Basearo needs Jesus!

Around 6:00pm tonight, two guys came to our gate and asked to speak to Chris. They said that they were the brothers of our night guard Basearo. Basearo was not here last night due to a head ache. We have noticed that when someone here says that they are sick, many times the sickness can result in death. For about 2 weeks I have battled with a head ache. There were two days that I stayed home and the word around here spread quickly. Many Africans asked Chris many times if I was ok. Our pastor and his wife came over to pray for me…. With the poverty, many cannot afford to go to the doctor or to get the meds needed to treat their sickness…. Therefore often resulting in death.


Without a second thought, Chris got ready and headed out to pick Basearo up and head to the hospital. We have been praying for him and his salvation. Many times when meeting a physical need the heart begins to open to spiritual things. Tonight Besearo was diagnosed with double pneumonia. God has opened the door even more so now for us to speak into the life of Basearo on a spiritual level.

Basearo needed IV fluids and 6 different medications. He was also admitted to the hospital. Because we were willing to pay for Basearo to be treated, his entire family feels much gratitude for us. This really could have resulted in death for Basearo. He is still not 100% but he is getting what he needs to return to better health.

We hate that he is sick, but we are thankful that this opens their hearts to spiritual things. Please pray that through this, Basearo’s entire family will come to know the Lord.

What is Your Passion?!?

These are children that live in the village behind our home that do not know Jesus.

Dear Family and Friends,

We had a staff meeting this past week and a couple questions were asked.

1. What are your spiritual gifts?

2. What are your talents?

3. What is your passion?

4. What are your sleeping habits?

I want to highlight question number 3. Connie and I both responded with a fresh excitement –We are Passionate about what we are doing now -TEAMS! We love teams that come to serve God through missions. We both feel like we were “wired” for this job. When more detail was asked for about why we love teams so much, this is our response:

We get excited about seeing ministry happen in two different ways. We get to be part of the life change that takes place in those coming to serve, just as much as we get to be part of the life change of those that live here in Burkina.

This child is now being raised in a Christian home.  Someone shared Jesus with his parents and they placed their faith in Him.

We need you and want to give the formal invitation -Will you come and serve on a short term trip? We cannot do this alone! We want to challenge you to pray over the next couple weeks and ask the Lord if you are one that needs to be part of a trip in the next year.

Would you pray and ask God to show you if He would have you come on a mission trip to Burkina? If you do think He’s leading you to do this, we understand that it can be a huge sacrifice in many ways. But also, many times Satan will use these things to tell you that such a trip is not a good idea, or not good right now… A few things he might use to deter any one of us are -money, children, work, money, time, fear, money, unbelief, “that is not me”, “God has not called me”, “That is for someone else”, money, etc, etc. These may even be real and valid concerns, however, we need to prayerfully discern whether or not it’s just the enemy trying to discourage us from even thinking that God would call “me” to serve on a mission trip. Because the truth is, YOU being here CAN make a difference in someone’s life –even your own!

Also, we have been extremely blessed and are very close to reaching our needed monthly support. We feel very blessed that our missions pastor back home has worked overtime on our behalf in helping to raise funds for us… A big “THANKS” to Paul Richardson!!! Please pray about helping us complete the monthly support we need. Will you give $10, $25, $50 a month?

If the Lord leads you to support us financially, please click on the link below and this will walk you step-by-step through the process to give. Whether you are making a onetime donation or a monthly commitment, please send us an e-mail and let us know. We are trying to make sure that our accounting is accurate and that the funds donated are placed in the right place.

https://www.cmalliance.org/give/online-giving?projectName=Approved+Special&projectDesc=Chris+and+Connie+Feild&project=1-X7434-49-12

Thank you for walking through this journey with us. We are honored and humbled that God has called us to serve in this position and we know we could not be here without your support!

Grace and Peace to you,

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

American Menu with our African Friends

Menu for the night:

Fried Chicken

Green Beans

Potatoes

Salad

Bread

Cake topped with strawberries and cream

AND- soft drinks…Coke, Fanta, Sprite

What a blessing for our family… We had Pastor Agabus and his family over for dinner. It was the first time their immediate family has had a meal with a white American family. When they arrived, the children were dressed in their Sunday attire. This alone was an honor to us. Normally the Africans do not eat in front of white people unless a close relationship has been formed for the most part. At an event this would be different, but in your home it is not normal for them to eat in front of you.

A few things they found funny: They do not normally eat with silverware. Though it was beside the plate, we encouraged them to eat how they were most comfortable. Chris even started eating first and made sure he used his hands in picking up his chicken. All the children wanted to use the utensils; however, they had no idea how. Pastor Agabus was a great sport with his kids and even teased them in a healthy light hearted way. One of them tried to use the spoon to cut her bread and they all laughed. They all loved dipping everything in the BBQ sauce. In all my years of cooking for American friends, I have never had anyone literally eat every single bit of meat off the bone. This is not a family that starves. I felt pretty confident that they enjoyed the meal!

