Random things I have been doing or experiencing

The last weekend there was a goat just chilling on the international school campus.  How bizarre is that?  He was just eating grass, watching us swim, and walking around. 

Claire, an amazing angel that is our hired help, made me a calzone – I don’t normally eat those but this – this was amazing! 

I went to get some visa photos taken this morning and successfully did it in French (which by the way, I am still miserable at).  During the process I was asked by a stranger to go out to breakfast – I declined.  Also, when I walk anywhere some stranger will call me “angel” or “princess” – I think it’s the only words in English most of the guys here know.  But, who doesn’t like being called “princess?” Hmm maybe me?! 

The tractor – or the OLD vehicle I normally drive is currently in the shop so the last few days I have been driving around a Toyota Avanza – I have been feeling super spoiled driving such a nice vehicle.  It is quiet, has all its mirrors, the AC is freezing, and it has 4 doors!  Not to mention the fact that it drives GREAT! 

In the email I sent out updating people I asked prayer for me because I have been feeling homesick.  I am feeling a lot better now.  I always miss my family and friends (so basically you who are reading this) – which is understandable, I mean – not only am I thousands of miles away but I am also more than a simple phone call away.  Thanks for your prayers!

I got my couches re-covered!  I will try and post a photo soon to show you the new furniture!  I love them!

Last Friday and Monday I substitute taught at ISO.  I had a ton of fun teaching math, science, and IT – turns out I am not as bad at math as I thought…although it was 6^th grade. But still – I could answer their questions!

Oh girls Bible study went great yesterday.  We talked about sin and I felt like we are starting to open up more with each other – I left feeling very encouraged. 

Pray for my awesome roommate – she has been getting migraines lately.  Also, every day I am reminded how great it is to have her around.  Not only is she just a great person but also I have someone who notices if I am gone or missing, asks me how I am doing, eats meals with me and helps pay the rent!  And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!  I am LOVING living with someone!

We have had a steady group of kids coming to youth group this year – we seriously have about 25 regular students.  This is so different compared to last year.  We had about 40 kids in the youth group and every week about 25 would show up and it drastically changed who came each week.  I am liking consistency! 

And my last random fact – I am sitting in my room and trying very hard to keep my eyes open…soooo GOODNIGHT!

Girls Bible Study

Girls Bible study has been great!  We have had 3 meetings so far.  We meet on Monday's after school for lunch.  Megan has graciously allowed us to meet at her house (although this week we met at mine).  The first week we only had 3 girls but since then we have steadily been growing - a little too much actually.  We are reading through Romans - maybe I was being a bit ambitious choosing that book to go through because it uses a ton of big Christian-y words and concepts - but we are surviving and so far it has been good and challenging.  Thanks for all your prayers for this.  One of my goals for this year is to get girls Bible study going and God has certainly already answered this prayer!

Good day

I have high hopes that today is going to be a good day.  First off - Hannah Kinsley in Ireland is flying home and I am so happy for her!  Also, the water leaks in my bathroom are going to be filled in - no more leaking roof!  Susan and I are also going to be getting a real covered garage type thing.  Right now covering the car is basically some bamboo mats with the main purpose of just protecting our vehicles from the sun - but no more!  We are getting a real metal or tin roof to protect our vehicles from the rain and maybe they will actually stay kind of clean.  This will also benefit the guard who currently sits right outside my window every single night - now he will have a place to sit out of the rain.  (and it makes things less awkward for me!)

But, the most exciting part of my day is that its Thursday - which means youth group is tonight.  I have been preparing a talk on the Bible as Truth.  Should be good, and hopefully leave kids excited to read about God.

Lastly, I have a praise!  I have had this desire to get all new Bibles for the youth group and its becoming a reality!  Matt emailed his church in Canada last night and they said that not only would they like to buy some but they will also bring them out in the beginning of October!  Praise God!  If you are interested in buying Bible(s) for the English teens of Ouagadougou please let me know and I can tell you which one and we can get it sent to the church in Canada who will bring them out for us.

I hope you all have a lovely day as well :)

This weekend.

This last weekend I baby-sat 5 beautiful kids.  It was a pretty crazy weekend and I walked away realizing that maybe I am not ready for instant parenthood of 5 kids.  In fact – I used to want 5 kids so I could have an entire basketball team, but now – I think max will have to be 3. 

I had to deal with the un-expected this weekend too.  Their dog was bit by a scorpion or snake or something and sadly, passed away.  Let me just tell you that telling 5 children that their pet died is one of the hardest things I have ever done – I may as well cut off their arms.  And, I am just one person – comforting 5 people who need me at the same time was nearly impossible. 

I drove home after the weekend completely exhausted – emotionally and physically.  I also drove home with some more respect for the parents who take care of their children day in and day out – I don’t know how they do it and their jobs as missionaries as well. 

Diversity

Its Friday morning and last night was the 2^nd Wired meeting of the year.  This year is going to be good – Lord willing!  It has a different feel to it than my first year.  We certainly took a hit numbers wise – with at least 10-15 people moving away there are people who are greatly missed.  But, we are all hoping and praying for a great year. 

One of our goals is to be more evangelistic and reach out more to kids who don’t normally come to youth group.  We already have maybe 5 or so new faces.  But I am finding that as we change and grow differently I am having to change and grow as well.  I was overwhelmed when I first got to Burkina a year ago by the diversity of the group – and here I am finding myself overwhelmed again with the exact same thing.  So please pray for me and the Wired team as we try and figure out how to be evangelistic, how to encourage Christian growth in MK’s who have been here for years, how to involved kids of ALL AGES (I have several 6^th grade boys) and in all that not scare away anyone in the process. 

Here we go again! Yippy!

We had our first llama meeting today (student leader meeting).  Can I just tell you how excited I am to start back up with youth group?!  I have enjoyed my summer but I am looking forward to doing work that I am here to do.  It was fun doing random things in the summer but oh how I am so happy to start working with teenagers again!

