While it might not be the best way to tell a story, I've got to spill the beans here at the beginning: yesterday, I had the privilege of seeing some of God's children accept their Lord in baptism. It was the first church we've seen planted among the Dagara as a result of God working through us, and it made my heart sing in ways it hadn't sung in years.

Now, having ruined the suspense, let's head back to the beginning…

We started teaching in Nakar in February. We'd noticed in recent weeks that this group of people had really seemed to be forming into a community, that a sense of 'togetherness' was shaping up we have yet to see in our other preaching points. We had taken them through six Old Testament stories and five weeks of teaching about Jesus when I headed out yesterday with our 'counting the cost' lesson.

The lesson started just about on time (an hour and a half after the official starting time) with everyone singing the two worship songs they know. I had to smile at one point when one of my favorite older ladies (now a Senior Saint, I suppose), told the younger song leader to hush, that she was taking over, and then proceeded to pick up the pace.

I then greeted everyone, passing along hello's from my wife Melissa as well as my teammates - I specifically told them that Aaron couldn't be here today because his son Daniel was sick. Another great sign, I was told that we needed to pray for him before we start the lesson. I asked a young man (the one who suggested we pray) to pray for Daniel and to bless our meeting, and then we plunged in.

I reminded them that last week we had taught that God's son Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that he now lives again. I told them that there is absolutely no other road to be on than following Jesus and that it is a great place to be. However, before they commit to it, they need to know that it can be difficult. I shared with them the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and of Stephen's martyrdom to illustrate that following God's way can lead to persecution. We tell both stories to show that sometimes God chooses to rescue his people and sometimes he does not, but that he is always with his people. I also told them of Ananias and Saphira to show the seriousness of their commitment, that one cannot worship God along with anything else and get away with it.

Explaining to them the realities of their decision, I asked if anyone wanted to be baptized today, at which point a number of hands shot up. Seeing those rough and scarred hands attesting to a desire to commit to Christ was probably my happiest moment since coming to Burkina Faso (it even beat seeing those elephants!). We all hopped up and headed down a dirt path toward one of the two ponds in the area that still has some water (we are at the very end of dry season, so water is pretty scarce). Our little group struck up the singing again - yes, those same two songs, just a little peppier this time.

Along the way, we saw a group of men under a tree sacrificing chickens to the traditional gods of the Dagara. The spiritual warfare could not have been more obvious - as a group of men and women tromped down a dirt path singing praises to God on their way to accept Jesus, Satan was also being glorified in his twisted way. I prayed at that moment that God would send his angels to protect us during our baptisms and that he would make those sacrifices totally ineffective.

Arrived at pond, I waded on in (the muddy water came up to the middle of my knees) and explained to everyone what we were doing and why (our crowd had doubled in size along the way by picking up some of the curious…never pass up an opportunity to preach!). I asked Yir-We, one of the leaders, if he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, to which he responded affirmatively. I then baptized him in the name of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of his sins. After that, those who had come to be baptised lined up for Yir-We to take their confessions of faith and baptize them while I stood on the bank and helped with the clapping and singing. Someone asked me a question during the process, and I lost track of how many were baptized - in the end, it was between 25 and 30 (we'll find out for sure next week when we get a list of everyone's name). We headed back up the road to the meeting place, still singing those same two songs. We ended our day with prayer and some more singing (apparently, those two songs never get old…), and I hit the road back to Dano in the dark.

I will never forget the sight of these men and women, some of them quite elderly, accepting their Lord in baptism in that muddy water. We've said all along that if God uses us to reach even one person, then all our sacrifices and language learning will have been worth it. The good news is that, as of right now, everything that happens over the coming years is, therefore, just icing on the cake!

Of course, the really great news is that God is now glorified by our brothers and sisters in Nakar, where he wasn't before. Please pray earnestly for these new believers. Pray that they would even now start sharing their faith. Pray that God would protect them from all the attacks of the evil one and make any pagan sacrifices made in Nakar totally ineffective.

Pray also that they might learn or write a few new songs! J

In his service,

Andy and Melissa

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