New Restaurant Experiences

Once a week, Pam and I get together with Charlie and Mary Joyce. The purpose is three-fold: fellowship, help with the cultural adjustments, and FOOD (after all, we are Baptist). It has aided my wife and me greatly. This past week was a little different because humor was added in the mix.

We went to a restaurant where you sit outside at tables. These types of places are very normal here in Burkina. The setting was very nice. It was a nice restaurant. While we were waiting on our food to arrive and visiting, I noticed my wife get very startled and uneasy. As I turned to see what was going on, I saw a black rat walking by our table. Charlie and I had a big laugh at my wife’s expense (sorry honey). We found out later that many of the Burkinabe think they are “good eatin”. Although we are adjusting to the culture rather quickly, we are not to that point yet.

Petite Frustrations

As much as I love Burkina, I miss some of the conveniences of the States. I thought I would give you an example of a recent issue. Before we left the US we bought a new dryer to pack in our container. Everyone said it wouldn’t be a problem to use here since all dryers are 220 volt. Well, that wasn’t the case for us.

When our container arrived, some of the guys from the Bible Institute helped us unload. One young man was an electrician. However, I think this was out of his league. When we tried to hook it up, we fried the motor and some sort of converter in the dryer. I hired a professional and asked if it could be fixed, if he could find parts, and if he needed me to order something from the States. He said it wouldn’t be a problem to fix it. However, electric dryers are not a common appliance in these parts. He worked on the dryer for one month…yes, I said one month. After several phone calls, he finally had it finished. The good new is that the dryer is working. The bad news is that none of the original switches work. They couldn’t figure out how to hook them up so they decided to install their own timer (looks like and egg timer). I also have three cords coming out of the back. One is for the motor that turns the drum (110 volt), one is for the heating coils (220 volt), and I’m not sure what the last one does.

I know that in time, I’ll look back on this and laugh. However, you better give me a couple of weeks before you mention it.

God Continues to Bless

One of the toughest adjustments we’ve faced is the language barrier. It is a depressing and frustrating feeling when you want to communicate, but can’t. I think the people who work at the “Shoppette”, a small grocery store close to our house, always get a laugh when I come in for something. I might have won “Funniest Home Videos” when I tried to convey that I needed dog food. However, it’s not just the little things. Pam and I desperately want to talk with people about the Lord. Recently, God gave us the opportunity.

Last week, while I stepped out of the class for a few minutes, one of our teachers asked Pam when we baptize our children. However, she made us answer in French. The conversation was a lengthy one. Pam had the opportunity to talk to her about salvation and baptism. I made it back in time to deal with the issue of works, and how they are not a part of salvation. Our teacher is a Muslim. We have invited her to church, but I’m not sure she will come. Please keep her in prayer. Also pray that we have many more opportunities to share Christ.

I do have a praise. Last Sunday, Missionary Charlie Joyce asked me to preach and he translated. After the service, a young lady accepted Christ as her Savior.

How to strengthen your prayer life

Recently, we had to tackle a task that I have been dreading for a while now. I had to teach Pam how to drive a standard. I keep telling her it has done wonders for my prayer life (only kidding ladies). Driving in Burkina is far different from the States. We get to share the roads with other vehicles, mopeds, bicycles, people and donkey pulled carts. It is quite an adventure to say the least. I have been so impressed with my wife. She has picked it up rather quickly. Yesterday she drove to church and today she drove back from school. Soon she will be chauffeuring me all over Ouagadougou.

A little rain to brighten our day

In the States, we usually think it is the sun that brightens our day. During this time of the year, the opposite is true here in Burkina. The people get so excited when it rains. I have to confess, I’m right there with them. Anything that lowers the temperature is exciting. At church Sunday, it came a gully washer (for those of you not familiar with the term, it’s hick for it rained a lot). The people were thrilled. After the service the kids couldn’t help but play in it. What brightened our day was not the rain, but our son’s reaction to the rain. He has been so timid around the Burkinabe, however, not Sunday. He was right there in the middle of the action. He was allowing the some of the kids to even hold him. He had such a good time. As I watched him, I couldn’t help but smile for I knew it was another small step in Blake’s acclimation to the culture.

Home, Sweet, Home

We have now been in our house for almost 5 weeks. I know this blog comes really late. But let me tell you, it’s been an adventure. The first 2 ½ weeks we lived with little to nothing in our little house. We had foam mattresses to sleep on, and some cooking supplies. It’s pretty amazing how little you can live with, and still survive. It sure made me miss the funniest things – like knives that don’t rust the first time you use them and most especially a can opener!

Our first night in the house was an adventure. Carissa (the Nunu – French for Nanny, but we call her Nuni) and I stayed up until 2:00AM cleaning our new home, then tried to settle in for the night. However, after we both cleaned up, we noticed the bathroom in the master bedroom had some major problems. The plumber had come earlier that day to do some repairs and replacements, but left all the pipes in that bathroom open. We didn’t realize that until all the water had puddled on our floor spreading from the bathroom into the bedroom. One of our foam mattresses became a giant sponge that night. So, we didn’t get to go to bed just yet. It was time to do more cleaning. We finally got to bed after 3:00AM and had to get up for class the next morning. What a memorable first night!

Our container finally arrived on June 17^th, and it was like Christmas come early. As I opened boxes and containers, the smells of home overwhelmed me. It was a nice day! The next two weeks were crazy busy for us, with all of our things having to be stuffed into our house and small dependent. WE DID IT! Our house now feels like home, and it doesn’t echo! That’s very nice with our two kids screaming at the top of their lungs. “Inside voice” doesn’t mean a whole lot to them right now.

So now it’s “Home, Sweet, Home”.