We have two new llama leaders this year.  One is Madeline – her brother was a llama last year and is this year as well.  The other is Nathan – he is from the Philippines and plays piano for the music team at youth group.  I am looking forward to getting to know both of them more this year. 

The meeting itself went great.  I was encouraged by some of the goals that the students have.  Here is a short list of their goals:

-Build faith for new Christians

-Effective ministry IN the school

-Youth group more welcoming and open to everyone.

-Being more real with people

-Investing more with their friends and people they may not be good friends with

-Having prayer as a base and praying for friends as essential

They all seem excited for this year to start; it was encouraging!

Our first youth group of the year is on Thursday.  We have moved locations to they old WIRED meeting place.  My new house is not large enough for youth group.  No one is living in the house we will be meeting in so it should be a good place.  I am going to work on getting it comfortable for the teens tomorrow!

Thanks for all your prayers!  

Group Photo

Here is our Field Forum photo - All the Burkina Faso CMA missionaries :)

My House

I moved in June and thought I would share some photos of my new house with you.

This is my room :)

Here is our living room and dinning room.  We are going to re-cover the furniture one of these days.

Here is the kitchen - its very small.

My front yard with our little patch of grass - something very rare for BF.

There is my little moto and the car.

Some nice things about this house are the screened in porch, the great internet, the location (we are in a very African community) and the spare rooms (come and stay - we have room).

Out of Routine

The problem that I am just now discovering is that I have been out of a routine since about April.  With the power cuts, our unrest situation, camp, heading home for a few weeks, the bush trip and field forum my life really hasn’t had a routine for months.  So, because of that I feel like my life is just crazy.  This blog has sadly been effected.  But, school starts next week and I am hoping to slow down just a little bit so that maybe, just maybe, I can have a routine again. 

But, reality is reminding me that life is hardly ever IN routine – especially here in Africa. 

Sleep and the Dentist

So last night was my first night since I have been back (one week) that I slept normal hours!  I tried to go to sleep at 10:30 p.m. and I did!  And then, I woke up at 7:30!  No more of this going to bed at 1:00 in the morning and not being able to pull myself out of bed until 10:00 business.

Today, I am going to the dentist - which I am actually very excited about.  Can you believe that I was not able to go when I was in the States?  My parents called in April and they didnt have room so I was put on a waiting list - unfortunately I am still waiting :) Yesterday Karen called the dentist here and they said they would get me in today - no waiting list needed here!  Now I am going to find out what a dentist in Burkina Faso is like...haha should be interesting!

I'm coming home

Well I am home, but I am also going home – oh man I have way too many homes! J  My vacation has been amazing.  I have had so much fun the last few weeks – and its not over yet.  After my California friends headed out I went camping with my family, spent time with Lewiston Idaho folks, went shopping in Spokane with my mamma, saw Nate and Tracy and the kids, hung out with my brother, spoke at church and youth group, ate all sorts of yummy food and drove to Ellensburg. 

I am in Ellensburg now and am staying at my grandmas house.  Michelle came over from the west side and so I had dinner with her and Geoff and the Wilson’s which was so great!  Then I hung out more with Michelle on Friday and with the Bender’s – Erin, Josh, Reagan and Quincy in the evening.  It has been so great seeing so many good friends!  Today my friend Kendra drove over from Seattle just for lunch, we had a great chat – so good.  I still have more people to see today and tomorrow as well as speaking at church and then in the evening we will be having a potluck dessert where I will talk more about my job and the CMA’s work in Burkina.  Its been busy but oh so good! 

I fly out Monday to my other home in Burkina and I am actually looking forward to it.  Its nice to know where I am going and what it will be like and that there are actually people there that I like and are excited for me to come back.  

Ouaga and Asotin

Here is an update you on Burkina living for my last few weeks there before I headed home for a little vacation (which is where I am now). 

We headed up to Koubri for 3 days and 2 nights for an end of the year retreat.  It was such a fun few days and I really enjoyed hanging out with the youth kids for this extended time.  We had a lot of the kids who were away at boarding school or who live in the bush that came for this so it was such a joy to get to know more of the youth kids that I don’t get to see as often.  We had a great time of worship, sessions, games, food, campfire, swimming, and just a ton of hanging out. 

Right after camp I hit the ground running and packed up my house to move to my new one.  I did not move far, nearly walking distance from the other.  This one is closer to the international school and has already been such a blessing.  It is much more comfortable and home-y.  Also, I got a new roommate – Susan.  She is working with the CMA by helping Larry in the office.  She will also be helping me with youth group.  I am just so excited to have a roommate for the rest of my time in Burkina.

Also in the last few weeks I have had to say goodbye to a ton of youth kids.  Many of them are leaving because their parents are done with their time in Burkina and so it may be a very long time until I get to see them again.  I got to experience a little piece of what these kids go through every year.  People come and go from their lives all the time – turns out its very hard.  I would say it is one of the least fun and hardest things I have had to do since moving to Burkina. 

Now, however, I am at my parent’s house enjoying a nice break!  So far it has been such an amazing time!  My parents picked me up at the airport and it was/is so great to see them!  Then I headed to Ellensburg and got to see my brother and grandparents and some of my other family.  Now I am all the way at my parent’s house in Asotin.  My friends Mandy, Kandice, Scotty and Ryan all drove up from Redding, California to see me and we have been hanging out since Saturday.  We went boating, on 4-wheeler rides, shooting guns, playing games and just hanging out and catching up.  It has been so great!

30 Hour Famine Summary

I hope you all are having an amazing summer break!  I am sending you an email to let you know how the 30 Hour famine fund raising and projects went.  I know this is a little late but it is very important. 

Thanks to you and the youth groups that partnered with us we raised 8,940,000 cfa or $19,865!

Here is the breakdown of where that money went:

Paam Laafi – 2,115,000 cfa.  Through the Paam Laafi medical outreach we gave 800 children in Yagma medical checkups.

Christian World Outreach – 760,000 cfa.  Through this organization we helped feed their women at their Village of Opportunity vocational school for the next year and a half. 

