The following is an excerpt from an email Wendell Burnam sent home about some of their experiences here in Dano.
We are many days into our trip, and I cannot begin to express all of the fascinating things we have already experienced. It has been absolutely amazing. Burkina Faso is a land of few trees; a blazing sun; red, rocky "soil" and thousands of kind, friendly, hard-working people. We have been blessed over and over again by the people here in Dano.

The children are numerous, beautiful and absolutely filled with joy. They sit patiently when directed and also participate freely in worship service. I bumped into a small group of them earlier in the week as they were wandering by the local Catholic church building at the bottom of the hill. When they saw the big, goofy, white man making his way down the road, they understandably approached me cautiously. I reached into my pocket and gave them a handful of peanuts and 400 francs, the equivalent of 80 cents. They began jumping up and down and shouting "Baraka" and "Merci" (thank you in Dagara and French). Turns out that the average daily wage for an adult worker is about $2 American. I had no idea what I was giving them, of course, but it sure made those kiddos happy.

What a blessing it has been to be here! Overwhelming in most every respect. The time to depart is drawing near, and it makes me so sad. We have been treated royally, always being seated on the best bench at each place we visited. Andy and Melissa and the rest of the team have been so hospitable and loving. They live remarkable lives and are often allowed to see God work in hearts and lives. It is awesome!

Wendell, Laura, Wendy, and Charlie Burnam

Email the Burks!

Andrea and Daniel have wrapped up the school year and we've begun decorating our baby room with cute little froggies. We have also begun adding a guest room to our house.

God has given amazing growth in Nyinyime. Nyinyime church recently baptized over 30 new members, bringing their total close to 150. I have also been hoping that they would start planting another church. We were helping the Johnsons bring the Burnams from the capital and I wasn't able to make it to Nyinyime on that Friday. I was planning on teaching a lesson on evangelism and encouraging them to start thinking toward planting another church. So while I was away, God answered my prayers and 40 members of the Nyinyime church gathered together and walked for an hour and a half to a village called "V2." They taught the God's creation story and how sin entered into the world to about 30 people from V2. One of the members of the church has also donated a portion of one of his fields to the church and every Sunday morning they all gather at the field, do some work on it, then have a worship service. In the afternoon on Sunday they go out to hold an evangelistic meeting at V2. Pray that this pattern will continue without my direct encouragement while we are gone to the states for several months for delivering this baby and having our furlough.

May the LORD Bless You and Keep You,
Aaron, Andrea, and Daniel

Email the Johnsons!

We have the great pleasure of announcing to the world (well, the Dagara Digest world) the arrival of our son, Elijah Scott Johnson! Last Friday, amidst a whirlwind of activity and dashes across the capital, our son was put into our arms. Elijah is a healthy four month old that was well taken care of in the orphanage where he lived prior to coming home with us. He has an amazing appetite and already sleeps through the night. We are so grateful for God's wonderful answer to years of prayer. Please join us in thanking God for blessing us with Elijah and in asking Him to smooth the road over the miles of paperwork that remain.

Prior to our son's arrival, we hosted the Burnam family in our home for a week. They were representatives of our supporting congregation (10th and Broad church of Christ in Wichita Falls, Texas) sent to encourage us and simply be with us. They were a wonderful encouragement to us through late night discussions, early morning walks, blessed worship times with our team, and exciting village visits. We are so thankful that they were able to come and minister to us.

God bless you all!
Andy, Melissa, and Elijah

Email the Carters!

Well this month has seen the ball get rolling on a long string of visitors. We were greatly encouraged by the Burnams visit and especially enjoyed all the new songs they taught our team. The Guilds then arrived just after them and we are glad to be in the midst of a team formation time. Noah continues to grow and desperately wants to walk. He also recently discovered the joy of two more teeth (his top two). Chad was very excited to get involved with Train and Multiply this month since the village of Yo has decided to stop mid-week meetings during the peak work time. The day that this email goes out there will be two big events (we'll let you know the results next month): Amy will be teaching her first lesson to a group of women in Dano-Pari and the village of Muturi is planning a baptism service.

Please pray for this time of baptism time since I'll probably be in the water for sure. The specific reason for prayer is that the water is low and last week as I was checking to see where we could get in deep enough a 6 ft crocodile slid into the pond about 50 yrds from me. Then as we continued to check things out a smaller crocodile popped its head right next to us. Please pray that the crocs do not disrupt the birth of this church.

Thanks for your faithfulness in prayer.
Chad and Amy Carter

After the submission of this article there were 17 baptisms out in Mutori - Praise God! - editor

Email the Chankins!

If you have ever felt a 20-degree temperature drop from a dust storm you know you live in Burkina. God has brought many blessings this month. The rain seems to have started coming on a more regular schedule and this has allowed the people to start planting their fields. We are finally getting settled to home life here in Dano. Jack’s room is finished and he is sleeping in there now. Everyone here loves Jack. Mandy, Emma and I went to the village last Thursday for Emma’s first visit after furlough to the village and she loved it. The other kids did not know what to do with the little white girl that was full of energy. Then Friday, I was able to teach in one of Andy’s villages while he was gone. This allowed me to get back into teaching in the village and it was a good time. Our team is looking forward to the arrival of interns at the end of the week. Currently our team is hosting our team’s mentor Sonny Guild and his wife, Eunice. They have come for a time of encouragement and team building. It is always great to have them with us. We would ask for prayers for our leaders’ meeting on June 23, 2006. The subject is Christian family. Please pray for rain, our interns, Sonny’s visit, leaders’ meeting and our adjustment back to life in Burkina Faso. For our team’s biggest news please read the Johnson’s section of the digest.

God bless,
Archie, Mandy, Emma and Jack