Goodbye Burkina

Saying goodbye is never an easy thing. It’s not easy to say goodbye to people that we love. It’s not easy to say goodbye to a place we love. It’s not easy to say goodbye to a life we love. When you combine all 3, it makes it the hardest goodbye of all. Of course, we have the hope of eternity, so goodbye is not really forever. But try telling your heart that in the moment!

Our goodbye began back in June, with one simple phone call, although it took almost 6 months to finish. It wasn’t really unexpected though. After all, we had been seeing the situation in Burkina go downhill for some time. Who would have ever thought that the most stable country in west Africa would become the “epicenter” of African jihadist activity? Well, that’s what is happening, regardless of what we thought possible or impossible. Anyways, back to that phone call.... The news had been talking about terrorist attacks for months, some villagers killed here, a church shot up there. Oh, and of course in the 2 preceding years there had been 3 major attacks in the capital. But we didn’t see any danger where we lived. Bobo is a very peaceful city, in a very peaceful region. All of these events were happening a long ways from us. There was no way that this danger would come anywhere near us for a very long time. Nonetheless, we aren’t stupid, so we did ask some brothers at the branch about it. Their response gave us reason to be concerned. They were closely monitoring the situation, and some felt that we should be ready to leave at a moment’s notice (have a suitcase packed and enough cash on hand for plane tickets, things like that). It’s probably a good thing we heard that when we did, as it wasn’t even 2 weeks later that we got the call. Yes, THE call.

It was a warm, uneventful Friday night. In the middle of dinner with friends, the phone rang with a number from Benin. The message was (more or less): the branch has arranged for all missionaries to leave Bobo in 3 days time... and we are strongly encouraged to be on the same flight! The instructions were to take any possessions that have a personal attachement, as we likely would not be going back. Needless to say, expected or not, such a phone call is a shock. For most of the next day, we mostly wandered around our house, half numb, half in shock, wondering how we could possibly condense 5 and a half years of life into a few suitcases. Even now, 6 months later, the memories of all the good times we had in that house, the time spent in the shade of the mango tree with brothers making Bobo tea, the dance parties, the dinners, the friends crying on our shoulders, all of them bring a smile to our face and an ache to our heart at the same time. And we won’t even talk about how much we miss our animals! Of course, the shock didn’t just affect us. When the friends began to hear about it the next day at the meeting, many were crying at losing us all. Others were frightened, asking what’s going to happen to those who are left behind, ones who can’t just pick up and leave? Many are still asking that, and, in fact, we think ourselves often think about that. When the organisation says to evacuate, it’s serious. What is going to happen in the future?

If you don’t know the rest of the story, you have probably guessed by now... yes we got on the same flight as the missionaries, and no we never went back to Bobo. Thanks to the tremendous help of friends, we were able to get all our remaining things packed up and sent to Ouagadougou, where a brother very lovingly rented us a nice house with no contract and no strings attached. At first we were convinced that we could never endure Ouaga for any length of time (the traffic is intense, the sun and the heat are searing, and the dust is brutal). But we ended up staying much longer than we originally thought possible. No, we didn’t miraculously come to love the city. But we did come to love the congregation we were in! Not really a surprise, be we found a warm and loving welcome. We found loving, spiritual shepherds. We found zealous, fun pioneers. We found discouraged ones that we were able to encourage. We found all the things that we could have ever wanted to draw us close to the congregation. And the original reason that we stayed in Ouaga was to attend the National Convention, which we are so glad we didn’t miss. This is a once-every-10-years event, with every single Witness from Burkina and many from beyond. Not only were we overjoyed at the association, but we got to see a Bible student take the step of baptism, after we (well, Alisa) had studied with her for 4 years. We wouldn’t have missed it for anything!

So now we jump ahead to November.... near the end of the month, the US embassy in Burkina changed the country’s status again. This is actually what began this whole story. Back in June, the embassy declared that virtually everywhere in the country outside of the capital was unsafe. Well, this time, they finished the job by declaring the entire country unsafe and sending embassy families out of the country to safety. As you can imagine, we had quite a sense of déjà vu, and a sense of impending doom. Maybe doom isn’t the right word, but we definitely felt like we were about to relive the same story again!

At this point, I should interject that we had actually already decided we needed to leave. Literally the day before the embassy’s announcement, following weeks (actually months) of tears, discussions, debates, prayers, and sighing, we had finally accepted the reality that we couldn’t stay in Ouaga for so many reasons. So in a way, this time it was a relief! We will never be able to second guess the decision, and wonder if we should have stayed, if there was more work that Jehovah had prepared for us in Burkina. There’s no question now, especially because we have since learned that the few remaining missionaries will also be leaving the country in coming weeks and months.

Still, it’s not easy to say goodbye. One young boy in our congregation couldn’t understand that we were leaving, and asked his mom why we were going to stop going to meetings. One of our best friends in Bobo said that as long as we were still in the same country, it still felt like we were present with him. More than a few tears were shed when we had to tell our friends that we were leaving. This time it didn’t feel like a “possibly temporary” situation. No, it was clear that this time is for good. We sold or gave away everything we owned that wouldn’t fit in 5 suitcases and our carry-ones. We gave up our house. We said goodbye to everyone and everything in Burkina Faso.

Now we aren’t the first people ever to go through this experience, nor will we be the last. Many have fled their homes with bullets whizzing by. Some have seen unspeakable suffering as they fled. Others have had nowhere to go and had to live in the bush or in refugee camps. And that’s not only in Africa! Despite our pain, we aren’t suffering nearly as much as some of our brothers and sisters. And in the end, would we say we regret going to Burkina because of the pain of leaving? Never! The last 6 years have been an unforgettable experience. Never had we imagined how close we would become with the brothers and sisters there, or how attached we would become to life there. Would we ever suggest not to go serve somewhere because it may not last forever? Again, never! The joy and blessings can’t even be measured. The pain at leaving may last for as long as this system does, but ultimately is is temporary. So there is no reason to hold back. We are so glad that we didn’t!

