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The following
is the reflections of Charisa Schaefer who came to visit our
team this moth:
 12
Days in Burkina Faso, definitely an experience like no other!
I arrived late Saturday night, January 14th and departed
late Thursday night, January 27th. The purpose of my trip
was simply to spend time with my friends, Andy and Melissa
Johnson. We had 12 days of great fellowship, catching up
on recent events in our lives, and sharing our hopes and
plans for the future. It was a completely satisfying visit.
The bonus was that our visit took place in West Africa,
a place I'd never been. I anticipated severe heat and was
surprised by pleasantly cool temperatures. I enjoyed getting
to know Andy's and Melissa's teammates, the Burks and the
Carters, a little better. I enjoyed getting to know several
of their Dagara friends, many of them people I've been hearing
about for several years now.  We
had a particularly fun visit sitting in the shade while
15 to 20 elephants put on a great show, accompanied by the
startling sounds of crocodiles. Andy and Melissa were perfect
hosts, mixing just the right amounts of rest and relaxation
with excitement and "African" experiences. It was a visit
I will never forget and perhaps someday, I'll be able to
repeat!
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| Aaron,
Andrea, and Daniel Burk |
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What
an exciting month this has been! With the harvest ended
and planting season yet to start, things are really
hopping in the work. We have had around 20-30 folks
at our church maturation meetings in Nakar. We are struggling
a little getting Nyinyime Christians to come to their
church maturation meetings, but a couple of Sunday's
ago there were around 50 folks singing and praying to
God. The Hausers had come once again to visit us, and
I was excited that we didin't take the hour drive in
the truck to Nyinyime for nothing. Since God has blessed
our family with satelite TV, we were able to watch the
AFC Championship football game with our friend Lynn
Kenedy who works alongside us in advancing the gospel
among the Dagara. She is from Pittsburgh and really
enjoyed watching it. Because it was late, she spent
the night. She had brought along her Dagara Grandson,
Narcisse, who enjoyed playing with Daniel. Most recently
we had a valuable team retreat where we evaluated old
goals, set new ones, and committed ourselves through
prayer and discussion to work for God's glory in all
that we do, in our families, on our team, and in our
work. It was refreshing and motivating. We came back
to all sorts of surprises. Dano-pari had 20 baptisms
and the preaching point, 'Yo had their first conversions.
Fourty people were baptized in 'Yo. This is the first
church planted almost entirely through the efforts of
a Dagara evangelist. Praise God, who gives the increase.
May the LORD Bless You and Keep You,
Aaron, Andrea, and Daniel
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| Chad
and Amy Carter |
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There
is no feeling like hitting the ground running. Unfortunately
that did not happen for us. Chad was sick on arrival
in Burkina and then Noah started catching his own snot
filled cough and it felt like a rained on picnic all
around. Thanks to many blessings we were able to jump
into things, all be it a week later than we hand on
our plan. This month has seen the groundwork laid in
three villages: Muturi, Mani, and Dakola. In these villages
God truly did the preparation. It is humbling to have
talked about prayer being the principal work and to
then pray for these new villages, holding in the back
of one’s mind that it will actually be difficult. Instead
we had easy and instant approval from village authorities
in all three places. We hope to see teaching begin by
mid-February. The last Friday in January should also
see the birth of the church in Yo. Yo and Dagore will
then be in need of some basic leader formation.
In
January we also enjoyed hosting the Hausers for a meal,
but the sadness of missing out on missionaries from
northern Togo due to a stillborn birth in their team.
Please remember that team and especially the family,
Matt and Andrea Miller, in your prayers.
Noah
continues to grow. He loves the Dagara, and it is fair
to say they love him. He is still a bit unsure of the
heat, as we all are.
Thanks
again for your constant support in prayer.
Chad
and Amy Carter
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| Andy
and Melissa Johnson |
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January
is usually one of our favorite months because
of the cooler temperatures, and this year was
no different. We were grateful for the cooler
temperatures (lows in the upper 60’s at night!),
as it made the visit of our friend Charisa Schaefer
that much more pleasant. Her visit was a great
blessing to us, providing us with some much needed
encouragement and Melissa with hours of visiting.
As always, we enjoyed our time at the Nazinga
Game Ranch – we even saw a family of elephants
defend their baby against two crocodiles!
After
we put Charisa on the plane, we headed to our
team’s twice-annual business retreat. The most
exciting news in all of this is that while we
were gone, a young evangelist planted a new church
with 40 baptisms in the village of Yo after several
months of teaching and then baptized 20 people
in his home village of Dano-Pari two days later.
We are very excited to see God working through
the Dagara to reach the Dagara.
On
the adoption front, we have done everything we
can on the Burkina side of things and are now
waiting on the government to finish their paperwork
and propose a child to us. We hope to make progress
on the more-complicated and more-expensive American
paperwork during February.
Thank
you for your prayers.
Andy and Melissa
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| Archie,
Mandy, and Emma Chankin |
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This
month has brought colds to the Chankin household.
Archie and Emma went to the doctor to make sure
that we were well for Jackson’s arrival. We also
enjoyed renewing friendships and making new ones
while we were in countdown mode.
God
has been so good to us again this year. We are
proud to announce the birth of Jackson Elliott,
born on January 23, 2006. He weighed 6 lbs. and
13 oz and he was 20 inches long. Mandy and Jackson
(Jack) are doing well. Emma is trying to help
in every way she can. She wants to share her cookies
and give him is bottle, but we have to help her
so she does not poke out his eyes. We ask that
you pray for Emma’s adjustment to having a younger
brother. Also, we need continued prayers for Mandy,
Jack and me as we get used to one another. We
are so very blessed with these two great children
and we know that God has heard your prayers on
our behalf. We thank you!
If
you would like to contact us, you can call us
at 512-785-1811 or email us at archieandmandy@yahoo.com.
We will be in Flower Mound until March 1st and
then we will move to San Antonio until the end
of April.
Blessings,
Archie, Mandy, Emma and Jack
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Please forward to a Friend!
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©2002-2006 Dagara
Mission. All Rights Reserved |
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