I love Farmers

I am sooo proud to be a farmers daughter!  I love where I come from and I love farming!  Yes, I moved to the city and am currently not farming but I will always be a farmer :)

All that to say: I also love hilarious farm kids who post youtube videos - check out these farmers they will certainly make you laugh with their parodies on Gangnum style and I'm sexy and I know it:

The Peterson Farm Bros

30 Hour Famine Update!

Oh this is cool!

Do you remember the 30 Hour Famine from this year, 2012?  I did not blog about it but I certainly talked about it on Facebook and in my update emails.  For this particular fund raising event WIRED youth group raised nearly $20,000 and went to the village of Bouassa.  WIRED drilled a well, helped build a classroom, gave out grain, dug holes for bathrooms and hung out with children. 11 Adults and around 40 kids have come to know Christ from this single event - and that was just the beginning.

Susan, my lovely roommate from my time in Burkina, just sent me this message:

Just talked to Jay briefly today and he gave an update on the church we did the project in.  Apparently they did start school in the building and the church has about 40-70 people in it.  The well is having an awesome ministry in the community with the pastor's wife heading that up.  Compassion has started there as well, using both the school building and the hangar. They have a dedication service out there tomorrow.

When WIRED decided to help the Baptist church do a church plant in this area  I went out to the land to see what it was like.  There was absolutely nothing - just some brush.  It was truly a blessing to see how God used WIRED with this piece of land.  Now, its neat to see how he is continuing to use this land to help spread his name.

Here are some photos from that day last April that WIRED did their project:

Well Drilling

Using the newly found water to soak me!

Child Evangelism

WIRED :)

Garages

Weird Portland fact - people do not park their cars in the garage.  Instead they pack it full of junk and keep the cars outside to soak up the rain.  This blows my mind.  I mean, garages in definition are to house your vehicles.  Do people all over do that and I just never noticed?

Feeding the Orphans

From September 2010 to June 2012 I was literally living off the support of my friends, family, and people I dont even know so that I could serve God in Burkina Faso.  These people (maybe even you) were so generous that when I had raised enough in February 2012 to finish my time there and asked them to stop (yes, I had to ask people to stop giving me money) - they still didn't.

So, I left the money in Burkina Faso and have been handing it out since.  Much of the money went to the youth group, WIRED, that I had been running the last 2 years.  Some went to the Dorcus House and the rest has gone to different projects that the CMA has been working on in the country.  

Here is the lastest update of where that money has gone from Betty who is working with Envision in Burkina:

This past week we went up to the orphanage in Yako. Ruth Cox the directress had just had a car accident and fractured her wrist and really messed up her car. She had gone off the road and hit a road sign. Thankfully the other people were not hurt. The same week one of their bright young students, age

18, who had been involved in a serious accident this summer and survived, who was a role model for the younger students, died suddenly. They did not know if he had residual injuries from the earlier accident and died from internal bleeding, but on the way to the hospital he died. They had faced these two events at basically the same time. You can imagine how discouraged they were.

They also live super simply there, and that is putting it mildly to say the least. They eat a lot of pasta and rice and lots of very basic veggies that they can buy locally.

We went and told them we would be bringing lunch. We went to the store and bought them sliced lunch ham, sliced cheese, hamburger meat for making some hamburgers, fresh buns and pita bread, lots of in season fresh fruit and veggies, grapefruit, avocados, watermelon, potato chips, fresh potatoes, and many other items too.

When we sat down for lunch with the Yako team and pulled out the sliced ham and cheese with the fresh buns and pita bread you would not have believed how excited they were. They were grinning from ear to ear, got a camera and took a picture of them with ham and cheese and when they ate they were rolling their eyes in pleasure and talking about how great it was. Such a simple thing that made such a big impact on these people who work so hard at Yako.

All of this was done through the generosity of Hannah [and by Hannah she means Hannah's supporters] and we want her to know what happened and also that we have enough money to make another or even several more trips like this one. Our next trip to Yako will be in December and we are going to take rice and oil and some money for the orphans food, as well as another nice batch of meat, cheese, fruits and veggies for the missionaries and interns too. Hannah [again, my supporters!] , through her generosity is helping to really bless this ministry and we cannot thank her enough for this.

Let her [Hannah's supporter] know that her [their] gift has and is making a real impact in lifting spirits and improving conditions in Yako!

Betty

Familiar

At some point between the last post and this one, life in West Africa became "normal."  Looking at it now it didn't seem normal - I still had so many adventures that were certainly outside of the typical life of most Americans.  But, I suppose after living in any given location for at least a year things start to get normal.  I am now in Portland, Oregon and have only been here 2 months and its already normal.  My theory is that when you live in a different city but its still in your culture, the transition period is drastically shortened due to familiarity.  Although Portland is a tad bit different than Eastern Washington it is still the beautiful Pacific Northwest and has always been my home.  

So, all that to say, its possible that because life in Burkina Faso became my new "normal" I stopped seeing it for the truly unique place that it is.  And thus (thus? I never use that word), stopped reporting back.  I am making a new vow - although no one is really going to hold me accountable - that I will not let my eyes become clouded over with familiarity...or if I do - that it wont be for over a year. 

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!