The logical question now is: where are we going, what are going to do? To be honest, we don’t yet have an answer to that, beyond the immediate future. But we are confident that Jehovah will help us answer that question in due time. Will it end being somewhere like Burkina? We have no idea! But we are confident that we will again be blessed, if we don’t hold back!

Economy class? No, even worse!

“Economy class”.... the words are enough to make many Americans sigh. They evoke cramped quarters, uncomfortable seats, generally suffering at 30,000 feet. For those who must travel across the country, or worse across the ocean, oh that they could avoid this dreaded condition and get a coveted place in business or first!

As I sit here in my economy class seat somewhere over Greenland, I remember a time that I felt the same way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still much happier sitting in front of the curtain, rather than behind it. But now I don’t feel so uncomfortable, even facing 9 hours in this seat. It’s funny how everything depends on perspective. And Africa will certainly change ones perspective!

Even now, the memory of 10 hours in the bus makes my current surroundings seem downright paradisiaque. And that’s without even reflecting on the next trip, which included 7 hours broken down under the hot African sun. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we? After all, it all started so far away.....

The taxi driver was willing, but little did we know where we had just asked him to go. As we left the auto-route and began entering smaller and smaller roads, we could tell that this was not an upscale area. The crumbling concrete balconies, the tin roofs and tarps shading walkways and barely surviving vendors, all tied to dirty apartment buildings, their inhabitants going about the hard business of living off of nearly nothing. But this wasn’t what surprised us, it came as no surprise given where we were. The surprise came when we turned the corner and entered the market area. The taxi entered the mass of humanity much like an Olympic diver enters the water, with no hesitation and barely a splash. Unlike the diver, though, the taxi had to bring his speed to a near stop in order to mingle with thousands of pedestrians and hundreds of push-carts delivering nearly any product imaginable. Thanks to the wonders of technology (smart phones with Google maps), we thought that we knew exactly where our destination was, and toyed with the idea of getting out of the taxi since walking would have actually gotten us there much faster. In the end, reason won out, and we chose to sweat in the near stationary taxi for 15 minutes instead of joining the pedestrian war going on all around us.

You would think that this innocuous start would have given us a clue what we were in for, but we remained blissfully ignorant. Even when we finally found the grubby bus station, we remained unperturbed. However, the worry began to creep in just a little when, speaking through a literal hole in the wall (just large enough to see his face), the station agent said that tickets are sold on the day of only, first-come first-served. He recommended returning the day of our departure by 6 am to ensure a place. Now obligated to join the seething crowd until we could get a taxi, we mulled over this development as we walked away. Our friends had assured us that this is the best company that serves their town... the big question was whether our friends were in their right minds?? How could this be the best option.

Nonetheless we found ourselves getting up at 5 am a few days later, to see what would happen at this same station. At this hour, the streets were quiet and tranquil... at least until we left the pavement to drive the last muddy 500 feet to the station. As if banging the bottom of the taxi on the rocks hidden in the mud wasn’t punishment enough, just before arriving at the station, 2 men stepped in front of the taxi. Their intention was quite obvious, the taxi wasn’t passing until he paid the impromptu toll. The fact that he was carrying 2 foreigners simply strengthened their resolve to have their fair share of his profits. Being a reasonable man, the taxi driver was willing to negotiate. How much did they want? Almost a dollar.... his negotiation abilities got them down to about 35 cents. Welcome to Africa!

Not just anywhere in Africa... we were about to leave Abidjan, the largest city in Côte d’Ivoire, from the notorious neighborhood of Adjame. I say notorious, but obviously not world wide. But if you ever meet someone who is from Abidjan, or has ever traveled through it, and you have both shared the experience of Adjame, well, now, you have a link like very few others that exist in this world!

That, however, is just a footnote in this story. In fact, the story is just starting now, with us in a sleep-deprived condition, stepping over burlap sacks full of 3 inch snails, literally elbowing our way forward to keep place in the line for tickets. Highly coveted bus tickets in hand, we expect to soon be boarding the bus for our orderly departure. How wrong we were! It was at least another hour before either of the 3 buses sitting waiting even started, and then another 20 minutes before any sign was made that we could have our bags loaded. Suddenly the hundred or so bystanders entered into a frenzy of activity. Everyone who had a bag to go on that bus was doing everything possible to ensure that theirs made it on. As it seemed clear to us that some bags were obviously not going to make the cut, we felt it wisest to join in and do whatever possible to push our bags into the hands of a bagagiste. Having successfully seen them go on the bus, it was time to negotiate our own entry into the bus, thankfully a much easier task as they were verifying tickets and even had assigned seats.

Once on the bus, though, we quickly realized how long this ride was going to be. In order to get the most passengers on board, there were 5 seats across instead of the 4 that we are used to in neighboring Burkina. These seats seem to have been specially fabricated with some miraculous capacity to be at least 1 inch too narrow for any human occupant, regardless of how skinny his/her derrière may be. The only solace was that we were just 2... the side with 3 seats meant spending 10 hours in physical contact with your neighbor, contact so close it’s likely illegal in some places! That solace was rather short lived, though, as we soon began stopping to pick up more passengers who were soon to fill the aisle, the steps, anywhere that they could find room to sit down. Perhaps you can imagine the discomfort now, but believe me that after 5 or 6 hours, it becomes more than anything you are imagining. The sole relief is a pee break every hour or two. Even if you don’t have to, or can’t bring yourself to join all the other passengers in literally lining up at the pavement’s edge, at least you get to stand up and stretch. What a needed relief!

