VACATION IN GHANA
What a wonderful and relaxing time we had in Ghana! Thank you so much for praying for us—we were able to get caught up on rest, and basically did nothing for 10 days! Well, we did enjoy watching and listening to the ocean (the beach was a mere 50 feet away from our unit), sitting by and swimming at the pool, eating very delicious food under a paillote (open sided grass hut) with a cool breeze blowing off the ocean, playing in the sand, reading, playing cards/dominos, taking naps, and just getting a break from reality for a bit! :o) We took a day trip to Accra to enjoy some GREAT restaurants and look at the American food in the grocery stores (I say “look” because the prices were so high we just couldn’t bring ourselves to buy it! We were pleased to find some chicken flavored Top Ramen on sale—it was nice not to come away completely empty handed! And we searched high and low and found ONE can of Dr. Pepper in a grocery store cooler—that was especially thrilling!). We also took a morning to tour a slave castle in Cape Coast (which was also excellent for the boys to experience as they were able to understand more of what the tour guide was saying, resulting in some good conversations on the way back in the car). We left for vacation feeling pretty exhausted, but we came back home feeling like we had a good break, and we’re ready to go again!
PROBLEM WITH OUR NEW CAR—PLEASE PRAY!
Unfortunately, the three days tacked on to the end of our vacation to get our new Land Cruiser out of the port in Ghana and up to Burkina were long and stressful days of driving on bad roads with lots of traffic, and we ended up having to leave our new vehicle at the Ghana/Burkina border because of missing paperwork. That paperwork came through the next day, and the person helping to get it through customs for us was able to drive it to Ouaga, where it is currently sitting in customs with more missing paperwork! Please PRAY for this situation—there is a problem with a vehicle inspection that was done (or not done?) in Japan and missing paperwork which we have been told could result in fines up to $12,000.00 if this isn’t resolved! Please PRAY that the people working on this will have wisdom and that the paperwork will be found that the customs officials are looking for.
MISSIONARY CELEBRATION ON SUNDAY
This Sunday at 3:00 pm will be a celebration at our central church here in Bobo for the missionary endeavor by the National Church into the Kenedougou region. Pastor Samuel Soulama and his family will be moving to Ndorola at the end of August, and this service is a kind of commissioning for them, as well as a time to raise awareness and support for them in the Bobo district for this missionary endeavor. We are encouraged to see the steps that the National Church is taking in this venture—please pray for them as they continue to make decisions about other pastors who can join Pastor Soulama in the Kenedougou region. Please pray for Pastor Samuel and his family, that they will have a good transition from Bobo to Ndorola, and that he will be a good match for the church there. Pray that the Ndorola church will be able to support him financially, and that he will work well with the church leaders there. Pastor Samuel has a heart for evangelism and has been the Bobo district youth chaplain in recent years—he helped out a lot with the Ndorola youth camp that you were praying for last March.
CHURCH CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN KENEDOUGOU
Now that we have a pastor in Ndorola, he needs to move into the house that the church has been using for their worship services every Sunday. So, Ndorola needs to start on their church construction! They’ve already started making bricks, and we hope to start construction this fall.
The Sirasso church is also bursting at the seams, meeting under a hangar because they no longer fit in their current building. They have made bricks, and we are waiting to start construction once the harvest is done (around November/December). If you would like to help with these church construction projects, you can do so by giving to our work special fund (see below for how to do so). We are excited to see these churches being built, as they are a “landmark” in the villages they are in and provide opportunities for the believers to share with their neighbors. Please pray that the work will go forward and that there will not be any problems during construction.
RAIN—A MIXED BLESSING
We are thankful to be in the heart of rainy season—it is nice to have cooler weather and I enjoy sitting on our porch, watching our kids jumping in the puddles with glee! Farmers are thankful that their crops are growing, although we hear reports that there are still parts of the country that need more rain. Please continue to pray that there will be a good harvest this year so that people will have enough to eat.
We were saddened to hear recent reports about Bama, a village that experienced too much rain this past week, where massive flooding destroyed about 440 homes (3000 people were left homeless, and there was loss of life, although we haven’t heard how many people died), and more than 1000 animals were swept away. Bama is about 40 minutes outside of Bobo, and we drive through this village every time we go to Ndorola and beyond. Please PRAY for those in this village, that God would provide for the needs of these people, and that many would turn to Him in this time of tragedy. There is a C&MA church in this village, and ACCEDES (the relief branch of our National Church) was the first group on the scene to respond to this need. Please pray that their testimony will be strong and that people will desire to follow Jesus as they see His compassionate love being shown to them through the hands of ACCEDES and other believers.
15% ADMINISTRATION FEE
We need to inform you of a recent change that has taken place in regards to giving to our work special fund. From now on, there will be a 15% charge taken out of each donation to our work special fund, which is a “ministry administration fee”. This will help cover the costs of processing these funds at the National Office, as well as help with the funding of our general support from the Great Commission Fund. We also want to take this time to thank each and every one of you who have given to our work special fund—we could not do the ministry that we are able to do in the Kenedougou region without your help. And for those of you who give to the Great Commission Fund, we thank you as well, as this is the reason why we (and all other C&MA missionaries) are able to serve overseas. If you have any questions regarding this change, please feel free to write to us and ask.
Thank you for praying for us and supporting us here in Burkina! Our hearts are grateful.
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.