Burkina Faso Summary

I have returned from my power packed trip of destiny! Burkina Faso was an amazing land to experience. The heat was hot and dry with dust as thick as fog. But the people were warm and friendly and hard working despite their harsh circumstances. God let us in to the very heart of the country. We encountered some of the most influential and some of the most downtrodden in the land.

Here are the highlights:

• We arrived safely, beating the storm that dumped on Ohio as we were leaving.


• Sunday our team ministered in Pastor Florence's church in the morning
  
• Sunday evening we had a powerful business women's meeting at a church in Ouagadougou. The presence of God fell in a powerful way and many were set free.


• Monday we toured the Acts Center which houses a school, wood shop, sewing school, grain mill, orphanage, garden, nurses station and well. There we met Abdu and Eunice, 2 orphans that stole our hearts.


• Monday night we returned to minister to the orphans through dance and prayer.
  
• Tuesday we visited a "Saving For Change" village outside of town and received the unexpected honor of meeting with the chief and his gift of a chicken. (I'll write more later on this program.)
  
• Tuesday night we accompanied our host and Acts Ministry leader, Joanna, to the calling hours of a well know pastor's wife who had just died and sang a song in front of 3,000 people as well and TV cameras. Now this was a huge stretch for me!!


• Wednesday morning we went to the Acts Center School and had activities for 225 students on the grounds. Susan taught on Citizenship, Heidi and Regina and I taught the kids a dance, then we had games. We also told the Easter story and made cross necklaces with the kids, and shared letters from an Amish school and told them about the Amish culture. They in turn wrote letters back to the Amish kids.


• Thursday was the first day of our Women's conference in Saonre. I shared my testimony of how God helped me through tough times and taught me how to trust him fully. It was a real connection point for the ladies there. I was honored to be able to share my life with them.
  
• Friday we continued the conference and the ladies responded so eagerly to the messages that were brought.


• Saturday we finished up the conference and handed over 4 of the goats from the catalog project to the orphans to care for. I also went to a radio station and recorded my testimony for a family radio program that Joanna airs. That night we took off and began our journey home


• Sunday we were still traveling and finally arrived home late Sunday night.

I am still processing all that God has done in my life, but it was amazing to see how he used each of us on the team in different ways. We all worked together and God flowed in an amazing way. The environment was ripe with expectation and God did not disappoint. It was an honor to be a part of such a mature and spiritually minded team. The Act Ministry has a wonderful program going on there and I hope to be involved in their work again in the future. God is bringing change to Burkina Faso.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for me and the trip. It was because of such great prayer support that the trip was so successful.