East. You will never be sorry for the time you have invested in others, through teaching, leading people to Christ, through friendships and just being an example of living the Christian lifeGod bless you!
Monday, April 18, 2011
WHATEVER YOUR HANDS FIND TO DO........DO IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!
Back now to life in Burkina. We had lived and worked in Santidougou for many years, but God was preparing us during that time for a larger sphere of ministry. While in Santidougou we learned to appreciate the hard working, great Burkinabe. We also learned to live happily as we worked among the Burkinabe. We learned language skills and how to mish. After some years of this, we were asked to move to Bobo-Dioulasso and never returned to Santidougou except for visits and celebrations. When we moved into the city ministry in Bobo-Dioulasso, I never dreamed how my horizons would be stretched and how my ministries would be multiplied among many different people groups, including, of course, the Bobos. I loved the verse in Colossians that tells us that whatever our hands find to do, do it with all your might. And that is how I spent my years of ministry in West Africa, working with all my might!
I just returned from a women's retreat in North Carolina where Ann Hemminger spoke - another retired missionary and also an MK. As she spoke it took me back once again to how difficult it had been for me to adjust to life in the United States. She spoke of how she was almost in depression when she realized that she was now anchored here in the United States and no longer had the exciting evangelism and teaching ministries she had had in Brazil and Argentina. I related to all of this perfectly, and it helped me to analyze my own feelings and reactions better.
I squeezed into American life and separated from African life slowly. We retired, were duly fêted by all of our colleagues - both African and missionaries - given gifts, said goodbyes and returned for furlough - and retirement. We spent that year on tour in various areas, sharing our lives in missions with many people here. Then we were asked if we would be willing to go back to Côte d'Ivoire for a year to take care of the Alliance Guest House there while the personnel went on home assignment. We readily accepted. We had bought a house here in Toccoa, but the Strongs needed a place to stay and so they rented our house and we happily went back to a new ministry - but in the continent we loved.
Then we came back to try retirement again. We got involved in mentoring and substitute teaching in the schools, served on church committees and boards, continued to speak in churches concerning missions. America seemed so boring, there was not enough to do, we longed for our people and work in Africa. I missed my languages. Four years later we had a telephone call one day. I answered and Bob Fetherlin was on the line. He asked if Milt was there and told me to call him to the phone so we could both listen to what he was asking. We had not the faintest clue what the call was about. He asked us if we would be willing to go to Mali for one year and serve as field director couple! Wow - were we ever surprised!! We said we would talk together and phone him our answer. It did not take long and then we were back in the swirl of packing, travelling and adjusting to living in the Mali capital city of Bamako! God loves to surprise us!
Then we came back here to Toccoa and we were reasonably content. But to this day I miss the people and work in West Africa. And sometimes it comes over me in a wave and I feel so useless here, especially after being sick for so long. I get so bored sometimes. But Anne's words at this retreat spoke to me and made me take stock of my present life.
The first thing I need to do is to be still. Stop longing for what won't happen, Stop fussing! Meditate quietly on how fortunate I have been in my life. Pray more. Be still!
Another principle for my life is to remember that God chooses the colors of our lives, not us. Some seasons are bright primary colors, others may be pastels and still others may be somber colors. But God ordains all of that and we need to accept and be content. Even happy!
I need also to come to the place where I can say with the Psalmist, "My soul finds rest in God alone!" Not in travel and excitement, but in what God sends my way each day. I need to be grateful for what God allowed me to do in the past and to be content with what I am given to do now. Like ministering each week to the women in jail. Like mentoring younger women. Like serving on missions committees in my church to facilitate the world program of missions. No, not as exciting, but restful once I accept what my place is now.
Ann ended with the example of the lighthouse which blinks out a message to ships at sea - in order that they will avoid danger. And the message is "Alter your course!" And that is what retirement is about. Oh we are still working with and for God, but we need to alter our course, our focus.
The list is long of ministries I used to be involved in: witnessing to people, following up new converts, teaching literacy, doing translation, preparing books, speaking to women and children, new converts' classes, working with national literacy, teaching at Maranatha Bible School, doing seminars, writing courses for TEE (PEDIM) and training facilitators for this program as well as teaching myself, mentoring new missionaries and working with them both in Burkina and Mali, as well as in Côte d'Ivoire, preaching at women's conferences, church planting, being hostess and chauffeur to teams coming out from the States. Being involved in literature and teaching programs for all of Africa - like CPE, CEFCA and FATEAC. I served on committees in these organizations and often taught, did seminars on TEE in numerous African countries. I guess that is enough....