After the meal, all of the children went to the TV and we put on “The Incredibles” in French. The children were glued to the TV and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed watching our children watch a movie together knowing how much they all were enjoying being together. We were not Africans and Americans, blacks and whites- We were brothers and sisters in the Lord and it was a very special time for all of us!

We had a sweet time of fellowship and really felt encouraged by Agabus and Suzanne. He really stressed that even though we are in a different culture, we still needed to be ourselves. God has a purpose in us being here and we do not need to make any changes to who we are for that to happen. They also expressed that they are extremely excited that West Ridge Church has been such a huge encouragement in sending us out here as well as all that they have done before our arrival. He feels very blessed that we are here to help them in bringing the name of Jesus to this village and students at the LAC, the Pougali people group, and to also assist in ministry in Sector 30 which is the poorest area in Ouagadougou.

Susanne has taken a position and will be helping me cook and prepare all the meals for the teams that come. Well, more so… I will be helping her. She is amazing and they both are very excited to have teams come and meet each one personally. When are you going to sign up?

Please pray for Basearo- I hope to post a picture of him soon!

I have continued to ponder and study “sufferings” in the Word. Just to reinforce my post yesterday, I see the Lord use sufferings to draw many to Himself.

Well, Basearo- (base-ear-o) is our night guard who is here to protect our family.  (We are not in danger, he is here just as a protection against theft.) This is pretty funny because he is normally asleep by 11:00pm. Despite his lack of alertness, his presence is still important. He does not speak French so it is interesting to try and communicate with him. He is 25, single, and comes from a mvsilm family. One thing that we love about him is that he has such a sweet countenance. We long to see him come to know the Lord and have been praying for His salvation as a family.


Last night he told Chris that his mother was sick and he may need to leave. Chris told him, please go and do not worry about it. Thinking he had gone, Chris was up through the night just making sure that our family was safe and each time he was up Basearo was still here. Chris assumed that things were fine. We feed basearo possibly the only meal he gets a day. Our children take turns taking this meal out to him.  He especially likes pancakes with nutella! Tonight was Noah’s night. When Noah returned, he said, “Mom what does mama papa morea mean?” In French mort means dead so my heart sank… did he really just tell Noah his mom died? Did both parents die? If this is true, why is he here?

Chris went out to speak with him and for this conversation found someone at the school to translate. In a broken voice he explained that his mother did die. She was very old and sick. Chris encouraged him to go and be with his family and he said he wanted to stay.  Everything has been taken care of and they will have a cermony in 100 days.  We still need much educating on customes and traditions here.

Chris returned inside to share this news with our family. I have only known this man for a couple weeks; yet, I felt instant pain in my spirit for him.  Our children as well were very sad and hurt for him. The very thought of losing my mother is unbearable. This is the woman who birthed him, cared for him, taught him, raised him, loved him, etc. She is gone forever.

The much more intense pain came when I dwelt on the fact that she did not know the Lord. She will have not another chance to call upon the Lord for salvation.  To think about hell is enough to scare anyone to death, but to think about the eternal separation from Christ is a weight more than I want to bear. Truly, my chest began to physically hurt.

Please begin praying… Pray that through the suffering of losing a mom, Basearo will come to know the Lord. Pray about how you can be part of the ministry here in Burkina which will in turn provide more opportunities for people to hear the news of Christ and come to know Him personally. Pray for us… pray that we will best know how to minister and shine the love of Jesus to Basearo and his family during this very hard time.

How Does a Christian Woman have Victory Over Discouragement?!?

I have not wanted to post anything in a couple days because I have once again found myself a little discouraged. I felt pretty embarrassed after posting a status on face book which read,

“I am about to burst into tears... It has been way too long since I have been able to talk to my family and friends...I so need them right now! Please Lord, bring me internet and a phone line!!”

Despite my regret and embarrassment, when I woke the next morning I found myself very encouraged at the number of responses as well as messages in my inbox. People prayed for me and it was much needed which in turn brought much encouragement. I have always wanted to be respectfully transparent; however, I have also wanted to portray the even when times are tough, God is all I need.

I was just on a caring bridge website of one of my closest friends in middle and high school. I was so thankful she was an only child and her parents were so gracious because I got to go on many Florida vacations with the William’s family. She has recently been diagnosed with a type of bone marrow cancer. This is the second friend close to the same age as I to fight cancer and I hate it! I will tell you what I see in it… I see suffering, hurt, discouragement, physical/emotional/spiritual pain…… but I see joy, hope, faith, hearts full of compassion and love for those hurting. I see God drawing people to Himself through the sufferings of others. On Misty’s website she is honest, bold, frustrated, tired of being in pain, full of joy, peace, and in every post points others to Jesus.