Thinking that a break was a good thing changed a little on the second leg of our trip, another sardine can bus ride from sunup to sundown. This time the break came when we encountered what can best be described as a parking lot in the middle of the road. It seemed that the road was blocked.... blocked by what? 3 trucks stuck side by side in the mud. Mud? What mud? Isn’t the road paved? Well, it turns out that paved roads in Côte d’Ivoire are somewhat of a loose concept. Sure the highways started out as pavement... but over time the swampy areas have swallowed up some of the pavement, and general lack of maintenance has left more potholes than pavement in other areas. At times this leads the bus to follow a slalom course down the road, as the driver does his best to avoid the largest holes, all while keeping his speed as high as possible (after all, the universal truth that time is money even applies in Africa!). This time, though, the swamp had won, and as spoil it gained 2 semi-trucks and a box van. The semis had quite literally sunk in the gravel dumped in the road as a weak attempt to keep the mud at bay. Then the box van driver figured he could follow the track that passenger cars were still using to get past the big trucks. He soon found out he was wrong...

The novelty of this situation was exciting at first, as we walked forward to investigate. After the first hour or so, though, we began to consider our options. Should we join the passengers that were abandoning ship, literally packing their luggage on their head across the mud hole and catching a ride in one of the many mini-buses stuck on the other side? Or should we stay with the bus, hoping that our driver would eventually decide to turn around take an alternate route? Fortunately we chose the latter option, as a solution eventually surfaced. Actually, we thought that it had surfaced more than once. An empty truck was backed into place to try his hand at towing out the stuck ones. The driver was obviously sure that his truck could do the job, but he had several hundred helpful assistants to aid in the towing process. When he first hooked a cable to the central truck, and tugged gently, nothing happened. Perhaps giving in to encouragement from the onlookers, perhaps just not fully considering the situation fully, he then decided to give it a running start. Maybe not too surprising, the cable split like a spaghetti noodle. Now everyone was back at zero, as none of us had thought to pack a spare towing cable in our carry-ons. Finally, a dump truck finally arrived that was able to rescue the stuck big-rigs and free up this central ivoirien parking lot. As our bus got to it’s turn to navigate the now highly rutted mud hole, our thoughts went back to what we had seen and felt so far on this trip. Early on, we passed a truck that had tipped over when the road under it had collapsed. Later we were sure that we would have a similar fate when the bus traversed a water hole. Well, better to say that the highway had a water hole in one lane, and that it disappeared into a lake in the other lane... despite the swaying like a Tokyo high rise in an earthquake, the bus made it through both mud holes, much to our relief!

You would think that nothing could top that break, especially as we made our way back along the now familiar road to Burkina. But we didn’t count on the bane of African transport... the dreaded break down. Well, dreaded by us foreigners that is. Many locals don’t seem to dread it at all. It’s rather just accepted as a part of life. And why wouldn’t it be? After all, in Africa, anything with wheels is driven to the last possible minute of its useful life, and usually 20 years after that. Maintenance is generally regarded as replacing the vital components that break and prevent further forward movement. To avoid unnecessary expenditure, this is generally done whenever and wherever the piece in question breaks. Sometimes this means that a bus/ truck/ car will sit in the traffic lane for days as parts are sought out to make it move again. Fortunately for us, our piece was a relatively easy power steering hose. Also fortunate was that the hose blew out close to Bouake, the second largest city in the country. This meant that the driver was able to send for parts and have them within 2 hours. Don’t get too excited though, not all is sunshine and rainbows in this story. The hose was repaired, with a new fitting, and he and his helpers got it put back into place. Yes, we are going to be moving again! .... BOOM! The new fitting didn’t even make it 30 seconds..... back to town again. Another 2 hours, another fitting. This one made it nearly 5 minutes. Back to town again. Don’t forget during all this time that the bus is turned off, meaning no air conditioning. Getting off the bus means going into the brutal African sun. Staying on the bus means sitting in the shade, but doing it in a 100 degree oven. This could safely be referred to as a no-win situation. We had actually begun looking for buses going to Burkina to flag down and ask for 2 seats, figuring that paying double to get home was better than staying where we were. Do I need to say how happy we were that on the final trip, the driver had a real mechanic come back? After berating the driver and his team for their shoddy work and thinking that they could, in effect, glue things back together with chewing gum, he finally effected a real repair. After a break of 7 hours, we were finally on the road again. Needless to say, no one was interested in prolonging pee breaks after that! What a relief it was to get off that bus back home in Bobo. For us, the day had begun at 4 am in Yamoussoukro, where we joined the bus which had left Abidjan at 1 am. When we got off near midnight, the driver told us that he was going to push on clear to Ouagadougou, another 6 hours away. The same guy drove that whole time, with no sleep en route.... need I explain why we decided that we would never be making that trip by bus again?

As they say, all is well that ends well, and our trip ended well because we got back home safe and sound. All told, we spent 10 days in Côte d’Ivoire, in 3 different cities, with lots of new friends and a few older ones. While it may seem that the bus rides are what made the biggest impression, that’s not actually true. They just make for the most entertaining story! In reality, we can’t say enough good things about the Abidjan Bethel. This has to be the most hospitable Bethel in the world, which is really saying something.  All needgreaters are invited to stay there, and are even picked up and dropped off at the airport by a member of the branch committee. If you ever have a chance to visit, don’t miss it! And if you are fortunate enough to begin your experience in West Africa there, even better.

Just be prepared for the bus rides after!

First ever!

