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A Hangar for Weleni

28/5/2015

Several weeks ago, Jesse and I went along to help put up a "hangar" for a church plant with the CMA Mission Team from Bobo. A "hangar" is a what we would call a pole barn or shade shelter. The pictures above are of the original church meeting place. As you can see, it was far from weather proof and rapidly deteriorating. These rough structures are made from what ever is locally available for next to nothing, but they have a very short life span and do little to keep out the elements.

Hangars are often a first step toward a true church building for village churches. For less than $2000 US dollars, village churches can have a place to meet and worship out of the sun and rain. A church in the US partnered with the Bobo CMA missions team and several villages to provide 4 hand dug wells and 4 hangars in multiple villages with church plants. What an amazing blessing these structures are to local churches and pastors. They serve as the church structure now and as God grows these churches they can be enclosed, or used for Sunday school location for the children. They are a great long term investment that will be utilized for many years to come.

Below is the crew that put up this hangar. Men from the local church, fellow Burkinabe pastors and believers and missionaries provided the transport and labor to build the structure and the local pastor's wife and women from the local church provided food for everyone.

There are many village church plants praying & waiting for God to provide the funding for a church building or hangar. Will you pray about coming along side a village church planter to encourage them in the work God has called them to here among Burkina's unreached villages? By US standards, these projects are easily within the reach of individuals, small groups and churches. The impact for the gospel is huge! These structures help give the village pastors legitimacy in the eyes of the community and show that the churches engagement is long term and serious. Praise God for faithful partnering churches and individuals.

These hangar projects are a great way for a church to get involved and come for a short term trip. A church could fund several hangars and help install them in the villages. Contact us if you are interested.

Check out Light Up Burkina for more info about partnering to support church planting and adopting villages/church plants through your prayers and finances.

For His Glory,
Aaron

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Local Church Conference

19/5/2015

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A couple of weekends ago there was a church conference for the church we attend in the village of Bounouna, and it's daughter churches- it was held in a village named Toumousseni. Above are the pastors, elders and deacons who spoke throughout the 3 day event. About 70-80 people were able to attend, hear God's Word, pray and worship together.

Well…my first time preaching in French. Thank God for Vincent (above). He is an elder in our church,our language helper, a Bible translator, Jesus' voice in the recently completed Dogose Jesus Film project and a carpenter. There is a lot more I could add, but in short, he is a man of God who works tirelessly for kingdom purposes. Needless to say, having Vincent translate my French into Jula was a huge confidence builder, as he is able to understand my ever improving, but not yet arrived French.

A few minutes into my message I saw everyone turning around and this was why. 3 camels went by on the road. While we see them most months, they are far from an everyday thing in our part of Burkina.

Kristi, here with Rebeccah. Rebeccah, her husband , and her co-wife all came to Christ later in life after years of devotion to fetishes and spirits. Praise God for His work in peoples lives! She enjoyed teasing and testing Kristi's Jula while many of the younger women were preparing the rice and sauce for lunch. Below is a prime example of the cooking that goes on to feed a big crew when there is a gathering.

Please continue to pray for the lost and unreached villages and peoples in the Cascade region of Burkina Faso. The needs are profound. It is great to see the changed lives, but as always there are many reminders of how much work is left to be done. May the Lord of the harvest guide and strengthen us.

For God's glory,
Aaron

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May 11th, 2015

11/5/2015

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The last two saturdays we have been blessed by attending bible school graduations here in Burkina. The first graduation was at Poundou, where we helped install a couple drip irrigation kits a little over a month ago. There were 17 graduates this year. They will be heading back to their home villages for two months before they head out to their assigned villages. They will be going to plant churches in remote villages.

We are praising God for these faithful men and their wives and all of their hard work and sacrifice to study God's word. One of the keynote speakers talked about going from the "frying pan and into the fire;" they may be escaping the frying pan of 4 years of training, but the "frying pan" will look pretty good to them once they are fully engulfed in the fire. As we sat, sweated, listened and prayed, we thought about the dedication it has taken these families to complete their coursework and the joys and trials awaiting them as they are sent out to proclaim the gospel. The ceremonies were filled with prayer, singing and encouragement. My favorite part is when the men and their wives are invited to kneel before the pastors and christian workers as they lay hands on them and pray over them. What a beautiful picture of Christian love and purpose. Most are missionaries in their own right as they will leave their extended family, their village, and most often, their people group, to go into remote villages filled with people of different ethnicities.

Matthew 9:37-38
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Please pray with us to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into His harvest. Many national missionaries, pastors and cross cultural workers are still needed to see unreached villages and peoples reached for God's glory. Get involved by visiting Light Up Burkina!

Due to generous partnerships these pastors received plows and enough money for one of the two oxen needed to pull the plow. This will aid the pastors in working their own fields and provide the potential to plow other peoples fields for much needed supplemental income.

While we were at Poundou, we had a chance to check up on the drip irrigation projects that had been started a month earlier. We were encouraged to see them functioning well and doing their job during the hottest and driest time of year!

Blessings in Christ,
Aaron

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A Hangar for Weleni

Local Church Conference

May 11th, 2015

Aaron & Kristi

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