Our Arrival Newsletter

After being here two weeks, we have only grown more excited about what God is doing and honored that He is allowing us to be part of it! The children have adjusted even better than we expected. Connie has had a few moments of culture shock, but she as well loves being here. I think some of the hardest things for her have been: Having to filter and wash everything, getting the children to keep their hands away from their mouths, our feet always being dirty, and driving.

The Burkinabé (pronounced 'burkina-bay') people have welcomed us with open arms and smiling faces. Despite the fact that we have a wall built around our house, the Burkinabé children continue to stack bricks up so that they can climb the wall and get a little peak into our personal lives. Our children have already starting making some great friends. Even with the language barrier, they seem to communicate and love it. Noah has taught some of the boys to walk on their hands and to flip each other over the others back. Gabriella tried to teach the girls how to play freeze tag. She did not have success the first time but said, "Mommy maybe they will understand tomorrow." We do not go outside that our children are not the center of attention and they are loving it!

In these relationships our children have already made, there is already a neat foundation for us to share the love of Jesus. Though it is very expensive to live here, we feel it is vital for a family to be here year-round as it will enable West Ridge and the local missionary team here to multiply the ministry that will take place. We plan on spending the month of February finishing-up the bulk of our housing and Team Center setup, getting acclimated to our new community and doing some major crash French language learning. We will host our first team in March and plan on hosting two or more teams each month. We have already begun highlighting ways these teams can impact Burkina for the Kingdom. We are confident that God has good things for this place, and are excited that He is entrusting us with this mission!

In the days to come, we will be following up with an email specifically pertaining to our finances. Please be praying now about how you can be involved in this ministry!

Many Blessing Sent From Burkina Faso, West Africa!

Chris, Connie, Samuel, Noah, Silas, Isabella, Gabriella