Last weekend was a first for Burkina Faso.  It was truly historic!  Beginning last Friday, we took a big step towards catching up with the rest of the world!  What's that?  You didn't hear about it?  There wasn't any announcement?  Not to worry, we were there, so we can tell you all about it!
Last Friday began the first ever LDC visit in Burkina.  That is to say, the first Kingdom Hall inspection and maintenance training session ever in the history of this country.  Some of you in the U.S. and elsewhere are already familiar with this program, as it has been in place for some time.  Even countries right next to us have been part of this arrangement already.  And now we are part of it too!
We had the privilege of attending, even though the Kingdom Hall that was inspected is in Ouagadougou, about 6 hours from our home.  It seems like they may have chosen the oldest Hall in Ouaga to start the inspections... The Hall is 26 years old and has never been remodeled.  It's squeezed onto a very small lot in a residential neighborhood.  Overall, it was good place to start, as this Hall is fairly worn around the edges.  It gave the inspectors lots to talk about and report!
What really made this event a joy for us were the brothers and sisters though.  To start, the LDC representatives were a couple from Togo, who have been involved in Kingdom Hall construction (and now inspections) for decades.  They drove up to Burkina to have a look at many of the Halls here, and to train local representatives so they can continue the inspection process.  So, we had the pleasure of meeting these brothers from Ouaga, plus one who had taken a 13 hour bus ride from his home in neighboring Niger and will have the responsibility of covering that whole country for the LDC!  Not to forget the local brothers and sisters, of course... We had heard of the missionaries who hosted us, but had never met them.  The brother is American/German and his wife is Ghanaian, so we were completely at ease speaking English the 3 days we spent with them.  Besides the language, they were a pleasure to be with, showing incredible hospitality to us, even letting us drive their car to go the Kingdom Hall and the bus station.
Many from the 2 local congregations were at the Hall every single day during the inspection, ready to do anything asked of them.  Additionally, teams of sisters made sure that we were well fed every day, bringing much more food than we could possibly eat.  Their willing spirit was heartwarming.  To top it off, both congregations were invited to be present Sunday morning, for the maintenance training.  They got to benefit from the same video presentation that you have likely had in your congregation, building appreciation for their Kingdom Hall.  Then, they all went to work!  One team of brothers learned how to clean and grease the ceiling fans, bringing their noise down to a minimum (before this, we weren't even sure how they could hear the speaker over the terrible noise the fans made!).  Another team of sisters learned how to clean the fan controls (the dust here is terrible, and easily clogs up electronics of all types).  At the same time, the young brothers took all the benches outside and our hardworking sisters scrubbed and rinsed them.  Finally, one more team learned how to trim the shrubs that line the parking area, including how to safely use ladders.  Many of these brothers and sisters worked tirelessly, and with a smile the whole morning, which truly brought joy to our hearts.  By noon, the Hall was refreshed and we were tired, at which time all the visitors and LDC reps were invited back to our host's home for lunch.  This even included a surprise visitor, a recent Gilead graduate who now works in the LDC office at our branch.  Finally, we made our way to the bus station, heading back to Bobo, tired but excited.  It was truly a joy to be a part of this new arrangement, and we are looking forward to seeing how it continues closer to home.
Undoubtedly, this arrangement will accomplish exactly what it is designed to do, keeping our Kingdom Halls in top condition and saving the organization money.  Most importantly, we are sure it will praise Jehovah's name!

Don't go away yet, scroll down for pics!

Tanghin Moore and Tanghin Francais Congregations

From left to right:
Ouagadougou, Bobo-Dioulasso, Ouagadougou, Niamey Niger

First, everything must be measured

Then, reports must be filled out

And then, more reports to fill out

Long-time LDC sister training others

The sisters are quick learners

Even the kids helped!

Happy faces doing Jehovah's work!
(did we mention it's dusty here?)

With the LDC representative from Togo

More happy faces

The whole family is included in Kingdom Hall maintenance!

We're back!

First of all, to all of our faithful readers out there, friends, family, others…. We apologize for taking so much time since our last post.  In fact, with so much time gone by, we probably don’t have any faithful readers any more….

Anyways, we are still here, and will try to get back on track with posting from time to time.  Fortunately, many of you keep up with us other ways, such as Instagram, not to mention our recent time in the States.

But, why so long anyways?  Really, all we can say is that life has become really busy here.  When we got back to Burkina last time, in 2016, we started helping much more at the local RTO (more on that later).  That really took some getting used to, and all of the “free time” that we used to have kind of disappeared.  It didn't help that we had a lot to deal with personally that year.  Between that and field service, we just didn’t  have time to write.  Ok, so that's not true, we did have time but never the necessary mix of time and inspiration.  So, for all who figured that we had abandoned this blog, we are sorry!

Getting back this time, January 2018, brought another change.  We moved from French to Jula when we got here.  So now, in addition to all the normal stuff, we also have to work on learning the language…. As we are still helping at the RTO, making sufficient time for language study is also a challenge.  One benefit, at least, is that we now study for meetings in English instead of French, so our personal understanding is better.  Of course, our comments aren’t better…. We compete with the little kids for the simple answers now!  Another scheduling challenge that we have is more secular work this year.  But that's not a bad thing!  It may take a little of our time, but it will hopefully allow us to stay here longer and stay focused on Burkina instead of living the intercontinental life that we have had the last 4 years.

Well, that’s just a brief update on us.  We will try to do a little better in the future, and give you something to read now and then.  So don’t give up on us yet!  Keep checking back…

Namaste!