SIM – 2,250,000 cfa.  SIM was the venue in which we did our grain distribution in the village of Yagma to 400 widows and their children.  We also gave a portion of this money to the Yagma school to feed the children.

Friends in Action – 3,500,000 cfa.  We successfully drilled a well in the village of Yagma.

Pan Bila – 315,000 cfa.  This organization will use the funds to help with their street children ministry. 

As a youth group we spent 2 days in Yagma doing many of these projects.  The boys helped Matt Durkee and Friends in Action drill a well.  The rest of the youth group participated in the medical outreach.  In the afternoon we did a grain distribution to some of the most needed people in Yagma.  Also, we partnered with SIM and Edge to put on a worship service in the evening of May 14, 2011.  After we finished our projects in Yagma, SIM used this opportunity and continued to do ministry and did a church plant.  Many people came to know Christ and now there are about 50 people who are going to Bible study every week.  Please continue to pray for Yagma.  

Please watch this video of our famine and the work in Yagma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHLLPqsF9nU

I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who donated and helped us with our 30 Hour Famine. 

Again, thank you guys so much – you are all such a blessing in my life! 

In Him,

Hannah

100th blog!

For my 100th blog I will give you some highlights because I have been slacking and so busy that I have not been able to keep you updated!

First off - I am no longer sick :) Thank you for your prayers - It was just a cold.  So far I have been faithfully taking my malaria prevention drugs and have now gone 9 months without getting malaria!  I am wondering again if its a horrible thing to be taking medicine for this long though...hmmm

Last Thursday we did not have youth group because of a school event called the Celebration of the Arts - It was a pretty awesome thing to be a part of - I got to hear all the middle school and high school bands, see the art work from the art students, hear songs written by the guitar class and see some videos that were made by some other students.  Nearly every single one of my youth group kids had some part in this evening so it was fun to see them perform!  

On Friday I was asked to chaperone the prom.  So I did.  It turned out to be a ton of fun (see the facebook for photos).  I got ready with some of the girls and did their makeup.  Then I drove a bunch of the kids to the prom and then they would not let me NOT hang out with them during the actual dance.  I was so worried they would think it was weird that their youth pastor was with them but they didnt seem to mind one bit!  It was so much fun and thankfully, I did not have to tell a single one of my youth group kids that they were acting or dancing inappropriately!  Also, since the Nehlsens have been packing up and selling their stuff, the girls stayed at my house after the prom - so the night continued and I took home their dates after a movie at 3 in the morning.  The next day I was completely dead and was thinking that I am starting to get too old for this!  Haha oh well.  

Unfortunately I had no time to recover because that next day was our WIRED end of the year banquet.  So again, I had to dress all up and get things organized for another night of fun.  And it was, the banquet turned out great, we gave out awards and the food was awesome!  

Then on Sunday was another fun day with youth group kids - we had a graduation party for Kara Lyons and so we all got together again.  It was such a special time and I am so glad that I got to be a part of it.  We watched a slide show, gave words of wisdom, and then prayed for her.  

This week has been fairly busy as well.  I have been getting camp stuff ready and it is coming along nicely.  We have 32 kids who are coming so far - I think that will be about it though.  I talked to the camp speaker on Skype last week and I am very excited to meet him - from our conversation I think he is going to be perfect!  He has a thick southern accent.  Hehe...

The last youth group of this school year was last night :( I was so sad!  I talked about how life is a gift and then had everyone share what they were thankful for in the last year and then just thank God for what he has done.  We also had all the kids who are moving come to the middle and we prayed for them.  Then after that, we had the seniors who are graduation share highlights and advice for the rest of us.  It was such a great time but it was pretty emotional...I totally cried.  The night ended with all of us just sitting around and talking and lots of hugs.  One exciting thing about last night was that Susan arrived.  She used to live here a year ago and led WIRED.  She has returned to work in the CMA office for the next few years so it was an exciting time to have her back.  She will be available to help me next school year AND she is going to be my roommate!  I am so excited!  

It has been miserably hot here lately.  I have not been able to sleep without my AC on for the last month.  I am very nervous for my electricity bill because running the AC costs about $1 an hour...ugh!  But, I have to sleep with it on - I am just not hard core enough to sweat it out!  Haha.  During the day I usually go swimming at the international school - its almost necessary to survive here!  I can tell we are getting closer to rainy season though - its humid more and last night it rained quite a bit!  Its still a bit cooler today and for that I am thankful!  I am sure though that in a few hours it will be hot again.

Well on that note I think I am going to go!  I do want to say a shout out to Mandy because it is her birthday!  Happy Birthday Mandy!  

sick.

I have a sore throat!  This is no fun no matter where you are :(

But, thankfully its only 86-ish degrees and I even wore jeans today.

Prayers are appreciated!

One school year almost done...wow

I just posted the email that I sent out from earlier this week that should be informative :)

So this week I have been recovering from the 30 Hour Famine!  It was intense being in charge of all that – so I am glad to be done with it.  I do just need the rest of the money wired here from the States so that I can pay the last few people – so hopefully that will all come in this next week!

Youth group this week went great – but Thursday was VERY hot and so I think that everyone in town was using their AC’s - So around 5:30 all the electricity in town went out :( I stayed up beat but was frustrated that again, 20+ teenagers were coming to my house and I had no electricity!  Thankfully we were able to play games outside and by 7:30 the power came back on!  The rest of youth group went great! 

Things here are certainly winding down – I only have 2 youth groups left.  One will be short too because there is a school event before it.  Next weekend is the end of the year banquet – which will be the last event with all the youth because when school gets out a few weeks later a ton of the kids are leaving.  A week after school gets out is the WIRED retreat – June 15-17.  We certainly have some fun things to look forward too! 

Also, after the retreat I will be moving into a new house! 

AND AFTER THAT….I am coming home for a visit!!!! Yippy!!!! 

