Our new home: Sarfalao

So, you may have heard: we moved!  It wasn't a terribly long move, just across town.  Although it's somewhat old news now, we are finally getting a few pics and some info about the new place up here for your reading enjoyment.  But first, why did we move?  Well, the house that the congregation arranged for us was nice, but wasn't what we would really like long-term, especially after we got a chance to look around here and see what else was available.  We didn't exactly go out looking for this new house, though.  Once we decided to move, we were just casually looking around at new houses being built, and happened to have dinner with 2 missionary couples from different congregations.  At dinner, they both said that the C.O. has been saying for years how much need there is in the Sarfalao Congregation, and how nobody seems willing to move there.  So, with that encouragement, we called the C.O. and explained that we were going to look for a new house, and asked him if we should try looking in the Sarfalao territory.  He very emphatically said yes.  Just in case that wasn't clear enough direction for us, 3 days later the missionary (where we had dinner) called and said the house next to them was available, and it's solidly in Sarfalao territory.  It's a mirror image of theirs, which we loved.  Needless to say, a little discussion and some prayers later, we rented the house next to them!

As you can see, we have a lot of greenery in the courtyard.  That makes it so much nicer to come home, and much more enjoyable to spend time at home!  In addition, even though the windows may not look too large by American standards, by Burkina standards they are HUGE, and let in tons of light, which was one of the things we really wanted.

We have our very own mango tree in the courtyard (and they are yummy!)

As for the house itself, it is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and at least three times the size of our place in Alameda!  There is even a shed where we can store our bike at night so it doesn't have to sit in the living room. (Alisa is very happy)

Our bedroom with our new 3 place bed (turns out that's roughly king sized)

With the new place, we could start decorating, and getting all the furniture that we need.  It took a couple months, but we finally have a dining room table now!  The table is 9' long with matching benches to allow for entertaining large groups.  We have managed to cram 12 people around it so far.  And to feed them, we have an actual western kitchen!  Not only does it open directly on the dining room, unlike our old house (where you had to go out the back door to get to the kitchen), but it actually has built in cabinets!  Trust me, that's more exciting than you think.  Oh, and we now have a puppy to live in our new and improved courtyard.  The idea is that he will help guard against thieves... but he seems to love everybody, so he might not be a good guard!

Living room and dining room as seen from the front door

His name is Wolo (Wulu), which means Dog in the local Jula language.
All the brothers and sisters get a big kick out of our choice in names.

As you already read, along with the new location, we are in a new territory and a new congregation.  What is it like?  Well, the territory is a little different.  We no longer have the downtown commercial area, but we do have the full spectrum of residential.  At one end, near our house, is the hotel district, with a few very large hotels and a lot of very large houses.  Service in this area is still good, but not near as many people home and willing to talk.  At the other end, we have "non-loti", which is basically the slum.  People build houses anywhere they can in this area, and usually not too permanent, because someday the city will come in and establish roads etc.  If the house you built happens to be where the city wants a road, your house has to come down.  This is by far the poorer area, because land is so much cheaper there.  Obviously, with that land there are no city services to pay for as well.  And in the middle we have, well, the middle.  All those ranging between the super poor and the super rich.

Where non-loti meets farmland

A road through non-loti.  As you can see, small and simple houses, and bad roads.

As far as demographics, there are many more Catholics and Protestants in this territory, apparently due to a Catholic mission having been established here for many decades.  Yes, we even see nuns regularly.  For preaching, this has pluses and minuses.  It seems like the Catholics are actually more opposed to our work in many cases than the Muslims.  But, it also opens up opportunities because ones who accept the truth often already have a base with the Bible and so progress faster.  Also, the Protestant churches have started teaching people to read and write in the Jula language, so the message can touch their heart in ways that wouldn't otherwise be possible.  Overall, the territory here is just as good as before, and we love it!

Our Kingdom Hall after a recent clean-up day

One of the main roads in Bobo, with the train station visible at the end of it.

One of our close neighbors.  This convention center is possibly the nicest building in all Bobo

Keep checking back, the next post will be all about the languages here, maybe it will even include some videos (if we can get some cooperative friends!)