Email the Carters!

Thank you for your prayers for our transition from Dano to Texas. Three things stand out from this month. First, we made a point to visit each church before we left and encourage them in the process of appointing deacons / elders. I was expecting this to be a time of re-teaching and reminding. Instead every visit turned into one of encouragement. All of the churches we were able to visit have appointed or are considering provisional deacons (and where possible, elders). Praise God for this step among the churches. Please pray for these young leaders. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide them in maturity in Christ and that they will have Godly wisdom about what it is to be a deacon. Second, we were encouraged by the Richters visit and getting to know their family. Please pray for their return to the States as they process their experiences in Dano as a family. Lastly, we are now on furlough. We will be in Texas until October 31 and then on November 1 we leave for Kansas. We had safe travels and look forward to seeing you all. It is already a busy and blessed time. We may be contacted by calling 214.578.2714

Thanks for your passion in reaching the Dagara.

The Carters

Email the Johnsons!

Greetings one last time from the USA! Our furlough is rapidly drawing to a close (by the time you get this, we may already be in Burkina!), and we are hurriedly trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible. As always, these last few weeks are bittersweet. We are happy to be returning home, yet saddened to be leaving behind family and friends as we go to that to which God has called us. It has been a wonderful furlough time, full of visits with family and friends. We've been privileged to speak of what God is doing among the Dagara from places as varied as Vermont to California, and it has been such a blessing to us to share with others what He has beendoing.

We would ask your prayers during this time of transition. Pray that our flights are on-time (as is our luggage!), that we would all arrive healthy and well-rested (that truly would be a miracle...), and that our move back home to Dano would go smoothly. Also, please ask the Lord's blessing on our parents, as they are discovering it is much more difficult to send grandbabies to the mission field than just kids.

Thanks to all of you who made this furlough such a blessed time!

Blessings!
The Johnsons

Email the Burks!

There have been many comings and goings this month. The Hausers, Christian church missionaries moving to Burkina, came to see us a few times. The Richters came to interview with our team and we really enjoyed hosting them. They seem to be really open to God using them in whatever way He wants. We look forward to seeing what God will do through them.

We saw the Carters go and wish them a restful, joy-filled furlough. We welcomed the Johnsons back this week. We're excited to have our "next-door neighbors" back in town. Little Amelie is so cute and we're just excited to see what God does through them this stint in Africa.

Aaron has started a new ministry - village-specific leader training seminars. He is meeting with up to three leaders in each village with an existing church. He conducts an intense 2 day seminar with them which will hopefully give the leaders in these village churches plenty of material to pass on to their church members over the months that pass before the next seminar comes their way. Read more about the first one on the Nakar blog page.

Andrea and Daniel have been doing well in school. Daniel's studying Scotland and doing science experiments to test the purity of our air.

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

Email the Chankins!

There has been a lot going on here in Dano and among the Dagara. Over the last month we have had many visitors: After Mandy's parents last month we hosted the Hausers, a missionary family moving to Banfora, Burkina Faso, and the Richter family who came to look at our work to see if they could possibility work with us. It is always interesting looking through the eyes of a first time visitor to Dano.

It is a quiet time among the Dagara churches because of their harvesting. Even with the harvest, there have been many new believers being baptized. This is really an exciting time among the Dagara. Aaron is changing his role to teaching several day seminars in each village. This a move to continue in the maturation of Dagara church leaders and churches.

Over the next two weeks there will be baptisms in two villages, Bavule and 'Yo-bagawn. 'Yo-Bagawn is a new church plant and will have around 30 people baptized into Christ. Last week in the village of Nawile, there were several people baptized. The most exciting is that this is all happening without our presence. They are taking possession of their churches each day. Praise God. It is the movement of the Holy Spirit.

On the home front, we are doing well. Jack has been well for about six weeks now. This is one of the longest runs of being well. Thank you for your prayers on his behalf. It is also great to have our teammates the Johnsons back!

God Bless,
The Chankins