TWO GREAT SUNDAYS!!
We are so encouraged these days—God is doing great things in the Kenedougou region! We’d like to give you a “snapshot” of the past two Sundays, as I believe this will show you how God is answering your prayers in very tangible ways. Be encouraged! Keep on praying! We only wish we could bring you along with us so that you could experience first hand what we get to see as a result of your prayers! Allow me to ramble a bit and give you a description . . . .
A SUNDAY IN NDOROLA
I promised to share more with you about the installation service for Pastor Samuel Soulama and his wife, Elizabeth. (See attached picture) Between us and missionary colleagues Toby and Kiersten Hull (who joined us for the day), we had 3 Land Cruisers full of people coming from Bobo who were a part of the installation service. Imagine the fun of passing two other full cars on the road which were also headed to Ndorola that morning for the service—we couldn’t fit everyone in our vehicles, and we were encouraged that some from the Bobo district decided to simply drive the distance themselves so that they could be a part! As we came to the church property in Ndorola, where a huge yellow and white striped tent had been set up for the service, there was a definite feeling of joy and expectation in the air. The long awaited day had come! A missionary pastor was now coming to live in Ndorola!
As praise songs blasted over the speakers before the service began, wafting across the countryside, we could see people walking to the tent from all directions. Some we recognized as believers in the Ndorola church, some were children from the surrounding area, hanging back shyly at first, but then moving into the tent when the service started and taking up several rows in the back. A group of old Muslim men arrived soon after, who were the delegation of elders from the village, and these men continued to trickle in throughout the service. We figure that about 150 people were in attendance, which was a great encouragement to the church.
Pastor Dawuda (David), the Bobo district president, preached an excellent “missionary” message, including a very clear gospel message—he definitely knew his audience, and our hearts were praying for those old Muslim men who were hearing every word, praying that these words would be seeds planted in their hearts, leading to salvation one day. Pastor Samuel and Elizabeth were presented, and afterwards, they were surrounded by church leaders and prayed for.
All of the invited guests (including the group of elders from the village) were then asked to come and “tour” the pastor’s house, where they were offered a soda and a piece of grilled chicken, and where they could see “where the pastor slept”, so that they could know where they could come and find him at any time. Imagine how great it was to see the pastor’s living room full of these old men—my prayer was that each one would come back one day, to sit and visit with Pastor Samuel and discuss spiritual issues.
We feel that having a family living in that house will be such a huge draw to the neighbors and people in that community. There is a well on the property that neighbors use to draw water, and several Fulani ladies who draw water every Sunday, slowly walking past the church and listening to the singing inside, actually stayed around this Sunday, sitting under a hangar and watching all of the goings-on. Elizabeth will have many opportunities to visit with these women—they will pass by her doorstep each day! Pastor Samuel has already shared ideas that he has for evangelism, and we are encouraged with his motivation and plans for the near future. Please PRAY for this family, that God would bless them, provide for them, protect them from any harm that the enemy would try to bring their way, and that they would see a great harvest in Ndorola!
A SUNDAY IN SAMOROGOUAN
Today marked our first voyage as a family to Samorogouan, where we will now begin attending church with the hopes that someday, we will see a missionary pastor placed in this village (and then on to the next village we go!). It POURED on Saturday, and so parts of the road were like a river! (We were very thankful for our new Land Cruiser, 4-wheel drive, and the snorkel—something we never thought we would need in hot, normally dry Burkina!). It is just over two hours to drive to this village, and when we arrived, we stopped at the house of a local policeman, who is one of the believers and leaders in the church. We waited there for Pastor Francois (from Banzon, who was making his way to Samorogouan on his moto), sipping hot tea and getting a good Jula workout with the policeman’s friendly and vivacious wife, Esther! The boys took off on a “before church” exploration with their teenage son, a good workout for them with their French! :o)
Pastor Francois arrived, and we loaded in the car to go to church. From previous reports, we thought that we would be meeting with a group of 6 people maximum. We parked the car some distance from the church, because there were a lot of bushes and mud, and then we slowly picked our way through the foliage to the small building that is being used as a church (an empty house belonging to one of the believers). Imagine our surprise when we ducked into the low-ceiling 10’ x 12’ house to find a room stuffed full of people—about 15 adults and just as many children! What a joyful surprise! Things were obviously much further along than we had expected.
Our time of worship together was joyful—all in Jula (very good for us!), and Kevin enjoyed preaching his first sermon among that group of believers. There was time given for testimonies, and Pastor Francois stood up and praised God for all He is doing in the Kenedougou region, and giving special thanksgiving for protection over his family. Part of his house caved in this past week due to a heavy rain, partially falling on two of his children, but fortunately it happened during the day and not at night, where they would have been crushed because it fell in right where they sleep. God is merciful!
Afterwards, we went back to the policeman’s house and sat visiting with his family, Pastor Francois, and others who kept coming by to greet. After a few hours, we were served lunch—and ate something we’ve never had in Burkina until this point. It was couscous mixed together with fresh milk from a Fulani owned cow (the Fulani woman came and sold it to the policeman’s wife that morning), and sheep meat fried in onions. Kevin and I got a LOT of milk/couscous—our kids weren’t too sure about that one, but boy, was that meat a big hit! Then we sat around and visited some more, went to go look at the piece of property we’re hoping to purchase where we’ll be building a pastor’s house (used as a church initially, same plan as we did in Ndorola), and then came back and found out that another family in the church was preparing a late afternoon lunch for us! They soon arrived with chicken, rice, and sauce, and we topped off our already full tummies—what great hosts they were, making sure we were full and thanking us for coming. We followed that with a strong shot of Arabic tea, and then it was back down the road, arriving home tired, but happy, by 6:30 pm!
TRIP FOR KEVIN
Please pray for Kevin as he travels to Sirasso Monday-Wednesday this week, visiting Pastor Marcel and his family and encouraging the believers in that area. Sunday we head back to Samorogouan—please continue to pray that God would bring new believers into this church and that one day, a missionary pastor would be able to come.
Thanks for your prayers—as you can see, they are making a difference!
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.