Also, it rained so hard last night – I couldn’t drive until it was over because the windshield wipers on my car don’t work – but it was totally worth waiting because the rain was so hard and so cold!  It was amazing!  Sadly, its hot again…

Today should be an interesting day – I have a girl in my youth group who comes from a partly Jewish family so tonight I am going over to her house to celebrate Passover.  I am so excited for this learning experience.  Also, it’s a pretty funny situation because they had to postpone Passover due to the rioting in Ouaga during the actual Passover.  

One school year almost done...wow

I just posted the email that I sent out from earlier this week that should be informative :)

So this week I have been recovering from the 30 Hour Famine!  It was intense being in charge of all that – so I am glad to be done with it.  I do just need the rest of the money wired here from the States so that I can pay the last few people – so hopefully that will all come in this next week!

Youth group this week went great – but Thursday was VERY hot and so I think that everyone in town was using their AC’s - So around 5:30 all the electricity in town went out :( I stayed up beat but was frustrated that again, 20+ teenagers were coming to my house and I had no electricity!  Thankfully we were able to play games outside and by 7:30 the power came back on!  The rest of youth group went great! 

Things here are certainly winding down – I only have 2 youth groups left.  One will be short too because there is a school event before it.  Next weekend is the end of the year banquet – which will be the last event with all the youth because when school gets out a few weeks later a ton of the kids are leaving.  A week after school gets out is the WIRED retreat – June 15-17.  We certainly have some fun things to look forward too! 

Also, after the retreat I will be moving into a new house! 

AND AFTER THAT….I am coming home for a visit!!!! Yippy!!!! 

Also, it rained so hard last night – I couldn’t drive until it was over because the windshield wipers on my car don’t work – but it was totally worth waiting because the rain was so hard and so cold!  It was amazing!  Sadly, its hot again…

Today should be an interesting day – I have a girl in my youth group who comes from a partly Jewish family so tonight I am going over to her house to celebrate Passover.  I am so excited for this learning experience.  Also, it’s a pretty funny situation because they had to postpone Passover due to the rioting in Ouaga during the actual Passover.  

Here is the update I sent out this week

Hey Everyone!

Most days I feel like my life is totally random here in Burkina.  Things that would be completely abnormal in Washington State are seemingly normal here.  For example: I was driving my friend Kari home last week and while we were driving we both looked over and saw two women driving on a moto – not too weird.  The crazy part was that the woman on the back was nursing her newborn baby!  Oh multi-tasking at its finest!  I laughed so hard and Kari who has lived her nearly her whole life said that she had never seen that before – so maybe that’s not too normal. 

Life here has been heating up – just when I thought it couldn’t get hotter, it did.  I can be thankful that the power cuts have been few and far between though!  Now they seem to only come right before a rain storm.  We are slowly getting closer to rainy season so the humidity is fairly high but I am looking forward to the coolness that rain brings. 

This last week was very exciting for WIRED youth group.  We were able to spend all the money we raised with the 30 Hour Famine!  For an entire week we had a medical team seeing over 800 children in the village of Yagma.  On Friday I drove a van full of boys there and they began drilling a well.  On Saturday the whole youth group went to Yagma – the boys continued to drill the well and everyone else continued the medical clinic.  After lunch at the Dorcus house (which is also in Yagma) we did a grain distribution to about 400 people and rejoiced because the boys found water!  Then in the evening we helped put on a worship service right there in the bush and a church that is being planted there did some evangelism.  As I drove home at 9:00 p.m. in a van full of wiped out teenagers I thanked God because we were able to participate in something so beautiful. 

I also thanked God because it was over with – on Friday night we had no internet and I was completely unsure how the day was going to go.  I looked at the schedule for the entire day and I slowly, one thing at a time, gave it to God because I just didn’t know if anything was going to work.  Would we have enough drivers to get there?  Did the sick kids know where the clinic was?  Would we find water?  Was the grain going to be there to distribute?  Did I have enough food to feed these hungry teenagers?  No one seemed to have the answers to these questions.  But, man God just answered every prayer!  The day turned out great and I was so glad that I stopped worrying about it and trusted him. 

Thank you also for all your prayers for this awesome event!  Some of you even gave money to support this – so thank you for being able to help this village that is so needy right now. 

In other news things have seemingly quieted down with the protests and riots – since I last emailed you we had some more scary situations and for an entire weekend I was on lockdown at the Nehlsen’s but for the last 3 weeks all has been fairly quiet.  There is still a curfew in effect and nothing has been completely resolved but I think everyone is getting tired of drama – African’s included.  Please continue to pray for peace here in Burkina. 

I took a spring break in April and went to the Lyon’s family’s house for a week.  Their kids are in the youth group.  It was nice to get out of the city and away from the protests.  It was a vacation but I did spend it with about 8 youth group kids in a village – so I'm not sure how much of a vacation it can be called.  I did enjoy hanging out, listening to music, and laughing really hard with these crazy missionary kids! 

In one month I will be on day two of the WIRED end of the year retreat!  Please continue to pray for all the details that go into that.  Before that though we have three more youth groups and an end of the year banquet.  Pray that this year we can end well.  Its going to be hard to end because so many people are leaving – not just seniors.  Families come and go here so quickly and many of our youth group families are leaving at the end of this school year – youth group will look drastically different next year.  Pray that those kids that have been coming leave with hearts changed. 

I am still going to the Dorcus house once a week and it has been one of the highlights of my week!  As soon as I drive up all those girls just run at me – I cannot speak French but we share deep connections and the hugs from them mean everything to me!  I know that some of you support Dorcus house and I just want to say thank you because your support is changing the lives of these young women in amazing ways. 

Again, thank you so much for your continued support and encouragement!  A special shot out to Mercer Creek for your encouragement cards that I got last week – that was really special and great timing! 

Also, feel free to email me any time – and pray that the Internet doesn’t get cut off like the last few days so that I can reply!  (Can you imagine all Internet and landlines being cut off in your whole country for even one day?  Its crazy.)

Thank you all for everything you do for me – you are amazing.

