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It's not every day that you find yourself in the book of Lamentations. Psalms is a definite favorite. I love the gospel of John. One of my Old Testament favorites is the less commonly studied book of Nehemiah. But Lamentations? I doubt very many of you claim Lamentations as one of your favorite go-to books. If we were to examine our Bibles, how many fingerprints would we find on the pages of Lamentations?   Well, you sure would find my fresh fingerprints there this week. I have found there a measure of comfort and consolation that has poured over into my lap, and I can't wait to share it with you from Lamentations 3:17-26. My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; So I say, "My endurance has perished; So has my hope from the Lord." Remember my affliction and my wanderings, The wormwood and the gall!  My soul continually remembers it And is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind,  And therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord ne...

I am not going to lie, I was pretty excited to hop on the back of the moto with Rebeca and head out to the village to go check on a baby. Normally, if I want to do a "sortie" or an outing with  Rebecca and Juliette, I have to bring my car because there are too many of us to fit on a moto. But this time, with just me and Rebeca, I got to ride in my favorite spot: the back of a moto.  "Normally, you are my chauffeur in your car," Rebeca told me as I hopped on the back, "but this time I get to chauffeur you!" I happily accepted. I put on my helmet and she commented, "I would wear my helmet, but my meche (aka weave) is too big." I probably shouldn't have, but I laughed and made a mental note that no matter where they originate from, Africans love their hair.  We puttered out to the village where a premature baby weighing 800 grams (around 2 lbs) had been born on October 2. Rebeca had encouraged the family to bring the baby to our city fo...

You have probably heard me talk about our program for infants in distress here in Burkina Faso,  which provides orphans and infants in distress under the age of two with powdered milk, medical care, health and hygiene education, compassionate care, and the Word of God. An orphan by definition here in Burkina  is a child who has lost their mother, father, or both. An infant in distress is any child who has been abandoned or whose mother is unable to adequately nourish the baby due to illness, mental illness, or a milk problem. That's when we step in to provide the resources that these moms, caregivers, and families need to help their babies grow and thrive.  You may have heard about these precious babies, but today I want you to meet two of them. It's one thing to hear about the program, but it's another thing to see the faces of these little ones and their families, who are so dearly loved by the Lord and by us.  Meet baby Namwinsobon. His name means "God kn...

"It will be fun," Geoffrey told me, and I believed him. "It's like  the biggest back-to-school shopping ever." So I got in my car with my list in hand to find all the school supplies needed for the 25+ students in our scholars programs for orphans. It was the first day of freedom after the coup d'état, and I had a huge smile on my face as I was finally able to get out and about without anxiety.  It took a little while to get going. First I had to find gas and money, which you would think to be an easy task. I had to stop at multiple different gas stations and go out of my way to find one that was open and operating. Same thing with the banks. Except even when I found an open one, the ATM didn't work. When I finally found a working one, it only dispensed 40 bills at a time, which meant I had to swipe my card three times to get enough money out to buy the school supplies, adding an additional $15 fee to my day. An hour later, I was finally ready to drive  ...

"Today, I am going to tell you a story," I began. "It's a true story that comes from the Bible, and it is found in Mark chapter 10." All their little eyes were fixed on me, probably because my skin is white or my French sounds funny. "Today we are going to do something special," I continued. "After I finish telling the story, I am going to ask for some volunteers to tell the exact same story with as much detail as possible."  I learned this story telling method from a friend who does children's ministry in Ouagadougou. That's just one of the perks of being stranded in Ouaga because of a coup d'état: time spent with other missionaries and learning from them. I was excited to pass it on to our children's ministry in our city.  With chalk in hand, I narrated from memory the story of blind Bartimeus as I drew an image of his unique encounter with Jesus on the chalk board.  After I finished, four children recounted ...

When I sit down to write about once every four or five days, I usually try to think of something that has happened or something that I have learned recently. In that same spirit this morning, let me give you a report on what I have been doing the last few days. Oh wait, pretty much nothing. The national curfew is from 7pm - 8am until further notice, but the mission overseeing me right now has requested that we stay indoors at all times unless absolutely necessary. Everything is closed; most every event is cancelled. The most exciting thing that happens each day is when a random plane flies overhead and everybody runs outside to see what it is because the airport is closed. It's usually some small plane bringing in another president or leader to help negotiate terms. Just in case you didn't know, Burkina Faso had a coup d'état that started last Wednesday, so today marks day 7 and I'm still alive, just going a little stir crazy.  People have been talking about eva...

It was a perfect afternoon for ice cream, so I picked up one friend and was on my way to pick up another when we got a phone call. "There's something going on in town. I think you better turn around and come back," my friend's father explained to me on the telephone. All he knew was that the presidential army had surrounded the building  where the president, prime minster, and many others were meeting for a cabinet meeting on this perfectly pleasant afternoon. With only one month left until elections are scheduled to take place, and one year after the long standing president was expelled from office in October 2014, something like this was heating up anyway.  Respecting his authority, yet not yet fully understanding the severity of the situation, we grudgingly turned around and went back. "Is it sad that I'm more diasppointed about not getting ice cream than the fact that a political crisis could be happening?" I asked. And we laughed.  But a...