I am having trouble posting pictures visit: Emily P's link and Mary Beth and Deron's link on the side of my blog to view pictures they have posted. Maybe next time.
Thanks to all of you who sent e-mails. Loved getting them. Will write back soon!

Three days in Africa!

06-01-06
The plane lands, anticipation builds. I grab my book-bag, rap my light jacket around my waist and hold my heavy winter jacket in my hand. I can already feel the heat coming from the front of the plane. I am in Africa. As I start to walk down the steps to go into the airport I inhale a mixture of heat, dust, and burning leaves and trash Mary Beth said, “It smells like Africa.” I laugh, thinking soon the smell will be normal, 80 degrees will feel cool, and I’ll be able to ignore mosquitoes.

Between the four of us we have 16 bags and/or trunks of luggage. We caused a small “problem” trying to go through “customs” in Burkina Faso. I use the word “customs” loosely; it was a guy standing at the door wanting to know what hundreds of people had in their bags. We came up and he just laughed and asked what was in them, we had so much he just let us go.

I was able to share Christ on the plane from Paris. It was a random collection of questions and searching. His name is Kevin. Kevin is from Canada, in med-school in Washington D.C. and decided to take time off and visit Burkina Faso. Just wanted to spend six months here and meet people. He doesn’t know anyone here and is going to live with a family in Ouaga. Kevin is a true searcher. He doesn’t believe in God, but does believe something is out “there.” He has traveled a lot lately and I just wanted to tell him, “You are not going to find “happiness” hopping from one country to another.”

We had home made pizza Friday night for dinner at a missionary’s house. Fourteen missionaries and missionary kids we met and bombarded with questions about the area and people. After dinner the guys started watching the Rose Bowl game, someone had taped for them.

We are tired, but content. God has already answered so many of your prayers: safe travel, all of our luggage made it, the people are great, and we are excited about the next three months in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, learning French.

We start our French lessons on Wednesday, pray I am rested and able to learn quickly and remember what I have learned. Pray I will have a willing spirit to get out with the people and stubble through the language.

This is the dry season and everyone is burning trash, pray allergies will leave me alone.

May the Lord bless you!

08-01-06
Yesterday, we went shopping with Kathy. We went all around town looking for different items. I walked down one aisle and saw dove soup in the new fancy bottles! Even though we could get most toiletries, we could not find eggs.

While in the store I saw Kevin from the airplane. I walk over to say hi and he was surprised to see me. He seemed overwhelmed, so I went back to my group.

We meet some Burkinabe (burr-key-nah-bay), the people who are from Burkina Faso, at fruit stands who said they would help us practice our French.

Today we went to the University church. It was a western style with three rows of pews, wooden pews that really are uncomfortable after two hours, and the women sat on the left, the men on the right, and families or groups in the middle. We sat in the middle so Deron wouldn’t be by himself.

It was a great service (in French) and everyone was very nice. We got introduced as visitors, taken back to a special room afterwards and told about the churches activities. We might try to go to youth events to practice French. The workers said the church was a wealthier church and used western worship to draw students from the nearby university.

We ate Chinese for lunch and American ice cream for desert. Things are going really well.

I am having trouble falling asleep at night. Please lift-up this so I might get more sleep and not have feel overly tired during the day.

Also…that I might start picking up some French.

Miss you all!