Adventures in Burkina Faso & Niger!

The road was good, just a little long....a full day's drive into Burkina Faso from Bamako. We arrived in Ouagadougou at around 5 pm having left Mali at 5 am. We are so thankful for a wonderful day of driving and seeing more of the interior of West Africa.

We stayed two nights and one full day with our collegues and heros of faith, Barb Grimes and Nancy Smyth who have served for over 30 years in missions at a Bible School for training and teaching new pastors. Now missionaries are being sent out from Burkina Faso into other parts of West Africa, including Mali.

We safely traveled onto Niger the following day without any problems at any border crossings. We can only travel during daylight hours because traveling after dark can be dangerous. Our project in Niger was to work with missionary collegues, Brent & Shelley Teague and Charity & Ruth Harris who brought a team from the United States to do Tabernacle Evanglism projects. That's T.J. on top of this tabernacle. He loves working with his dad and is a terrific worker.

Although the project wasn't completed, great progress was made and we had the opportunity to work on several additional projects as well as erecting two graineries where food will be distributed from in the coming months as an impending famine approaches many parts of West Africa. We also were able to participate in a Good News Crusade. We were most excited about a young man who gave his heart to the Lord after Todd and the local national pastor talked with him and answered some questions he had. Several other men as well as many children came forward for salvation. Many came for healing to the crusade services.

On a free day, we visit a Reserve Park for the only remaining herd of Nigerian Giraffes. We drove just a short distance (30 minutes) from Niamey, the capital of Niger to this park where we saw the magnificent creatures that God.made. They are so elegant and graceful...

Just before a huge rain storm came a huge sand storm.....then a rainbow after the storm, can you see the second rainbow? It's a double. Then the evening sunset...Wow! The wonders of God that we have witness reflect just a small fraction of His awesomeness and majestic power. It's a privilege to be called His and to serve Him.

There are always plenty of things to see and people to meet. Susan met this little girl at the Tabernacle building site. She, along with many of her friends, played games with Susan. After a while we asked her what her favorite songs were. She told us her friend knew how to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in English so we asked her friend to sing it with us. Then Susan started singing a song in French that we have learned here in church. The girls knew the song and we discovered that they attend the Assemblies of God church in their neighborhood. Together they sang a while and Susan told them that they could tell their friends about Jesus and invite them to church. "Vous etes les missionaires ici pour votre amis". (You are the missionaries here to your friends). They beamed from ear to ear! Please pray for Natalie & her friend to continue growing in Christ.








Flood waters overtaking the road in Burkina Faso on our way back to Bamako. Did we tell you how thankful we are for Speed-the Light? Without our Speed-the-Light vehicle, we might be have been stranded for several hours waiting for these and other water covered roadways to clear.

More to come.....

Travel to Dakar, Senegal

We just returned home from traveling to Dakar, Senegal. We had a wonderful trip and what a great experience to see more of West Africa. We were gone for a little over a week. Todd participated in a work-study with veteran missionary, Vern Finck, who has been working in West Africa for over 21 years. It was really helpful and refreshing to be with our collegues there.

We spent the first night in Kayes in a missionary guesthouse. Pastor Daniel Sagara and his family invited us to their home for a short visit. He is the Mali National Assemblies of God Director. He and his wife have five children and a sixth that they have adopted because her mother passed away and her father did not want her. Their kindness to us was overwhelming. What a priviledge to serve in ministry with them.

After our visit with his family, Pastor Sagara took us to the prison in Kayes where we were presented to the prison director and guards on behalf of our mission in Bamako for a gift that we had given to the prison for food. As a result of this gift and the kindness of the church in Kayes, there is a very open door into the prison for the Gospel. Here's a picture of Todd, T.J. & Bridgette with the guards and prison officials after we toured the prison. There is outreach into this prison and services are held on a weekly basis, several have received Christ. We would love to help them establish a garden to better meet their longterm needs for food. This past October and November several prisoners died from starvation. I think we left part of our hearts in Kayes.

After crossing the border into Senegal we encountered the much talked about "pothole road" and that it was. Pavement so riddled with huge potholes that we often tried to take reprive on the dirt road that ran along side of it. We are so thankful for our STL vehicle. Many kilometers of dodging potholes and 4 wheeling! This is a picture of a termite mound in the desert of Africa. There are many, many like this. The people here build out of cement and block because the termites are so bad and wooden structures would never survive.

We visited the ocean which was beautiful, and as we watched the waves crash onto the rocks we were reminded of the majesty and strength of the Lord.

Ps 93:4 The LORD on high is mightier Than the noise of many waters,Than the mighty waves of the sea. NKJV

We made new friends and ate fish together by the ocean. I think T.J. just swallowed an eyeball! Oops....

While in Dakar we visited Goree Island, a very important historical site where literally thousands of slaves said goodbye to their homeland of Africa and were seperated from their families and shipped across the ocean. The weak or ill were thrown to the sharks and the rest were chained, hands and feet. Between 300-400 were put into boats and 25-30% died along the voyage from the horrible conditions. It was a very sobering experience to say the least, a bit like visiting the holocaust museum in Washington D.C several years ago.

Just before we left, we visited a Wildlife Reserve on the outskirts of Dakar and enjoyed seeing some of Africa's animals.

The trip was a blessing, Todd learned so much from Vern who generously invested his time and experience with him. They visited many of Vern's work sites and completed projects. Vern shared many strategic insites for working and accomplishing the work of the Lord.

We leave for Niger next week to work on a large construction project there and will take more pictures for you! All our love.....

Summer !

Wildcats in Mali!
End of School Celebration at L'ecole du Lumiere (School of Light) Assemblies de Dieu.