Yet another car whizzed by us, driving even deeper the feeling that we were moving as slow as snails on this nearly deserted stretch of highway.  Why were we going so slow, as if it would cause us harm to get anywhere near the posted speed limit?  The road was in excellent condition, there were only a handful of cars traveling on this divided highway, no other dangers that we could see.  But, the futility of trying to argue these points with our driver was like a wet blanket thrown over our conversation.  His broken English wasn't sufficient to understand why we were frustrated, and our complete lack of Hindi prevented any real expression on our part.  An onlooker could have only laughed at our attempts to explain "slow slow bad, fast fast good!"  Our driver was convinced that his slow driving was absolutely vital for safety, given the hour (3 am), and all we could think about was "why did we get up at 1 am if we aren't even going to arrive for sunrise???"

What led to this bizarre impasse?  Well, it all began the week before, actually with our previous blog post.  You see, the flight we were waiting on to take us halfway around the world wasn't taking us directly back to Africa.  Actually, we were en route to a much needed vacation, in India!  The much-anticipated flight lasting a marathon 15 hours landed us in Delhi, a place so unlike anywhere we have ever visited, but so familiar at the same time.  Before getting into any more description of this once-in-a-lifetime trip, let me finish the experience that we have already begun.

Suddenly, the car began to slow.  As our driver maneuvered towards an exit, he said we were stopping for bathrooms and coffee, "10 minutes."  By the time the car came to a halt at this nearly deserted gas station, the time had become 15 minutes, and our frustration was reaching a boil.  True, we told ourselves, we do need a bathroom break anyways after 2 hours on the road.  However, as we waited in the humid, mosquito filled air for our driver, and waited, and waited, we had to do something!  Out came our phones, Google translate to the rescue (we hoped)!  After settling on the phrasing to fully express ourselves, we typed it in and watched several lines of curly Hindi text appear.  When our driver finally reappeared, we insisted that he read it before getting back in the car.  We can only imagine how incomprehensible the translation must have been, but the point was made!  Finally, he looked at us with a dawn of understanding, and promised we would reach our destination by 5:30.  Holding true to his word, the speedometer finally reached the speed limit, for the first time all morning.

Unfortunately, despite his belated burst of speed the damage had already been done, and we did not arrive at our destination until after 6.  Why the rush, anyways?  What I haven't told you yet is just where we were going.  Our destination was the Taj Mahal, our goal to be there for photos at sunrise.  In the end, it didn't matter that much.  The clouds obscured the actual sunrise anyways, so we were still there for first actual sunlight striking the white marble.  Worse, though, was that restoration work was being done on the Taj Mahal, so scaffolding and tarps covered parts of it.  This, of course, was a big let down, because it ruined any chance of capturing that iconic photo which the whole world has seen of the majestic building.  Still, it was worth the drive, and something to not be missed when we were already so close.  After the Taj Mahal, we continued on to the Agra Fort, which turned out to be a much more interesting place, and just as impressive if not nearly as white.  Needless to say, we slept for much of the drive back to Delhi, and we told the driver he could go as "slow slow" as he wanted!

Beyond our trip to the Indian icon, we also had the pleasure of taking a Delhi food tour, of attending meetings with the only English congregation in the city, and seeing a lot more ancient architecture (is 500 years old ancient? Yes, I think so) as well as getting in a little shopping!  The food tour was our first day, and a great way to get introduced to Delhi.  It mostly focused on the area of Old Delhi, which was once a walled city surrounded by jungle.  Now it's a labyrinth of streets and alleys, home to vendors selling virtually anything you can imagine.  One area is touted as the largest market in all of Asia, a statement which we certainly can't refute.  As we ate our way through the history of North India (and learned quite a bit in the process), we marveled at the crush of people jammed into narrow streets.  Motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, rickshaws, even tuk-tuks all engaged in an endless dance, sometimes slow motion, sometimes high speed; incredibly this dance did not end in loss of life and limb, we are still not sure how.  As we would later see, this dance is enacted on streets all around Delhi, in one form or another.

Delhi itself is a huge city, in one of the most populous countries in the world.  To imagine how BIG Delhi is, consider that this one city with its suburbs contains more people than the entire country of Burkina Faso!  Alternatively, this one city is equal to half the state of California..... Or it's equal to Greece and Portugal added together!  With that many people crammed together, traffic is unavoidable.  Fortunately Delhi has a well developed Metro system which can get you close to most anywhere in the city.  But, again, there's a lot of people crammed into this city..... so the Metro can be packed beyond all imagination!  During commute hours, getting on a Metro car becomes an exercise in geometry, somewhat like a game of Tetris using human bodies.  This may sound rather calm and peaceful, but the reality is anything but that!  Those at the end of the line seem to panic that they may not fit into the car, so they continue pushing in even when physics would seem to indicate that the car is completely full.  Turns out, the car isn't completely full! It can always fit another 10 or 20 bodies! For anyone with claustrophobic tendencies, the Delhi Metro is not at all recommended.  Outside of public transit, Delhi has a lot to see.  We had read that some considered Delhi to be a dirty city, but we certainly didn't feel that way.  Of course, our context does include West Africa..... which is where the term "dirty" truly finds meaning....  Some areas resemble Africa almost exactly.  But not far away, we traveled expansive boulevards with incredible landscaping on all sides and passed immaculately manicured round-a-bouts.  

Overall, that contrast was one of the most striking things we saw in India.  Their economy covers the full range, from rich to poor.  The rich is parallel with what we might see in California, and the poor is just as poor as anywhere else in the world (which one doesn't see in California!) This incredible economic diversity did make things easier for us.  Unlike Burkina, we weren't constantly being asked for money, to our surprise.  For such a large city, there were very few beggars actually.  One reason may be that Indian religions actively promote taking care of others, meaning that those who are truly in need don't need to go beg on the streets.  The most striking example of this that we saw was a Sikh temple which included a kitchen that feeds 20,000 people a day.  The dining room is open to anyone, regardless of religion, and.... wait for it.... charges nothing!!!  We won't get into the exact religious beliefs here, but we were certainly impressed by this generous side of Indian culture.

