Back in Burkina Faso

We are in Burkina Faso again, this time for a little over two weeks!

Michael, a friend from our home church (First Baptist Jackson, MS), will be joining us to take photos/video of unreached people groups in some villages in southern Burkina Faso. These images will be used to produce slideshows and other media materials to guide US churches in how to better pray for and serve among these people who don't know about Jesus.

Remember our village excursion over a year ago -- when we visited three different villages at the end of our French language study? We'll be going back to one of those villages -- the one with Pastor Denis and his wife Nema. We are excited about seeing them again!

These two weeks will be VERY busy for us. We really need your prayer support to help us stay energized and focused, so we ask you to lift us up in the following ways:

-- Pray for energy and stamina as we spend 2-3 nights in a row in each village. They will definitely be rugged experiences -- no showers, hole-in-the-ground toilets, sleeping on the floor (potentially with mice scurrying around, as Jesse and I discovered last time we were in Pastor Denis' village). Pray we'll have joy and positive attitudes in the midst of the occasional discomfort. We'll be visiting among people who don't know Christ, so we want our attitudes and actions to be shining examples of His love and grace.

-- Pray we'll have insight and wisdom to capture just the right images and details for our media materials.

-- We will be tagging along with a group of 13 volunteers from South Carolina who are on a vision trip to see how God wants them to get involved in ministry here in Burkina Faso. We'll work alongside missionary colleagues David and Tami to help orient and transport this group. Pray we'll have patience and flexibility as we coordinate logistics for such a large group. Also pray for wisdom as we help them discern how God is leading their churches to be involved in international missions.

-- We also hope to get video of "volunteers in action" and may also do some informal interviews to help us figure out if we are on the right track with the church training materials we are developing. It always helps to get insight directly from the people who will be using the materials -- not only the church members who need to be trained, but also the missionaries who will do the training. Pray we'll gain lots of insight regarding how to prepare churches and individuals who come to West Africa and serve!

As you can see, we hope to accomplish a lot on this trip! Thanks so much for your prayers -- we appreciate you!

"Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." Phil. 1:27