THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES WERE ALL SUBMITTED BEFORE THE CARTER'S FIRE HAPPENED

Email the Carters!

Praise the Lord! This is one of Noah's favorite phrases these days and this month echoes with praise.

First, we have our car back. After 4 months in the shop we are now back in our own vehicle. Thank you to all who prayed, paid, and shared trucks with us through this trimester.

Also, we praise God for his work in redeeming Dagara funerals. Traditional funeral practices are tied with many animistic rites (of which even many Dagara people do not know the details!). God has been working among the churches as his Spirit prompts them to sanctify all of their lives. This month unfortunately has seen the passing of several Christians but Praise the Lord the churches are engaging death in a holy way; at the communal funeral and in creating a unique public testimony.

Finally, there will be a new feature on the digest . . . the Train and Multiply Progress Meter! Please pray for this process because our hope is that this will be an effective leadership maturation tool for all of Dagara-land (extending into three countries!). This month has seen some good progress and we'll continue to update you on this special ministry tool.

Thanks for your continued example of faith to us.
The Carters

Email the Richters!

A Divine Appointment -- those are the words that best sum up the events and blessings of being with the Oak Hills Church the last two and a half months. It is a time the Richter family will look back on with great affection and gratitude. Indescribable joy, amazing love, inspiring worship, compelling prayers, powerful messages and sweet fellowship all characterize this divinely appointed relationship. God positioned everything at just the right time and blessed us beyond imagination through the Oak Hills Church.

It is with great privilege and humility now that we begin this mission with God in Burkina Faso, West Africa. God is truly doing amazing things among the Dagara. Lives are changing and slowly God is lifting a culture that honors Him. What an incredible blessing for our family to be used by God in preaching the Gospel, training leaders and facilitating water and agricultural development among the Dagara people.

The time for our departure is finally at hand. After two long years of prayer and preparation, we leave the USA and arrive in Burkina Faso on November 20, 2008. The team will help us get settled in the capital city of Ouagadougou where we will be involved in intensive language study through next summer.

Please pray for God's blessing as we get settled in a foreign land and begin learning to speak the French language. Also, pray for God's guidance as we put together development plans for meeting the physical and spiritual needs of the Dagara. And please remember our children in your prayers. We know that if all of this is from God, and we believe it is, then He will see it through to completion for His glory and purpose!

Continuing the Story in Burkina Faso,
The Geoffrey Richter Family

Email the Burks!

We are enjoying our furlough. We are currently in Colorado and freezing our tails off. We are looking forward to a good thanksgiving.

Please pray that we can make the most out of this furlough and that it would be filled with times serving and blessed by God.

If you want to get in touch with us you can call us at 682-564-3131 or 970-884-9407.

May the LORD Bless You and Keep You,

Aaron, Andrea, Daniel, and Dylan Burk

Email Hillary!

God has richly blessed me in first allowing me to come here, but also in teaching and encouraging me along the way. I can hardly believe I have less than four months left in Burkina. I am comfortable here and wish I were staying longer. Teaching preschool has been a joy and learning process for me. Recently we have been finger painting, reading books, and learning about the prodigal son. It is interesting how, in preparing lessons for the boys, God is able to speak to me. It became so clear to me how huge it is that God still loves and wants us even after all we've done.

Early in November I was able to spend another two weeks at the orphanage in Yako. One of the office workers asked me if I would like to take one of the babies back to the states with me and I told him "Sure!" even though I know it's impractical right now. Because it is currently harvest season I helped the older kids harvest some of their millet. While there I met a wonderful girl named Liz. She's just out of college and spending the next year at the orphanage. Having a peer who speaks the same language and comes from the same culture is such a blessing.

During a recent visit in Ouaga we went to a huge arts and crafts festival with venders from all over Africa. That was quite an experience. I am now living with Johnsons and looking forward to the holidays. Because Chad and Amy's house burned they needed to leave Ouaga early. I took on partial responsibility of their boys. Thank you for your prayers for them. God is going to do something glorious!.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Your sister in Christ,
Hillary Sellers

Email the Johnsons!

Greetings from dusty (but blissfully cooler) Burkina Faso! As we sit to write, our teammates the Richters are safely tucked in to their home of the next several months here in the capital city. The Lord blessed them with an uneventful journey over the ocean; as icing on the cake, even all their bags made it (as did all four children!). We are so excited to at last have them on the field with us.

The last month has been a good one for our family of getting back into the swing of things around Dano. Elijah and Amelie (as well as their parents) are thrilled to be back in our own home again. We've been in contact with a number of churches and individual Christians, in addition to several of our friends around town. Andy particularly enjoyed his all-day Sunday outing to V-8, a preaching point started by the Nyinyime church. We're also tackling some badly needed electrical improvements to our home that we've been putting off for a while.

We'd like to ask you to be praying for two things. Andy's studies with a good Muslim friend of ours have been going very well (he's even talked some of what he wants to do once he converts!), but he's expressed some fear about what will happen when he commits. Secondly, we're expecting again! Lord willing, our third child will be born in Burkina next June. Please be praying for Melissa and the baby's health.

Blessings.
The Johnsons