Ministries of L’Eglise Baptiste de la Bonne Nouvelle

It’s so fun to watch new Christians grow in their faith and to see the results of that growth. All but three of our members in our church are new Christians, newly baptized, and ready to serve. When we approached our people about starting a teachers training class, we had several people show interest in this new ministry. They want to be involved in their church. It’s fun to watch them taking ownership. In our first class, I asked them why they wanted to be involved – was it because they saw the missionary, me, acting like a crazy woman trying to teach and control 80+ kids each week with only one helper, or was it because they saw the need to instruct kids in the Word of God? Each one of them responded that they saw a need and felt that God wanted to use them to work in this ministry.
Since that first class, we’ve incorporated two helpers per week so they can become familiar with the way we’ve been doing things. This has been such a help, though recently our numbers have dropped considerably. But even at that, from what they’ve been involved with and seen, they’ve already been able to give us a few helpful hints.
Last Tuesday evening, we had 7 adults show up to our class, with two that weren’t able to make it. For a part of our training, we worked through the colors of the wordless book. We gave them a paper explaining the significance of each color and some verses to teach the meaning. We gave them each a color bead bracelet that Edgewood Baptist Church in Rock Island, IL had made for us. At the end, we had them practice leading each other to Christ. It was so exciting to listen to them share the gospel. Though it was just practice time, we believe that practice time will help them be more comfortable when they share with other people. We encouraged them to take it home and practice, even to share Christ with family members that are not saved. We look forward to hearing how that goes.
Douninoma approached us a few weeks ago about another ministry that several people in the church had expressed interest in – starting a choral group. We left that in his hands to get started and now each Sunday he and another man lead the choral practice after church. So many people stick around after church to learn new songs and how to correctly sing old ones. This new ministry has made a huge difference in the congregational singing on Sunday morning during service.
Our ladies Bible study is doing well. We’ve averaged six ladies/study, and they are becoming more and more involved in our study time – asking questions and making comments. We’re enjoying our time together and I’m growing closer to our ladies as a result.
God continues to bless our ministry there in Somgande (a neighborhood in Ouagadougou). It is certainly not without its problems and difficulties as any new ministry anywhere in the world, but God is working in the hearts of our people and burdening them to reach their families and friends.
Thank you again for your prayers for our ministry here in Burkina Faso. Please keep our people in your prayers as they grow and strive to do God’s will in their lives.

Anniversary Sunday

I really struggle with remembering to put blogs up here. So please do forgive me and enjoy the story I’ll share.
Our anniversary Sunday was May 18th. We had planned to celebrate it on the 11th of May, but were quickly reminding that all the Catholic churches were holding their baptisms on that day. We decided to push our celebration to the following week, so that all of our members could be present.
So, early May 18th, four women showed up at our house to help me cook the riz gras we were making for everyone that day. We planned for around 75 adults and 125 kids. In the past, I would have considered for more children. However, in recent months, our numbers have dropped considerably. We’d only been averaging around 40 kids each week the weeks prior to the anniversary.
However, as we were cooking and packing the food, Mike called me from the church to tell me at 8:45 there were already around 140 kids at church. We had told them that we would have food. Note to self…..So, we filled every bag we owned to give to the kids. That totaled 198. At the end of service, we counted all the kids and discovered we had 221 kids in attendance. Where’d they all come from!!!! I have no idea. There were so many new faces in the group. I was happy to see them, but not prepared for them. We ended up telling them each to grab a friend and hold on to their hand and get in line. If there’s one thing I’m quickly learning here, when there’s food involved…..WATCH OUT! For the next 45 minutes, it was absolute MADNESS. The kids came to the gate without their friend, so they had to go back to where they’d left them and get back in line. After they’d made it through the gate with their friend, so many of them lied to say they hadn’t received any or ended up climbing back over our wall back into the courtyard to get back in line with a new friend. UGGHHHH! Live and learn.
I have to laugh at it all now. But I think the kids were frustrated too, because our numbers dropped again in the weeks that followed. I’m thankful to say they are picking up again. But we all learned some very valuable things that day, and I will hash out every bit of info gained before I even think about doing something like this again. But what can you say? Ca va aller. (It’ll be okay…..)