What a busy life, what a great life! And it was hard to give it all up. But again, now it is time to alter my course and do what God has for me to do now. To find my rest in God, not in busyness. And to allow God to choose the colors of my life at this stage. I have had a long, blessed and full life.....and God continues to find ministry for me to do!
I just returned from a women's retreat in North Carolina where Ann Hemminger spoke - another retired missionary and also an MK. As she spoke it took me back once again to how difficult it had been for me to adjust to life in the United States. She spoke of how she was almost in depression when she realized that she was now anchored here in the United States and no longer had the exciting evangelism and teaching ministries she had had in Brazil and Argentina. I related to all of this perfectly, and it helped me to analyze my own feelings and reactions better.
I squeezed into American life and separated from African life slowly. We retired, were duly fêted by all of our colleagues - both African and missionaries - given gifts, said goodbyes and returned for furlough - and retirement. We spent that year on tour in various areas, sharing our lives in missions with many people here. Then we were asked if we would be willing to go back to Côte d'Ivoire for a year to take care of the Alliance Guest House there while the personnel went on home assignment. We readily accepted. We had bought a house here in Toccoa, but the Strongs needed a place to stay and so they rented our house and we happily went back to a new ministry - but in the continent we loved.
Then we came back to try retirement again. We got involved in mentoring and substitute teaching in the schools, served on church committees and boards, continued to speak in churches concerning missions. America seemed so boring, there was not enough to do, we longed for our people and work in Africa. I missed my languages. Four years later we had a telephone call one day. I answered and Bob Fetherlin was on the line. He asked if Milt was there and told me to call him to the phone so we could both listen to what he was asking. We had not the faintest clue what the call was about. He asked us if we would be willing to go to Mali for one year and serve as field director couple! Wow - were we ever surprised!! We said we would talk together and phone him our answer. It did not take long and then we were back in the swirl of packing, travelling and adjusting to living in the Mali capital city of Bamako! God loves to surprise us!
Then we came back here to Toccoa and we were reasonably content. But to this day I miss the people and work in West Africa. And sometimes it comes over me in a wave and I feel so useless here, especially after being sick for so long. I get so bored sometimes. But Anne's words at this retreat spoke to me and made me take stock of my present life.
The first thing I need to do is to be still. Stop longing for what won't happen, Stop fussing! Meditate quietly on how fortunate I have been in my life. Pray more. Be still!
Another principle for my life is to remember that God chooses the colors of our lives, not us. Some seasons are bright primary colors, others may be pastels and still others may be somber colors. But God ordains all of that and we need to accept and be content. Even happy!
I need also to come to the place where I can say with the Psalmist, "My soul finds rest in God alone!" Not in travel and excitement, but in what God sends my way each day. I need to be grateful for what God allowed me to do in the past and to be content with what I am given to do now. Like ministering each week to the women in jail. Like mentoring younger women. Like serving on missions committees in my church to facilitate the world program of missions. No, not as exciting, but restful once I accept what my place is now.
Ann ended with the example of the lighthouse which blinks out a message to ships at sea - in order that they will avoid danger. And the message is "Alter your course!" And that is what retirement is about. Oh we are still working with and for God, but we need to alter our course, our focus.
The list is long of ministries I used to be involved in: witnessing to people, following up new converts, teaching literacy, doing translation, preparing books, speaking to women and children, new converts' classes, working with national literacy, teaching at Maranatha Bible School, doing seminars, writing courses for TEE (PEDIM) and training facilitators for this program as well as teaching myself, mentoring new missionaries and working with them both in Burkina and Mali, as well as in Côte d'Ivoire, preaching at women's conferences, church planting, being hostess and chauffeur to teams coming out from the States. Being involved in literature and teaching programs for all of Africa - like CPE, CEFCA and FATEAC. I served on committees in these organizations and often taught, did seminars on TEE in numerous African countries. I guess that is enough....
What a busy life, what a great life! And it was hard to give it all up. But again, now it is time to alter my course and do what God has for me to do now. To find my rest in God, not in busyness. And to allow God to choose the colors of my life at this stage. I have had a long, blessed and full life.....and God continues to find ministry for me to do!
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