Love,

Hannah

Thanks for your prayers last week!  Most of the 30 hour famine money was able to be wired here, we actually had youth group, and things are coming along with the camp planning!  God is so good!  If you would like to continue to pray for the exciting ways we are using the famine money that would be great!  Since Monday we have been putting on a medical clinic to see over 800 kids by the end of this week.  Tomorrow we head up to that area (Yagma) and begin work on drilling a well and on Saturday we will continue to do the well and the medical clinic and also a huge food distribution, a worship service, and a time of evangelism!  Prayers for God to move would be appreciated!!!

Also, last Friday ISO had a talent show and the band that I mentioned played in it.  They did a really awesome job and I thought that maybe you guys would like to see the video of it.  All 5 of these kids are in youth group and I love them all dearly!  Click here to see: E.R.O.C.'s epic performance at the talent show!

Pray for this week!

I am really needing the famine money to be wired here ASAP and we have a hold up for some reason – pray that it all gets here so we can feed people next week!

I had to cancel youth group last week because of the “issues” so pray that they are all gone so we can meet together on Thursday.

I am planning the end of the year retreat and a ton of details go into something like this – pray that it all works out, falls together well, and we have tons of kids that want to come!

rain!

The dust in Ouaga was rinsed off last night with some intense rain.  It was a nice and welcomed change to this high stress country.  The rain just seemed to lighten everything up a bit, in fact this morning my house is even a bit cooler! :)

A different kind of Easter

Easter in Leo was a new experience all together.  The Lyon’s have started a church in their neighborhood – and by neighborhood I mean village.  Easter morning we drove about a mile through mud huts and bunny trails and parked under a tree.  Around the other side of the tree we sat on benches and had a church service.  The church consisted of about 10 adults and 40 kids.  We sang and danced and listened to a sermon (it was in French but I caught some of it).  I had ants crawl up my skirt but overall it was a good service.  Then afterwards we had a church potluck!  But this potluck was sardine sandwiches.

Easter in the village is certainly a different experience and honestly for me I couldn’t even tell it was Easter.  All the things that make that day Easter in the past were gone – except for the whole reason for the event (thank you Jesus.)  It was strange without family, a big special church service, eggs, salads and pastel colors.  I did have a great day and a great experience though. 

We came home from church and had leftovers (the sardine sandwiches just didn’t cut it).  Then we played Risk (well I actually fell asleep during that game – so long), rode bikes down the road and hung out and talked.  It was a great day and certainly unforgettable!  

Highlights (not the magazine)

So highlights of my time in Leo – which is still not over.  I am going to ride the bus back with everyone here on Sunday. 

So here we go:

It rained!  SO MUCH.  Like poured, so naturally at 1:00 in the morning, we went outside and danced in it.  I got goose bumps for the first time in 8 months J  Now its hot again.

Listening to these hilarious boys!  Oh my lands if you wanna laugh come here.  We have 5 teenage boys here that quote every movie, sing silly songs, tell the most ridiculous stories, and just laugh.  I love it. 

Sleeping on a waterbed.  I have never done that before – so every time I get on it I say “Whoa, WHOOOA, Whoa” I also think I may be swimming in my sleep!  It is nice though because its cooler – I have had no trouble falling asleep in a house that’s 90 degrees at night.  Apparently though most nights are hotter…haha oh boy. 

Pranks.  Hanging out in a house full of teenagers naturally evolves into toilets covered with clear wrap, alarms hidden and set for the middle of the night, glue on the bar of soap in the shower, water being thrown at you in the morning and who knows what else.  Thankfully I have claimed to be Switzerland – hopefully that will last the rest of the week BUT I have certainly been effected by the above pranks J

Listening to music – eROC24/7.  Robbie, Nathan, Jonathan, Farris, and Liesbeth make up this totally awesome band.  They have been practicing all week and although its so loud we have to wear ear plugs they are very good and I enjoy taking pictures and listening to them all day. 

Brianna.  Oh my lands the Lyon’s have an 8 year old sister that is hilarious.  A few times a day she bounces through the room wearing a cowboy hat and a scarf around her neck on a big bouncy ball rabbit thing.  Every time it happens I feel like my life is completely random. 

Well that’s enough for now and about all I can think of right now.  BUT fyi – I am currently sitting on the floor listening to all these boys sing songs from every Disney movie known.  Ridiculously awesome.  

hello from Leo (pronounced lay-O)

Well I braved the streets after staying in doors for 3 days and fled town!  Well to be a little less dramatic for you who may get freaked out: ISO is on spring break so I left Ouaga to Leo for the week.  The Lyons family lives here and invited me – so I of course jumped at the opportunity to take a break away from the city.  It will be a week of hanging out, listening to music (most of them play some sort of instrument and some of the boys are in a band and will be practicing all week), hopefully going swimming, and just catching up on things I need to do.  Leo is more in the “bush” and so it should be a fairly peaceful week. 

Things died down a bit in Ouaga but the US embassy has still suggested that no one leaves their homes.  After a rough night on Friday night and some commotion on Saturday things have seemed to calm down though.  In the lull of a Monday morning we leapt at the chance to leave. 

Driving around for the first time in a few days was almost normal.  People are out and about, going to the market, getting groceries and gas.  The gas lines were REALLY long though because they were closed for several days. 

I am now in Leo and have gotten one phone call and one email telling me to just hold tight in my house so I am glad I escaped this morning before that J Thanks for all your prayers the last few days, please keep praying!

Snow Day

So just an update on life the last few days:

Things here have been steadily getting worse as it pertains to the electricity issues.  The power has gone out several times this week.  Yesterday the power was off all day – it came on JUST in time for youth group at 7:00 and then went off again at 1:00 a.m.  It was off all day today until 3:00 this afternoon.  Not fun. 

The military is having a hay day.  Last night they did some shooting into the air and today I woke up to school canceled.  The Wolters told me to come over to their house this morning and this afternoon I have been at the Nehlsen’s.  The US embassy has put a curfew on and suggested everyone to stay in their homes.  I am going to stay the night here so that I don’t have to spend the night all by myself.  So today has been a “snow day” of sorts.  I watched some movies, played some games, and stayed inside. 

