Email the Burks!

This month we've been very busy with bringing interns back to Ouaga, participating in a team business retreat, and taking some extra time to do some spring cleaning and reorganization of our schedule and goals as a family. We had a few rough days in Ouaga with both kids getting very sick, but everyone's fine now. Please pray for continued health for our family since the mosquitoes are worse this rainy season than Andrea and I ever remember them being in Burkina.

There have been two new church plants this month. One in Bavule and one in Kompla were I witnessed 27 souls entering God's kingdom. There are another 20 folks from Kompla who have signed a sheet saying they also want to be baptized, and should be baptized on Sunday the 29th.

Now with around 15 churches and some church plants we have a wonderful new problem - ore places to go than all of us can go in a week. This means that we are in a time of transition as a team as we look to possibilities about how to spread ourselves wider and / or replace ourselves more and more with Dagara leadership. These are exciting times.

May the LORD Bless You and Keep You,

Aaron, Andrea, Daniel, and Dylan Burk

Email the Carters!

With the departure of the interns our family is beginning to grasp the reality of a baby joining us soon. There has still been plenty of excitement though. First, we have built new bridges with some Christian groups that are based in Dano. We do not work in the "big city" but God is glorified as Christians grow in demonstrating unity. Second, today we were blessed by a visit from two Ghanaian preachers. Anthony Ferra is the very preacher who helped us with some of the survey work of the Dagara in Burkina Faso! It had been eight years since we last saw each other. I am still riding on a swell of encouragement from his visit. We had the opportunity to pray together and he updated our team on what is happening among the Dagara in Ghana. He also met with several leaders from close by churches. I was touched by the wonders of God's kingdom as these brethren shared a meal, offered a song, spoke of God's transforming reign in their culture, and prayed for each other. Thanks to God for bringing these folks together in Christ.

We would like to invite you to help us as we await the arrival of Benjamin Carl Carter (due August 9). We have set up a simple game to allow everyone to enter their guess. (A very special Dagara gift for the winner!) In order to participate you must visit the website noted bellow. http://www.expectnet.com/
On the left hand side of the page, it will have a section to fill in the game name. Enter "BurkinaBaby" and you will be able to participate in our game.

Thanks for your prayers for the Dagara, the young Christians, our family, and a safe delivery.
The Carters

Email the Chankins!

Many things that have happened this month. The interns moved to the next leg of their internship or returned home. We had a meeting with a Ghanaian Dagara pastor, Anthony Ferra. It was encouraging to see our leaders interact with him and all of our leaders were encouraged by the meeting. They gleaned great insights on how to make funerals more Christian without losing their Dagaraness. It is good to have a Christian who has worked through some of these issues to help our leaders.

A week ago, during the Dano Paris weekly meeting, something unusual happened that I would like to share with you. As I arrived in Dano Paris that evening, I saw Severen, Patrice, Rebekah and one other church member. We were meeting early to go and pray for Kathleen's sick husband. She is a member of the church in Dano Paris. So we started walking to Kathleen's house and when we arrived we saw a man throwing a melon sized rock at something (in my head I had scenes of the Gerasenes demoniac), which we soon found out to be Kathleen. She came running around the corner of her house and joined us. She was winded but not scared. As the story unfolded, we found out that the sick husband was more crazy or possessed than physically ill. Kathleen had asked him if we could come and pray for him and he declined twice and on the third time (just moments before we arrived) she just told him that he needed to sit and let us pray for him. Needless to say this made him a little mad and he refused. That was when he started throwing rocks and yelling at her. The suggestion was then made that we go and pray for a baby, Yir-iib, who was sick.

The lesson that night was on prayer out of James 5. The whole church was encouraged by Kathleen's story. Kathleen had great courage to try to confront her husband and we talked about better ways to do it. All said and done, it was a strange evening, but God was glorified. At the meeting, we took some time and prayed for Kathleen's husband. Dagara Christians face many difficulties in their faith walk. Please pray for their encouragement as they grow and mature in Christ's love and wisdom.

At the home front, we would like thank you for your prayers and would ask for your continued prayers for Jack who has another case of malaria.

Blessings,
Archie, Mandy, Emma and Jackson

Email the Johnsons!

Furlough continues to fly along for the Johnsons! It's hard to believe that, were this a 'normal' (that is, non-baby) furlough, we'd already be heading back to Burkina! We continue to enjoy American restaurants and stores, and Andy's waistline proves it! Now that we mention it, Melissa's waistline continues to expand these days, too (although her's is supposed to). At our latest doctor's visit, we were told that everything looks great, that we seem on track for a perfectly normal delivery. Praise God for protecting Melissa and Amelie so far, and please continue to pray for His protection.

We've had many great opportunities to speak of what God has been doing among the Dagara. Andy has preached and we have taught each of the last four Sundays -- twice at our sponsoring church 10th and Broad, once at the Albany Church of Christ (where our good friends, Anthony and Maureen Parker, long-time missionaries in West Africa, are now ministering), and once in Burlington, Vermont. Everywhere we have gone, God's family has welcomed us and treated us all-too-well. It is a real pleasure to be able to tell churches about all that God is doing through our team and our brothers and sisters among the Dagara.

We are going to be staying put here in Wichita Falls, TX, until Amelie comes. We'd still love to see as many of you as possible or at least talk to you on the phone (our cell is (940) 632-8558) -- please do us the honor of getting in touch with us.

Blessings.
The Johnsons