From Marabout to Christ

Burkina Faso along with many other West African countries experience what one might call mixed religion. Because of the animistic culture, the doctrines of many religions have been altered to fit into a mold that will work in this culture. For those of you who are not familiar with animism, it can be defined as the belief that a spiritual force is in all living creatures and even in inanimate objects such as rocks or the wind. They use magic, spells, enchantments, superstitions, etc., or anything that they believe will help to protect them from the evil spirits and placate the good spirits that are found everywhere in everything. Their religious leaders are what we would know as witchdoctors. One example of this doctrinal alteration is found in certain forms of Islam. They have their mosques and religious leaders, but many Burkinabe also consort with the “Marabout,” or Muslim witchdoctors.

Two weeks ago we celebrated our church’s one year anniversary. We had a great day with many visitors. One of these visitors was a man by the name of Mamadou. After the service, while everyone was eating, he came to me and said he wanted to be saved. Earlier in the week, he had listened to a message on the radio that Jesus was the only way to go to Heaven. That morning, he heard me speak from John 10 that Jesus is the door. Isn’t it amazing how the Holy Spirit works! We talked about salvation for more than thirty minutes. He confessed that he was a Muslim and relied heavily on the counsel of the Marabout. He was now ready to leave it all for Christ. As we bowed our heads to pray, he said, “WAIT, what should I do with all the ‘stuff’ from the Muslim witchdoctor?” I explained that first, he needed to repent and ask Christ to save him, then he needed to go home and get rid of it. Praise the Lord, he did! He told me he was going to go home and get rid of it immediately. I asked him about it last Sunday at church and he confirmed that everything was gone.

“A Picture is worth a thousand words”

I can remember growing up hearing the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” I saw the truthfulness of this saying last Friday evening. Four times a year we show a film at our church as a way of outreach. We have shown the Jesus Film twice. The last time we showed “Facing the Giants”. However, this past week we showed a film that the majority of our people had never seen, “The Passion of Christ.” Because of the literacy problem here in Burkina, we had one of the institute students give a commentary in Moore (the local tribal language) during the film.

God blessed and we had about 230-240 people in attendance. I was touched as I watched people young and old a like shed tears as the events surrounding Christ’s death unfolded before their eyes. I had the opportunity to preach and share the Gospel, explaining the necessity of the Christ's death. Unfortunately, no one responded during the invitation. However, I know God was working. We had several new visitors at church the following Sunday. Please pray that the Lord will continue to speak to hearts and we will see decisions for Him.

The Chase Is On!

Life is never dull here in Burkina. However, this weekend we had something very interesting happen. Let me start with a little background information. Three weeks ago we had someone come to the church and steal the electrical wiring that was buried between the church building and the toilet on the back side of the property. It wasn’t much, but it cost about $50 to replace it. Last Saturday, our electrician came and reinstalled everything.

Once a month, we have a church wide visitation to hand out flyers and invite people to come. There were seven of us this week that left the church Saturday morning to make visits. When we returned about noon, one of the guys saw someone on our property. Yes - the thief had already returned to steal the cable again. My friend jumped out of the car yelling “thief”…“thief”. Two others followed suit and the chase was on. Laope and I started the pursuit in the car. (In case you have forgotten my physique, let’s just say I’m not the fastest runner in the world.) We made quite a commotion as we were off-roading through a field to try to cut him off. Although he outran the guys, he quickly learned that he was no match for the Nissan.

We have several thieves here in Burkina. However, they live a dangerous life-style. If they are caught, a mob usually takes the law into its own hands. He is taught a valuable lesson at the expense of several bruises. A mob quickly assembled Saturday. However, we told them that it was not our goal to hurt him. We preferred to deal with the situation by talking with his family. Even after we put this reluctant 17 year old in the car, one gentleman said to leave him and they would be happy to take care of it for us.