Summer is underway as we joined many brothers and sisters in Christ yesterday to be a part of the school year's end here in Bamako. We were guests of two Christian schools here and it was exciting to see what the Lord is doing in this nation to train and educate children in His ways here. We are so very thankful for the opportunity we had to be a part of this special day.

As the day closed, we noticed a young boy who was there with a shirt that read: "Arizona Wildcats". Of course, we had to get a picture for you to see. We see so many familiar sayings from ball teams to fastfood restaurant shirts that have been sent to Africa. Your gifts and donations are helping the people here. There is so much poverty and we find it heartbreaking. Thank you for giving.....

Please pray for our summer youth and kids camps that will be held here in Bamako, that God will do great things for the students of Mali. We believe the Lord is raising up a mighty army here among the youth.

We enjoyed church this morning with our African friends at Kalaban Cora, tonight Todd will preach in a brand new church located just a few kilometers from our house in Baco Djicoroni. We will leave Thursday for Senegal for a time of learning more African culture as it relates to construction with our missionary collegues there. Please pray for a safe trip.

Bon Voyage Caswell Family!

Our colleagues, the Caswell Family have left Mali and are now in the U.S. for their year furlough. We had a wonderful six months with them here and they were certainly a wonderful blessing. They helped us find a house and get settled, we learned how to find our way around Bamako from them and they have opened many doors for ministry to us here. Please pray for them with us as they go.

Happy 15th Birthday Bridgette!!! We Love You!!

Bridgette turned 15 yesterday and we celebrated with some of our missionary family here in Bamako. We had a BBQ complete with all of Bridgette's favorites......Hamburgers, Hotdogs, French Fries, Nacho Cheese dip, and fruit salad. Bridgette had a list of desserts which she helped to make....Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie and a Strawberry cake from home. We had a great time together and finished up our evening by talking to our family in Arizona making our day of celebration complete!

Celebration Weekend

God is good....all the time~

Nadia & Katie

We had a weekend of celebrating this past weekend! We began Saturday morning at the Bible School where we celebrated the graduation of 5 students who just completed their ministerial studies. That event was followed by the Kindergarten and 8th Grade Graduation at Bamako Christian Academy where Bridgette attends school.

Our Good Friend ~ MK: Katie Caswell....Congratulations.... Now you're officially a freshman!

The next day, Sunday was filled with celebration as 16 were baptised in water throughout the day. Todd baptised 6 at our African church service and 3 more that evening at the home of American friends. We have seen God do some amazing things recently including bringing salvation and deliverance to one of those who were baptised.

To God be the glory....great things He has done.

Todd and Pastor Moise in baptismal tank
Todd & Pastor Daouda, Kalaban Coura Assembly of God

Sahara and Mah Si

Donae, Gabe, Josh, Nadia, Erica, Sahara & T.J

Koutiala

This last weekend we made a trip up to Koutiala to visit some missionary friends there who attended language school with us in France. They are involved in a new Christian hospital that was just recently opened this past year. The drive was about 5 hours and we enjoyed the scenery. It was really fun and exciting to see what the Lord is doing in other parts of Mali.

Please pray for the hospital, they are scheduled to open the pediatric wing this next year. In Mali the death rate among women who give birth is 1 in 20. One in five children will not live past age five. Already, since opening, the hospital has received a reputation for quality care and many women are seeking help for their deliveries and other health issues. They are maintaining ratios equal to hospitals in the U.S. Patients all receive a presentation of the Gospel.

Currently, the hospital staff is praying for a two week old baby who was delivered at 22 weeks weighing 1 kg/2.2 lbs, unheard of in Mali, after her mother had lost 10 previous pregnancies. She's a premie named Grace and we're believing God that she will live! (Sorry I forgot to take my camera when we visited the hospital, but don't worry, we're planning to go back)

Here are some pictures of the landscape we saw along the way....this is West Africa!

Niger River....the boats you see are very typical of fishing boats here.

Balboa Trees are plentiful in the high desert of Mali



Many animals, such as these, freely roam the land and often block the narrow road. Caution is an extreme must when driving.....

The Kids

Yesterday we spent some time at a local orphanage again...here are some pictures. We had a wonderful day with lots of students who came. This was the last scheduled day at the orphanage for the students, however we will probably go during the summer as we can. Many travel on vacation during the summer so the program to "hold the babies" runs through the school year with both of the schools that Bridgette and T.J. attend. T.J. attends the American International School of Bamako and Bridgette attends Bamako Christian Academy which is a small Missionary Kids school with American curriculum. Thank you for your prayers for their educational needs. God has been incredibly faithful. Many students and their families will be returning to the states and not returning in the fall. We are praying for those families that God is bringing to Mali.

Pray for the babies of Mali, there are many challenges that face the people here. Many families simply do not have enough money to feed another child and so they are left or their parents have died leaving them alone. This particular orphanage tries very hard to find some family members to place the children with.

Bambara

There is a natural bridge located outside the city limits of Bamako. It looks a lot like Prescott, Arizona. It was fun to see a place that reminded us so much of Arizona!

We are currently studying another language that is spoken here in Mali called Bambara. We began our classes two months after we arrived and will complete this introduction next week. Learning another language has been a challenge as it is being taught in French, but God is so faithful and we are learning!

Here are a few words for fun:
Jesus - Yesu
Lord - Matigi
Good morning - I ni sogoma
Good evening - I ni wula
Goodbye - K'an ba
Yesterday - ka bo
Today - bi
Tomorrow - ka na
Monday - ntenen
Tuesday - tarata
Wednesday - araba
Thursday - alamisa
Friday - juma
Saturday - sibiri
Sunday - kari
car - mobili
pen - biki
children - denw
man - ce
woman - muso

Say hello to your family: Ka n b'u fo!

Do you understand Bambara? I be bamanankan men wa?

Whose idea was it to build the Tower of Babel?