As with most of us, a highlight of any trip we take is meeting and being with our spiritual family. We were able to do this at the meetings, but we were quite disappointed to find out that the preaching work is restricted for foreigners in India.  Specifically, we couldn't go door to door with the congregation.  While we were there, the branch was announcing a new provision for foreigners who had been in India over 3 months, but we never heard exactly what it was.  Needless to say, it would be hard to live in India for this reason alone!  Despite that, we did meet several foreigners who attend the English congregation.  The brothers taking the lead are all Indian, but they have many African brothers and sisters, from both Anglophone and Francophone Africa, even a brother from a Portuguese speaking country.  In addition, we met a Russian and a French sister.  As would be expected, the French speakers were happy to speak French with us, especially the ones who didn't really understand English yet!  Coincidentally, did we meet any "needgreaters" in Delhi? Nope, not one.  The few foreigners we met in the congregation were all there for work or education.  Yes, I said "few".  Maybe it sounded like a lot, but don't forget how huge Delhi is.... and this is the ONLY foreign language congregation in the whole city!  One can only imagine that the government restrictions make India (or at least Delhi) a very un-hospitable place for needgreaters.

Overall, though, we found India to be an unforgettable experience, one which we would recommend to any adventurous travelers!  Of course, this is just a short detour in our blog about Burkina.  Now that we have vacations, detours, travel of all sorts out of the way, we can get back into our routine in Burkina.  It promises to be a busy and new routine, with the regional assembly almost on us, visitors from all over arriving soon, and a whole new chapter opening up as we do more at the RTO.  Stay tuned for updates!

Is it a dream?

We're back!  Sorry for the long hiatus from posting.  Of course, we got to see many of you in person over the last 6 months.  To everyone that we didn't get to see, or to spend enough time with: Sorry!! Hopefully we will be able to do better next time!

Anyways, here we are, at the end of our time in the USA, having worked 6 months and accomplished our goal thanks to Jehovah's blessing.  As we wait to board a plane going halfway around the world, thought we would share a little bit of our experience.

Our feelings are largely summed up by the title "Is this a dream?"  After so long back in the USA, working secularly, being in a congregation with ones we have known for years, it almost seems like our life back in Burkina was really just a dream.  But, then we stop and wonder "is life here really the dream?"  We are living 2 different lives, one where we follow the basic American mold, working full time, eating out, buying stuff, doing our best in service on the weekends.  In our other life, though, field service is everything, eating out is a luxury, we actually free time.  At times, it feels like we are living a sci-fi movie, where we can't tell dream from reality.  This switching of realities, moving from one life to another, is probably the hardest thing for us.  Not that there aren't other difficulties...  Making a life for 6 months anywhere takes work.  Then, we have to condense that life into a few suitcases that can go on a plane with us....  It's a miracle that we don't both have ulcers!

Overall, though, it is becoming easier each time that we perform this inter-continental shuffle.  What makes it all bearable is thinking about the reason that we are doing it.  The ministry back in Burkina is, of course, a big motivation for us.  Even bigger, though, is the desire to be back with our congregation.  This is not to say that we haven't enjoyed being with Lake Merrit French, it has been a joy spending 6 months with them.  But we have worked hard to maintain the feeling that Burkina is home, and this has just been an extended visit.  Although it may seem like a small thing, or even quite bizarre to anyone who doesn't like animals, knowing that we have a dog and a cat waiting for us at home in Burkina really helps us keep that feeling that it's home.  Something else that we are really looking forward to is seeing all the young ones in the congregation again.  There are about 20 who are under 25 years old, many who are already publishers, some baptized.  A few of these young ones are already pursuing (or planning for) full time service.  Seeing them make goals and pursue Jehovah's service is a great highlight of life in Burkina.

Another reason we are anxious to get back is to get caught up.  It feels like we have missed so much since we left Burkina back in February.  The congregation itself has changed.... There are 2 new elders since we left, 1 from the USA, one from Côte d'Ivoire.  Additionally, there have been 2 appointments of local brothers, 1 as an elder, 1 as a MS.  In reality, it seems like the numbers may allow the Jula group to become a full congregation soon.  While exciting, it's also sad to think about the congregation we know being split in half.  Not all changes have been in our congregation, though.  Some missionaries and special pioneers were moved around in neighboring congregations to allow the creation of a new Jula group.  As far as the Jula language in general, the RTO in Bobo has been expanded, with the addition of translators from Côte d'Ivoire.  We are, of course, very excited to see firsthand what Jehovah is doing to expand the service in this field!  In reality, when we try to decide what is dream and what is real, it turns out that Jehovah's service (no matter where in the world) is really both!

We can't possibly write anything about our time spent in the USA without also mentioning the loving support of our family.  We know that with Jehovah anything is possible.... But we really don't know how it would be possible for us to live 2 separate lives like this without the help and support of family.  Jehovah truly is good for providing just what we need to make this dream our reality!

Dèja vu

As I write, its just after midnight in California.  A few of you may have already seen Burkina Faso mentioned on last night's news.  Others are seeing it on this morning's news.  Either way, here is a quick note to say "we are ok!"

Yes, there was a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso.  No, it wasn't anywhere near us.  The attack was in the capital, Ouagadougou, on a large hotel, whose clients include UN personnel.  This seems to follow the same model as the recent attack in Bamako, and was claimed by the same group.  At this time, we haven't heard much more than that, except that it seems to all be over, after a quick response by Burkina military, and later French and US military as well.  Missionaries in Ouaga aren't aware of any of our brothers being harmed in the attack, happily.