I’m thankful to say that everything was handled in a Godly manner that I feel God will bless. I’m also thankful that we drove up before he had the opportunity to tear anything up. One interesting note is that Wednesday evening one of our members asked for prayer that the thief would be caught. Apparently, he had been hitting several homes in the area. Who would have thought that God would answer her request in such a fashion?

Quit Talking While the Movie Is On

Quit talking while the movie is on! I think everyone has either said or heard those words at least once in there life. However, I found myself encouraging the opposite counsel Friday evening.

I had the opportunity to show a film and preach for a young Burkinabe pastor here in Ouagadougou. I told him it was his choice of film and we would try to accommodate. He wanted to show “The Passion of the Christ”. This created a little problem. Only 20% of the people here are literate. For those who have seen the film, you know it is in Aramaic. How were we going to communicate this film and its message to them in Moore (their tribal tongue)? That is when we decided to have one of our Bible institute students, Paul, give a commentary in Moore at the same time that the movie was playing. We kept the volume up, but not as loud as Paul’s microphone. It worked GREAT! I wish I could say it was my idea, but that would be lying. It was actually the idea of another Missionary who did the same thing a few weeks ago.

I preached just before the end of the film. We invited those who wanted to know more about salvation to stay and talk afterwards. Praise the Lord! We had 6 people accept Christ as their Savior. Please pray that they will become faithful members of this new church.

New Siblings in Christ….New Struggles in Ministry

What a great time we’re having here in Burkina Faso. Life is certainly not always easy and people don’t always do what you ask or expect them to do, but we have much to praise God for. In the past two weeks, we’ve seen an additional 4 souls saved. It’s been amazing to watch God work and be used by Him. Last week, a young man named Abel came to our home to discuss our beliefs as a church and salvation. While he was in the office with Mike, Douninoma, and Benoit hearing about salvation, the Lord opened the door for me to talk with Noellie, the young lady who helps me in our home. We have been praying for Noellie for over 1 ½ years to accept Christ. Though her family is Catholic, she has been coming faithfully with us to church and has heard the message of salvation so many times. Always before though, it was simply a good story. However, this day, the Lord really worked. Throughout the day, He had been more strongly burdening my heart for Noellie’s salvation. At the end of the day, I approached her just wanting to know where she was on realizing her need for a Savior. He apparently had been working in her heart, because she told me that she’s wanted to ask me some questions about salvation for a while now. She had just never felt that the timing was right. God gave me the opportunity right then to show her some Scriptures in the Bible just as Mike was leading Abel to the Lord. He joined Noellie and I just after Abel left our home, and for the next 30 minutes, Mike and I got to lead Noellie to the Lord. In the time that she’s worked in our home, Noellie has become our friend. But now she is our sister.
Our Christian family is growing. Praise the Lord! This past Tuesday, we saw two more young ladies come to know Him as their Savior. They are sisters, Helema and Natasha. Helema is in difficult situation in her life right now. Her family is upset with her because she is pregnant now by a man who they do not like. He is not stepping up to take responsibility, so she has had to rely on her family even more. She came to us to ask us how to pray for this. We not only had the opportunity to tell her how to pray but to introduce her to Whom she should pray. Both she and her sister accepted Christ that day.
Already this year, the Lord has given us seven new brothers and sisters in Christ in our church. It’s fun to watch how they grow in their new faith. However, in the area where our church is located, not everyone is so excited. Within a one mile radius, there are at least seven mosques that we know of. The Muslims in our area are not at all happy with what’s happening at our church. They are discouraging their families and friends to come to our church and forbidding their children to come. The number of children coming to church now has seriously dropped in the last 4 weeks. For the past two weeks, I’ve only had 36 children in attendance, whereas before, we were on average running over 75 per week. This is discouraging to hear and to see. But we know that God is in our ministry. Please pray for our church – L’Eglise Baptiste de la Bonne Nouvelle –, the new believers’ growth, and the opportunity to reach more people.