We were supposed to have a youth group event tonight – a make our own pizza and watch a movie but that had to be cancelled.  I am hoping that things settle down tomorrow so that I can do something fun like go swimming or at least leave the house. 

Confessions.

Whenever I was uneasy or unsure of something Kandice or Mandy would say "well - confess your sins!"  I say that all the time now to the youth here.  Well now its my my turn - I have a confession, well its not actually a confession of sin though.

Just now I went into the kitchen to get some water to take my malaria medicine and as soon as the light turned on (it takes it a little while) a simi-huge gecko came running at me full speed!  I wasnt sure what to do.  So I jumped in the air, screamed really loud and ran into the other room.  Yes, I know geckos will do nothing to me, but I am still slightly scared of them.  Especially when they come running at me!  The reality is though that the little guy was just trying to find something to hide under.  Ha :)

So, dad - or anyone else who needed me to be hardcore in that moment - I am so sorry!

WIRED cancelled?!

Well for the first time I had to cancel youth group!  I was so upset too – it was certainly not an easy decision to make.  The military issues here are getting worse, but maybe better…its hard to tell.  Regardless the Burkina government has put a nationwide curfew at 9:00pm every night until further noticed and the US embassy has put a dusk till dawn curfew.  The CMA follows the US embassy and so the leadership and I decided to cancel youth group. 

I can handle most things pretty well but when something interferes with my purpose and ministry it becomes very difficult for me.  I understand completely and its certainly better to err on the side of caution BUT I still get pretty annoyed. 

When I was in South Africa in 2009 (I think) we had some cultural misunderstanding and drama in the house I was living in.  It had finally built up to a point of explosion – causing me to miss my ministry in one of the townships for the entire day.  I called home so upset (I am sure my mom and dad remember – it was like a $60 phone call!).  It left me questioning my future in ministry overseas.  Of course, I didn’t affect it too terribly much because I am here now but it was still a trying time.

Anyways prayer for peace in Burkina would be much appreciated because I really don’t want to cancel youth group 2 weeks in a row!

So after an hour of trying to upload pictures this is the only one so far!  Check back in like FOREVER!  haha :) 

This is everyone watching 3 boys play musical chairs at midnight!

quote from eat pray love

Its not my favorite movie and I would not even recommend it because I am more into action movies or fairy tales but there was a quote that I am feeling.  It went something like this:
"I am not asking for easy but why does everything have to be so hard"
I think the heat and the power cuts are wearing on me - and its not even hot season.  Pray for me!  I was told that the next few months is what really makes living in Africa as a missionary a "suffering for Jesus" life style and when most people start to think about their original homes so much more.  I am not questioning me being here AT ALL but its just not as easy.

Birthday!

From the mouth of Autumn (who was with me for my whole birthday):

Well Nathan was being so loud I thought he was going to wake Hannah up.  She said to herself “its just Pierre – no one would be breaking into my house.”  We snuck around the house as quietly as possible and then we were all laughing because Liesbeth didn’t want to play the violin – she didn’t think it would wake Hannah up.  It was really funny because Liesbeth tried to play 3 times but stopped because she was laughing so hard.  We made some noise and then Hannah came to the window.  Then we came into her house and we had mango muffins (wait – were they really mango?) and coffee and orange juice.  Then they gave her a big humungo card from Kari and Robbie – which said that she would get a present from them for every day they are gone (which is until next Sunday – they went to Greece without her).  We sat around for a little bit and hung out (this was at 8:00 in the morning) and then after awhile some people had to go. 

Okay – ill pick it up from here (Hannah)

So yea!  I woke up to hearing the violin outside of my window and a whole bunch of teenagers singing happy birthday!  How precious is that?!  So great.  After most of them left, several of the girls stayed behind and we decided to watch a movie.  It should be noted that the power had been off this entire time – we crammed into my bedroom and sweated while watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith on my computer battery.  After the movie I went over to the Shafto’s for lunch and cake!  Then in the afternoon some of us went to the school for swimming!  Me and Autumn headed out to the Fields house in the evening for dinner and more cake!  I have had 3 cakes this week!  I feel so loved! J Overall it was a great day.  I was not sure it would be – I woke up in the morning with no plans.  But God is good and helped me feel so loved yesterday.  

Oh by the way - its 6:30 in the morning and I am using internet now because who knows how long the power will stay on...after the 8 hour cut yesterday it went BACK off at 7:00 pm - just in time for youth group.  I woke up at 1:00 in the morning because my light came back on.  Yesterday was rough with a 14 hour power cut.  But - youth group still went okay, even in the dark.

just another day in paradise :)

Today we had an 8 hour power cut – it was painful!  But I survived.  I have been surviving a lot lately.  We had some student demonstrations that turned pretty scary over a week ago and then yesterday I woke up to my phone ringing and gun shots.  Some of the military rebelled, broke into an armory, and went on some sort of rampage.  They did some pretty bad looting but to the best of my knowledge no one was harmed or killed.  The US embassy strongly suggested we stay in our homes yesterday.  It was pretty frustrating for me because I live alone and because meetings were canceled and my day was just – ruined.  So after just a few hours by myself I decided to brave the streets and I drove like 2 kilometers to the Shafto’s house.  Robbie had called me earlier and said he didn’t see anything wrong – he rode his bike past my house.  So I made a quick drive down the street and hung out there for the rest of the day.  Things feel pretty safe today (yesterday too except in the morning).  The international school had school this morning and I drove my moto there for a meeting.  And I just went out and got some gas in my vehicle - life feels pretty normal.  There was rumored to be some marching and demonstrations last night from the military but they didn’t happen.  All seems pretty quiet.  Hopefully it stays that way!  Prayers would certainly be appreciated though.  

God at work

I am so excited for the things God has been doing at WIRED the last few weeks.  Worship has been an amazing time and here is a quote from a girl who has been coming to youth group for a few weeks now: "I know that God is the thing missing from my life."

