MAY 2007 EMAIL FROM OBERGS IN BURKINA FASO, WEST AFRICA

WHEW! TAKE A DEEP BREATH . . . .
The evangelism campaigns for us this spring are officially over . . . but there is still much to do! These past months have flown by—they’ve been incredibly busy, but we are very encouraged. As people are clearing their fields and getting ready to plant their harvests for the coming year, so there is a harvest of new believers that has just been reaped in the Kenedougou region. We are grateful to God for so many things—first of all, for these new Christians who have been added to His kingdom. We praise Him for safety, good health for Kevin during these busy months, strength for Bonnie on the home front, evangelism equipment that functioned properly, and much encouragement to the believers in this region as they watched God work and were actively involved themselves in all that was going on.
Please continue to pray for those who have made new commitments—we still hear reports that they are facing persecution from their family, friends, and neighbors. Pray that their testimony would be a strong witness and that others would be drawn to following Christ as well. Pray that those who heard the message will continue to think on what they have heard. One young man in the village of Tina, where there was no one who made an open commitment to following Christ, stated that he knew that this message was truth, but that he would not be the first to make a decision. Apparently he had made a decision to follow Jesus at one point, but was so ostracized by his village that he couldn’t take it anymore and turned back. Pray that God would continue to speak to this man’s heart and others like him who are afraid to follow Jesus because of the persecution that it brings.

BREAKING THROUGH AMONG THE SENOUFO
One thing that Kevin saw clearly during these past months of evangelism is that God is breaking through in many Senoufo villages. The Senoufo are an unreached people group that many people have prayed would come to Christ for years. Of the villages where we held evangelism, the Senoufo villages were the ones who were most open, who had the most questions, the biggest response, and the strongest desire for more teaching, more so than the non-Senoufo villages. We see this as a direct answer to years and years of prayer by many people throughout the US and the world who have prayed for the Senoufo. I remember being in prayer groups in college and in US churches who were praying for the Senoufo before we even had an inkling that we would be coming to Burkina, working among them. The ground work has been laid through prayer, and we feel that the hand of God is moving in this region. Please continue to pray that God would pour out His Spirit upon the Kenedougou region, that Senoufo and non-Senoufo villages alike would find freedom in the name of Jesus!

THANKS FOR PRAYING FOR JULES’ WIFE!
Although she was very sick with malaria at the beginning of the Ndorola youth camp, Jules’ wife was able to attend several of the meetings. Jules has told us that during that time she made a firm commitment to follow Christ! Thank you so much for praying for her—we know many of you have faithfully done so for months! Please continue to pray that she would grow in her faith, and that she would remain faithful to the commitment that she has made. She has since returned to the town where she is getting her nursing degree (a two year program)—pray that she would find a good church and Christians who would encourage her. Please also continue to pray that God would bless this couple with a child. Please pray for Jules as he is helping disciple several new believers in Ndorola—pray that God would give him strength and energy for having to serve in a “pastoral role”, as we currently do not have a pastor in Ndorola, as well as working full time as head of security at a cotton factory. Pray for a pastor for Ndorola! There is so much happening right now and we’d love to see God provide someone for this growing church. This would also free us up to move on to another strategic village that we want to start working in.

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN
Thanks for praying for the visit with my parents—it went very well and they are now back home in Moses Lake, WA, probably trying to recuperate from the whirlwind life we live out here! We are thankful for good health for them while here, safety in traveling, and just the enjoyment of being together. The kids have some good memories of Grandma and Grandpa to carry them through the next few years until they see them again—something that is important for us, as parents, as we see our children separated from their extended family. We are so thankful that they were able to come out, and we enjoyed showing them our lives, friends, and some of our favorite places.

SCHOOLING ISSUES
This will be a prayer request over the next several months, as we determine what we should do for the kids for this next year concerning schooling. The options we are looking at are continuing with the French School for this coming year (Abby will start kindergarten and join her brothers there), or home school. There are pros and cons with both systems, and we simply want God to make His will clear to us. Seems like we’re on a teeter-totter with this, one day feeling one way, the next, another. Please pray that God would give us wisdom and peace in our hearts as He leads us in this decision.

CHECK IT OUT!
Jetty Stouten, one of our CMA colleagues, has worked hard on putting together a mission website for our Burkina team. If you’re interested in seeing ministry in this country as a whole, as well as finding out some interesting statistics and seeing how HOT it is these days (yes, we’re in the midst of hot season!), go to: http://burkinaalliance.homestead.com/index.html

Thanks so much for praying for us!

Kevin, Bonnie, Daniel, Jacob, Abby, and Emma Oberg
kevinoberg@cmaburkina.com

Financial info:

How You Can Give To Our Ministry In Burkina Faso . . .

To give to the Great Commission Fund (GCF: general support fund for C&MA work at home & abroad, providing money to keep Alliance missionaries on overseas fields) -or-

To give to the Oberg Work Special Fund (for ministry needs for our work here in Burkina Faso--email us if you want a list of projects we are working on):

1) Mail a check payable to The C&MA to the following address, with the appropriate information in the memo line of the check (include our name and the fund desired: i.e. “Oberg GCF/Support” or “Oberg Work Special”): The C&MA, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935
2) Go to www.cmalliance.org to give online with a credit card.