Does this change our plans?  Our return the US was already scheduled for a few weeks from now, that won't be changing.  We are already avoiding anywhere with large concentrations of foreigners, that also won't be changing.  For now, theocratic activities continue unabated, with service today and circuit assembly tomorrow.  As is the case everywhere, we can only expect this world to keep getting worse as the end approaches.  Keeping focused on our hope helps us carry on despite the tragedies around us. 

A little update

Hi everyone!  Yes, we know, it’s been a while since our last post… and, yes, there has been a lot happening in this part of the world.  So, a quick update is in order:

First, presidential elections are over, in theory the political chaos of the last year is over.  Even though there was a lot of uncertainty associated with the elections, there were no problems of any kind on the actual day.  Everything remained completely peaceful, happily!  Our hope is that things settle down so our preaching isn’t interrupted, of course!

Second, many have seen concerning news items about West Africa recently.  It’s true, there have been some scary events in nearby countries recently.  In these last days, scary things are happening more and more often.  However, the situation here in Bobo remains quite safe.  We are 8 hours away from Bamako, where a recent attack happened, and much further away from Nigeria with the infamous Boko Haram.  Besides distance, we are also insulated by virtue of Burkina’s government.  They are taking every precaution to ensure that nothing spills over from neighboring countries.  This means much more frequent traffic stops to check ID's/ nationality as well as searching cars (police can search any car at any time here), visible police and military presence and a continued curfew from 1-4 AM throughout the country (truck loads of police with M-16’s patrol during the night to dissuade any criminal element from using the cover of darkness to move about).  Again happily, the country got through it’s election without any problems, so that closes one potential door to terrorist activity.  All in all, it’s just as safe here as anywhere else in the world.

Third, theocratic stuff, the best part!  The next 2 months are very busy for us here in Bobo, as we have a special visit by a Governing Body representative in 2 weeks (video broadcast from the branch) and our circuit assembly in January.  In addition to that, our congregation also has CO visit in January.  Adding even more, we have the privilege of attending Pioneer School again in a couple of weeks!  All of the permanent foreigners here in Bobo were invited this year, with the exception of 1 sister who went last year and 2 couples who just finished the Evangelizers’ School.  Besides special events, we are also very encouraged to see the young ones in our congregation increasing their service.  Those in the 16-25 age group are making extensive use of the “presentoir” (witnessing cart) which is stationed at our house.  Some are using vacation times to auxiliary pioneer, and even beginning to think about regular pioneering after school.  Nearly half of our congregation is under 25, so there is a lot of work to do training and teaching, but also a lot of potential!

That’s about it for us, for now.  We apologize for the slowness in posting, and complete lack of pictures on our blog recently!  

La Tristesse

Here we are, back to relative peace and stability in Burkina.  But, that doesn't mean that all is well here.  Just about every day we see something truly sad here.  Hence the title of today's post: tristesse, or sadness in French.  If we didn't have the Kingdom hope, this would be a truly depressing place, or at least a truly depressing blog post!  Happily, though, we do have a hope.  We certainly wanted to share it with a family today.

Some time back, we came across a home with a deaf woman.  They said that no Witnesses had ever been by to see her, so we took down their information and shared it with a brother from the sign language group here in Bobo.  When we took him by the house, we found the situation was even sadder than we initially thought.  The woman has never gone to school, and so can really only communicate with her family using "home signs", a problem that will be quite familiar to anyone serving in sign language anywhere in the world.  We knew this would be a challenge for the brother, but it comes with the territory.

However, in sitting and listening to a conversation in a language we didn't understand, we saw more of the family.  Behind the deaf woman, about 20 feet away we saw a child laid in a tub or basket.  While a little bigger than a baby, this child didn't seem to be able to even wave away the flies which were crawling all over his face.  Glancing at each other, we had the same thought, first: that's really disturbing with the flies, second: there is something wrong with that child.

When the child's mother picked him up and brought him over, we could see more clearly that he has a serious health issue.  His hair is faded, almost a blonde color, a color that we have never seen on anyone here.  Very apparent, also, were his curled hands and feet, as if he was trying to keep his thumbs and big toes curled in.  Then his grandmother dropped the bombshell, that this rather large baby is in fact over 4 years old!  He can't walk, and clearly hasn't grown much.  Only after all of this did we notice that he didn't move at all.  In fact, the only thing we saw him do was move his eyes.  They were very much alive, taking in everything happening, and it seemed sure that there is a lively 4 year old mind gazing out of this withered shell of a body, unable to do anything more than observe his environment.

Now, all of this would be sad anywhere in the world, but it's a little sadder than normal here.  Being one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso doesn't exactly have top-end health care.  It's quite possible that the doctors here don't have access to the tests needed to properly diagnose this young boy, or that the necessary treatments aren't available, even if he was diagnosed.  Sadly, it's not unheard of for children to fall sick and die here without anyone ever knowing the reason.  Looking at this boy, and knowing that he has very little chance of being well nearly brought tears to our eyes.  In this case, though, it's not just the country of his birth that makes it hard, but also the poverty of his family.  Walking up to the door, we already know that this family doesn't have much money.  They have 2 houses in their courtyard, a one room house and a two room house, the bare basics for living.  Their courtyard is bare dirt, meaning they don't have money for pavers, of course this also frees up one corner for growing a few crops which may be their only source of income.  The houses and the courtyard wall are bare brick, not painted, as paint is an unnecessary and expensive luxury.  There is no car, no motorcycle, not even a bicycle in sight.  The courtyard doesn't even have a gate, just an opening in the fence.  All of this tells us that there is likely no money to even take this little boy to the doctor, much less to pursue any course of treatment for him.  Again, if we stop to think about it, the sadness of the situation is almost overwhelming.

