Email the Johnsons!

Greetings!

We have enjoyed a wonderful month, finally back home among our teammates and our friends around Dano. Granted, there have been plenty of struggles in getting our home back in top (or at least functioning…) shape, but we have really enjoyed this month. We've been blessed by a number of friends coming by to greet us and do us the incredible honor of bringing us 'Welcome Back' gifts. It's truly a humbling thing for a family with trunks of stuff still piled up in the hallway to receive a chicken purchased with a local church's entire Sunday contribution.

Before Andy returns to weekly teaching appointments, we've decided to visit all 16 Dagara churches. In many of these places, we're renewing old friendships, while some of them we're seeing for the first time. It has been very encouraging to see the growth (particularly in leadership) in many of these churches. It has also been a lot of fun to watch some of the grandmothers in these churches hold Amelie, the child they've prayed about for so long!

Although no transition back to the field is ever perfect, we are feeling very blessed to be back home. Thank you for all your prayers, as we believe they are the reason this is so!

Blessings.
The Johnsons

Email the Burks!

We have been dealing with lots of sickness this month. Andrea has been a paragon of patience while many times she has had to play nurse to three babies at the same time (even though she's only the mother of two babies normally). We are taking every precaution available to us and we are getting better every day. My teammate even took me to the doctor in the capital, Ouaga, and we got some extra tests done. They all concluded I should just keep taking my cipro (broad spectrum antibiotic) and wait, so that's what we're doing, and I seem to be getting better.

We are all, in fact, looking forward to the trip this week to Kabiye land in northern Togo and, being on the mend, with much for which to be thankful, we are excited to celebrate this American pastime with some of our American brothers and sisters in Christ down there. After that Thanksgiving celebration we head back here for one of our own with some new-old friends, the Hausers, missionaries from Ivory Coast, newly moved to a new work in Burkina.

Next month we celebrate the release of the New Testament in the other dialect of Dagara (lobr - we and most of the Christians in churches where we work speak the wule dialect). Although there will be some differences we pray this may be a useful resource to the Dagara in the churches with which we work. The seminars continue to go well as Aaron continues to encourage these young churches to establish biblical leaderships of Elders and Deacons and to encourage these young leaders in modeling holiness.

May the LORD Bless You and Keep You,

Aaron, Andrea, Daniel, and Dylan Burk

Email the Carters!

We have continued to enjoy the opportunities to share in person what God is doing among the Dagara. Your time spent with us on Sundays in service, sitting in small groups, fellowshipping, or walking on a hunt have blessed our family. For the moment we are in Ulysses, Kansas but we will soon be on the road. You may reach us at 214-578-2714. Thanks for your continued prayers.

In Christ,
The Carters

Email the Chankins!

Happy Holidays from Burkina. We pray that this season is a wonderful and blessed time for all of you. Here the "winter" is marked by the Harmattan winds and dust as well as smoke and soot from the fires people light to burn away the tall grass that grew during the rainy season. We do enjoy cooler temperatures this time of year and after 6 "winters" here, we have grown kind of fond of this season. Many of you already know that this will be our last holiday season in Burkina. We decided some months ago that Jack's continual struggle with malaria necessitated our leaving Africa sooner than we had originally planned. Over the years here we have been blessed by God in ways that we never expected. Though often difficult, our years here have been some of the most amazing. Obviously, the addition of two children to our family tops the list of blessings, but beyond them, we have grown so much from having worked on a team of such wonderful people. We are also so thankful to work alongside the Dagara Christians who are such an example of Christ to us that we are humbled by their faithfulness and devotion in the face of real trials.

While we are at peace with our decision to leave and we know that the next chapter of our lives will be equally amazing if we allow God to lead, we still feel sadness about leaving these people and this ministry which will forever be part of who we are. Please pray for us as we make departure plans and for our future in the States. We will be returning to the States in June 2008, but beyond that have no permanent plans. Please ask God to reveal His will to us as we consider jobs, houses, schools and all of the details that go into a transition like this.

It is always amazing to see how the Holy Spirit is working among Dagara. God has blessed us with another church in the village of 'Yo-bagawn. There were 63 people baptized. It was amazing to see how excited these people were after there baptisms. They were dancing on the banks of the pond. It was a grand site to behold. All praise is due to God.

Pray for the Christians here to grow in maturity that they may lead the next generation into deep relationship with God. Pray for God to meet all their needs at just the right time so that His Name may be praised among these people.

Blessings,
The Chankins