Its pretty awesome to see God moving.

electricity and water

Yesterday we had a power cut and a water cut!  The water came back on around 10:00 at night - praise Jesus because I needed a shower desperately because of how hot it is!  I am up to taking 2 showers a day.  Its interesting living without things like power and water - it makes me appreciate it so much more when it is on.  So many people live without water and power everyday.  In this country alone the majority have no electricity and have to walk several kilometers for water.  Its hard to even kind of know what thats like until you experience it.  And even the little bit I have experience is nothing compared to what its really like to live life day in and day out without.  All that to say - I am so grateful for what I do have - even though I get so hot and bothered and want to complain.

ThE aDveNtuRes oF 30 hOuRs of FaStiNg!

Last night was the 30 hour famine lock in!  And I survived!  I have never fasted for 30 hours before and I have never put on an entire lock in before either.  But I am happy to say that it all went well.  My fasting was not as difficult as I thought it would be because I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day!  Let me explain:

We had our kick off on Thursday, which turned out great!  The power went off RIGHT before youth group so we changed around the whole schedule.  I had huge faith that the power was going to stay on – which is why we decided to keep it at my house and not move it to the international school.  But when it went off my heart sank.  We lit candles, played the games in the dark, and I moved my talk to the beginning of the night and we set up chairs in the yard.  The funny thing that happened though was that the power never actually went off!  The lights at my neighbor’s house were still on and I did not think that was weird at all because I am surrounded by people with generators.  What actually happened was that I was running far too many ACs and fans and lights at the same time causing the breaker thing to turn off (or however that works).  Matt figured it out and fixed the problem – I laughed so hard.  It was interesting to experience that though because it was exactly like my first time speaking in Ouaga all the way back in September.  My reaction compared to 6 months ago was completely different.  Instead of being overwhelmed and upset, I was calm and made do with what we had – God has already brought me so far! 

Once we figured the power issue we moved inside for a time of worship.  It was simply amazing.  We sang longer and it just felt like God was in the room.  His presence was thick and when we sang songs like “How He Loves Us” and “Hungry” and “I am Free” I could tell that I was not alone in worshiping God.  This youth group is amazing!  God is so good.  I also stretched many of the teens by having a time of prayer.  I had them silently ask God what he wanted them to get out of the fast, confess their sins, and ask God to do mighty things through the next 30 hours.  Then I had them get into partners and pray for each other.  It was so neat to see them scattered around the yard praying together.  Also, there was one girl who prayed for the very first time.  I don’t know if she believes in God but she talked to him for the first time.  It brought me to tears because I know God heard her and is just waiting for her to run into his arms.  

Yesterday, Friday, was quite an interesting day in preparing for the lock-in.  I slept in as long as I could without being too anxious (so 8:00) and started getting things ready.  I had to go to the school to pay for the auditorium and ran into some seriously heightened security.  The school was not too thrilled that we were going to have possibly 50 kids come to the international school and stay the entire night (even though they gave me permission last week).  The university students were rioting.  They were burning tires, huge crowds, setting up road blocks and who knows what else – I didn’t actually see them but we heard gunshots and saw a ton of smoke.  I left the school on my moto not knowing all this and when I stopped at the stop sign right outside of the school 2 huge trucks full of police officers with huge rifles of some sort driving slowly in front of me.  I quickly drove my moto to my house through crowds of people.  When I got there my phone rang – Matt called to tell me not to leave my house for the next few hours and got slightly mad at me for driving my moto right before that.  I spent a majority of the afternoon gathering stuff, making muffins (for the breaking of the fast) and getting phone calls from nearly everyone I know here.  At 3 I had to get some things so I ventured out of the house – I took the car though.  I had to get a cake mix from Lorinda and as I was taking the back roads from her house I decided to stop by the Shafto’s.  It was at this moment that I realized I was completely frazzled because I walked into their house and Robbie said – why don’t you just sit down here and ill make your cake.  Apparently I looked like I had been running around trying to solve everything.  Which I was because there was a lot to solve!  All the stores were closed because of the rioting and we needed to buy and prepare food for the lock-in.  Also, some of the parents were not able to help because of the rioting.  Robbie and the Lyon boys came with me to my house after we baked some cakes and basically saved the day.  They helped me so much!  They made Kool Aid and frosting, packed my car, and helped me get everything set up for the Lock-In. 

I had to meet with security at the school at 5 – they had to know who was coming, when, and for how long.  My llama leaders showed up and helped set up as well.  Kari made some simply amazing posters to put on the wall and people started to show up and bring food.  Matt and Megan spent the whole day making over 100 pancakes.

The Lock-In itself was great – not all the people who said they were coming came, which was fine because of the food shortage issue and the fact that some of my adult leader chaperones fell through – I think we had around 34 kids.  There was a time period there where I was the only adult leader (lets not tell the parents that though…haha).  We played some great outdoor hide and seek type games and then we moved inside.  We played human foosball, telephone pictionary, human tick tac toe (which is an awesome game by the way) and a giant game of musical chairs.  Then we watched the cartoon Tangled.  We stopped the movie right before 1:00 in the morning.  Matt shared about his recent well drilling success this week; we shared some scripture, prayed and then ate!  We had plenty of food and it was all amazing!  It was just a neat experience to have with all those kids.  After that we finished the movie, played some card games, some people went to sleep and played the wii.  Then we watched another movie around 4 in the morning – which put most everyone else to sleep – me included. 

I woke everyone up around 6:45, we cleaned up, packed up, and headed out!  There were no major issues, no really big problems – everything just turned out great.  And on top of that it was fun!  The kids had big smiles on their faces most of the night. 

I started the morning so unsure how everything was going to work out:  Were we going to even have the lock-in?  Would parents still let their kids come because of the rioting?  Would there be enough food?  Would I have any adults leaders?  How is this going to work?  But friends – God was in it.  And he ironed out all the issues – and I think that’s because I feel like I actually gave them to him.  I let him be in charge because I couldn’t be – and it was a good decision. 