As I was sending her a message, the Lord really impressed on my heart that we are all drawn to and our hearts are softened when others are suffering. Come on Connie, it was through the sufferings of Jesus that I am able to have a relationship with God himself. More often it is in and through our sufferings that we seem to grow in a closer walk with the Lord. I was also reminded that the day I committed my life to follow the Lord I entered into a battle of light vs. darkness…. Suffering was part of the package…. And it IS because of His great love for me.

I have been dealing with some discouragement. I actually really like living in Africa for the most part. The life is much harder on a day to day basis just due to the lack of technology; however, the spiritual battles seem to be more intense as we are striving to serve the Lord. In my life, the more Chris and I yearn to serve the Lord, the more adversity we seem to face. (not in our marriage, just in day to day life) In certain times, we question the Lord and wonder what have we missed, where have we gone wrong, is there sin we have that we are clinched to and not confessing, what Lord what???!!!??? Many times in His loving touch and out of His great love for us, he is just making us more dependent on Him.

Well, today in Africa is “Fete de la Femme”. A day to celebrate being a woman. There was an organized party at the LAC campus where I live. Churches from all over Ouagadougou would be coming to celebrate being a woman loving the same God. After my morning, still not understanding what the Lord has planned in certain areas of my life and just feeling discouraged, I totally threw up on Chris with all my emotion…frustrated with God… and believe me I had no desire to go celebrate being a woman loving the same God. (I know you know what it means to throw on a life is great/ happy family face as your walking into church yet you fought the entire morning!) Low and behold the pastor’s wife showed up at my door reminding me and basically let me know that I had no choice in not being there.

Here we go fake smiles and yet on the inside still really frustrated with God… (I can only image what He is thinking when I throw these fits) on my way to the party. When I arrive there is a little over 100 women all dressed up and really praising the Lord through song and dance. In my unbelief, it should not, but God amazes me in the patience He has for me. In my disgruntled spirit and anger, it should not, but God amazes me with his love. In my confusion and blurred view, it should not, but God amazes me with His strength…I did not say answers, but strength. And in my times of sin and a hardened heart, it should not, but God amazes me with his forgiveness and amazing grace.

I longed to feel His presence this morning as He felt so distant. It is only a God who has the capacity to love the way He does that would have a theme of the day just for me…

“How can a Christian Woman have victory over discouragement?”

I almost felt like he audibly said, I love you this much. Come to me even if you don’t understand something, come to me when you are angry, come to me when you are hurting… I will give you rest. Again, He did not say answers or changed circumstances, He said rest. I often allow truth and my feelings to look like the same thing when many times they are very different. I share with you today that I have had some discouragement not going off the deep end, just discouragement because I know it makes a difference when people pray. I also share this with you today because just like my friend Misty, I want to allow Jesus to shine through my sufferings. If you are breathing, you have suffered, are suffering, or will suffer… and some of us more than others.

I am so thankful for these Burkina Bay Believers…. Despite their hard, hard lives and the intense sufferings they experience, they worship and love the Lord.

If your suffering right now, ask someone to pray for you, draw near to the Lord, and worship just as I am!

Noah and Big Mama

This is a picture of a kid who attends the LAC boarding school.  He is one of Noah's favorite kids.  He is also the child that wrote his nick name in the freshly packed cement around our gate.  It reads very clearly, "Big Mama."

Building Relationships

Noah is our second son and the one who is more than out going. He gives his teachers fits because he will not shut his mouth. He also is the child in our family that will aggravate the stew out of his other brothers and sisters. When the other children want alone time, he cannot stand it…he feels like he always has to be with someone. More often than not, I see this time in his life and the way he acts as a big frustration.

Today as I was praying about the different people that God has brought into our lives here in Burkina, Noah came to my mind. Because he wants to be with people all the time and will not shut his mouth, he makes friends quickly. He invests in others as much as he wants them to invest in him. His aggravation on many occasions comes when his need to be with people is not filled. He has already been invited to I do not know how many birthday parties, we do not drive on to the school property where our home is that the children are not asking him to come play before we ever get out of the car, and he has built a relationship with our night guard and they cannot even communicate with words. Our guard does not even speak French. Each person that is working on finishing up things at our home as well as our team center, Noah has built a relationship with and it normally starts by him kicking a soccer ball to them.

I found myself really thankful for Noah. I am thankful that he really is a fun loving kid that has opened the door for himself as well as us to minister to the lives of these people. Most of the people I mentioned are Muslim. Please pray with us that these relationships will be the foundation of us sharing Jesus. Noah really is praying that our Guard comes to know the Lord. His name is Bahsearo. Also, our house worker’s name is Emmy. Please pray for her salvation as well.