In the end, though, this is just a reminder of why we are really here.  After all, what do these people need more than anything else?  Why, the Kingdom message!  We can't wait to hear her reaction when the deaf mother is able to learn the promises at Isaiah 33:24, and of course Revelation 21:3, 4.  While it's sad to see things like this, it's even more sad to think that everyone dealing with such sad situations might never hear the Good News!  So, we must shake off the sadness, and get on with the preaching work.  As the system winds down to it's end, would we want to be doing anything else?  Not a chance!!!

coup, anyone?

You may have already heard, but Burkina Faso just underwent a forced change of government...  Happily, it was a peaceful event.  We don't know how, or if, this will affect our life here, but for now we are just fine.  If things change, we will keep everyone updated via blog, email, phone, skype, ???
For now, you can check out our view of events at www.strangelifeinafrica.blogspot.com

Seldom worked territory

Seldom worked territory…. Maybe you have had the privilege of being able to work in such a territory, maybe some rural area far from your home.  That’s exactly what we were recently able to do, and we would like to share some highlights with you!  Just in case you aren’t familiar with this term, “seldom-worked territory” applies to an area which has not been preached in by Witnesses within a year, sometimes longer, sometimes no one has preached there before.

Earlier this year, every congregation in Togo, Benin and Burkina Faso received a letter from our Branch Office announcing a campaign to work “seldom-worked territory”.  (Oddly enough, the 4^th country in our branch, Niger, was never mentioned.  Maybe because, with only 240 Witnesses, every territory they have is seldom-worked?)  Needless to say, we were excited by the possibility to preach somewhere new, so we filled out an application.

Our assignment ended up being some villages about a 2 hour drive from our home, near the borders with Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.  They are included in the territory of a small group in Diebougou.  However, the group consists of only 10 publishers, 3 of whom are pioneering, and it’s all they can do to cover the town of Diebougou.  To make it more difficult for them, the only ones in the group who have motos are the special pioneer couple assigned there.  Everyone else is on foot or on a bicycle.  Making a 50 km trip to a village is clearly not an easy thing for them!  According to recent memory of those in the group, 2 of the villages that we preached in had never before been visited by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The group was small, just us 2 and 2 single sisters from our congregation, but we were accompanied every day by one or both of the special pioneers, and sometimes local publishers, even once by a pioneer visiting from Cote d’Ivoire.  It’s a good thing we were able to use our neighbors’ car, a Renault Kango, to carry everyone!  If you aren’t from France, you have probably never seen one of these cars… it’s kind of a cross between a minivan and a SUV.  Not necessarily the epitome of comfort for the furthest rear passengers (the boxes of literature were the seats), but still effective.

When possible, our method consisted of getting to each village on their market day, when lots of people would be crammed together in one place.  Once there, we pulled out our witnessing cart, and braced for the flood.  A few curious onlookers would gather, which instantly created buzz, and we would typically have 20-30 people around the cart at any given moment.  The biggest challenge was determining who could read French.  Before handing anyone literature, it’s best to confirm they can actually read it!  Surprisingly, the vast majority of kids that asked for something could read.  It seemed like the small, remote villages are better educated than the average in larger towns and cities.  While we don’t know where all these seeds of truth will land, we certainly pray that some will take root and grow.  In the course of our 5 days preaching, nearly 1000 tracts and hundreds of magazines were placed.  For many, this was their first exposure to Bible truth.

It wasn’t possible to get to all the villages on market day, so we did door-to-door in a few.  While not nearly as lightning fast as the cart, we still had great success.  Some people had met Witnesses during a visit to a larger city, and many were eager to learn more.  In the smaller villages, most people seemed to be Catholic, and they had some spiritual hunger but virtually no knowledge.  In one case, a guy literally chased us down the road to stop us for more literature.  In another village, we had a group discussion with about 8 guys at a roadside café, with everyone accepting literature and listening to Bible verses.  By the time we left, they were discussing among themselves how the verses applied.

Not all of the joys were spiritual, though.  It was also a great opportunity to get out of Bobo and see some different landscapes!  Getting to the territory involved passing by something we don’t see too much of here in Burkina: hills.  A landscape is so much more interesting when it includes hills!  Thanks to the time of year (end of the rainy season) there was also a lot of water.  We crossed a river in full flood stage, quite impressive.  Happily, the highway is built up sufficiently high, however the original road beside it was underwater in spots.  Due to this abundance of water, everything was incredibly green.  Knowing how brown and dusty everything will be in 6 months, we thoroughly appreciated the greenery pushing up as far as the eye can see.

In the end, we were ready to get back home, but were also convinced that 5 days wasn’t nearly long enough for this territory.  We don’t know who will follow up on our work, we don’t know what results will come from it, but we do see what a need there is here.  These few villages we preached in are not the only ones that need covered, there are hundreds of villages throughout the country that also need to hear the Good News.  We certainly do see the truth of Matthew 9:37 here in Burkina!

For a small glimpse of the scenery, click here

Bienvenue à Burkina!

Hi everybody, just a quick link to a short video... Our first attempt with our new camera, so don't be too critical!  But it gives a little glimpse of Burkina


Bienvenue à Burkina!

Vacation

Most of you already know that we got to take a little vacation recently, so we wanted to share a few pictures!  A sister who was in Bobo last year invited us to her wedding in Prague, so of course we accepted!  This post is a few highlights from our week in Prague, and the post to follow will have a few highlights from the rest of our trip.

Alisa with the happy bride-to-be Ema

Ema and Filip

Our very loving hosts, who gave up their apartment for us

The pre-wedding dinner for all the foreign visitors.  Included Czech, American, German, British, French

After our "african dance routine" at the wedding

Czech pastries... made on a roller

Even got in a little witnessing with these Ivoirian immigrants

Live music on the Charles Bridge

Do you see the Tetragramatton?

World famous Astrological Clock