I just want to say a big thank you to all of you who were praying for this.  Please keep praying because we still are having money come in and are still seeing what God is going to bring about from this amazing experience.  There are a few youth groups in the states who are partnering with us and have not yet had their 30 hours of fasting – so keep them in mind too.  Thanks again for donating and praying.  You all are so amazing – MAN I AM SO BLESSED!

Now I am spending the day sleeping, writing thank you cards, and maybe playing some video games with some of the llama leaders.  I will post pictures very soon.  

Adjusting

So I know I complained about the power cuts, and I am certain that I will never get use to them or the heat but I am feeling more confident about it today.  I am not sure if its because of Amy's inspiring conversation of how we will survive together and her offer for me to stay at her house when my power is off and hers is on or if its just that I made it through a whole week of it so far.  But either way I have to face it and I will!

I went to the school this week to see if I could move our 30 Hour Famine Lock-In to the auditorium there and they gave us permission!  What school gives a youth group permission to stay the night on campus?  We do have to pay but I think I can barter them down a few hundred bucks.  ISO has a generator and so they run it when the power goes out so we will have AC and lights for our all nighter next Friday.  I also got permission to use one of the classrooms for WIRED youth group on Thursdays.  I heard some complaining though from some of the kids so if I can get my generator fixed then hopefully we will not move youth group there.  I am all for it though because they wont charge me, we will have VERY good AC and it wont be using my electricity here at the house (which is very expensive in this country).  But we shall see.

Today there is Edge - which is a worship service for the ex-pat community in English.  One of the girls in the youth group suggested that we have a bake sale for the 30 Hour Famine at Edge and since I am all about using their ideas I said yes!  Even though this bake sale will not really make a ton of money I am finding that its a great way to get some kids involved who have not been interested in gaining pledges for the fast.  So today, I am going to make some cookies (if the power stays on) and sacrifice some of my precious chocolate chips! :)

Also a team came in last night from the States!  I love it when teams come in - its fun to meet some new people and I love how they look at Burkina with brand new eyes.  Its good for me to see that every once in awhile and remember that this totally is Africa.  Its so easy to forget sometimes!  Anyways this team just happens to be bringing some things for me!  So I am so excited to see what my mom sent me for my Birthday! :) Yippy!

Power Cuts.

Power cuts are looking like my future here in Burkina.  We were given an actual power cut schedule yesterday!  Although, the power cuts have not been on schedule yet - I am not sure what the point is of the schedule.  But what it says is that everyday there will be at least 8 hours without power!  Can you believe it?  That means 8 hours a day my fridge doesnt work, the lights dont come on, the internet is non existent.  And not to mention the difficulties power cuts bring to youth group - we had one during youth group last week and its so miserable.  The kids are distracted, I am distracted, and its way too hot to not have a fan on!  Anyways I just complained for an entire blog...sorry!  But as you pray for me please pray that the power will stay on more than expected and that the political unrest in Ivory Coast will resolve because most of our power comes from there apparently.

Africa Night

The International school had an Africa Night. I accidently showed up at rehearsal earlier this week and so I assumed that it was going to be similar to a school assembly or presentation.  I saw some of the younger kids playing drums and dancing with their parents and teachers helping them.  What I actually encountered on Friday was so much more.  First off it was HUGE.  They had venders selling things and an outside stage put up.  There were not just elementary students there to perform but several intense musicians and dancers brought in to show what dance and song sounded like in the focus country: Senegal.  Also there was an African fashion show and a skit and food from all over Africa!  I had a great time trying some food from Senegal, seeing a ton of the youth, and watching some pretty awesome African dance.

Sorry that the pictures are not so great, it was dark, dusty, and I was using my little camera.  :)

Softball Tournament!

This weekend ISO (the international school) hosted a softball tournament.  I spent all weekend watching the youth and some parents play softball!  It was so much fun.  

The softball field as ISO - with grass and everything!

Some of the youth at the tournament

Me and Robbie

Oh to be a teenager

I love teenagers so much – which is good since my job is working with them.  Its just, that sometimes I feel like I was so lucky.  Or maybe I think I am lucky now because I survived middle school and high school.  But I don’t remember it being that hard.  I know that in middle school it started out pretty rough but I honestly feel that once I got past that stage…oh wait – I just entered into another one after that.  Okay – maybe I wasn’t so lucky after all.  But I do know that through it all I KNEW what I needed to be and who I was – I knew that I needed God and I knew that I was his child.  That was the easy part for me.  What makes me so sad is how it’s not so easy for most teens to remember that.  In all of my experiences God came out the victor and I knew he would be.  Even when things were hard – I knew God was in control.  Why?  Why was it so easy for me and is so difficult for them?  I dont know why but I do know that I am here now and God has called me to these particular teenagers and so I will try to do what I can with what I have been given.  

Everyday I have been reading My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  For the most part it has been very good.  Sometimes I am not entirely in agreement with him but usually he says something that challenges me all day long.  This morning was interesting. 

“The process of being made broken bread and poured-out wine means that you have to be the nourishment for other peoples souls until they learn to feed on God.  They must drain you completely – to the very last drop.  But be careful to replenish your supply, or you will quickly be utterly exhausted.  Until others learn to draw on the life of the Lord Jesus directly, they will have to draw on His life through you.  You must literally be their source of supply, until they learn to take their nourishment from God.  We owe it to God to be our best for His lambs and sheep, as well as for him.” 

Whoa.  This was huge for me this morning because it brought so much more to why I myself must be grounded in the Lord.  I mean, most of these teens don’t know what they are doing every single day.  I am a leader to the student leaders and to the rest of the youth group – and some of these students do not know how to draw on the life of Christ, they do that through me.  Which is scary and overwhelming and is a huge responsibility.  That is why it is so important that I am continually being filled with the Spirit and letting the overflow from that pour out on those who are not quite there yet. 

Oh pray for me and them!