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…..)