Listen to a story bout a man named Jed!

Did you watch the show Beverly Hillbilly’s?

Seriously, go ahead and sing the show’s opening song…..if you watched the show the tune is probably already going through your mind.

Listen to a story about a man name Jed, poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed. Then one day he was shooting at some food and up from the ground came a bubblin crude. Oil that is.

Being here in Burkina but specifically on the property where we live, I have often felt like the Beverly Hillbillies just with the order being different…. Let me explain…

LAC- This is a Christian boarding school that has boarding for boys. Girls are welcome but there is not a boarding option for the girls; therefore, the population of boys to girls is a huge difference. This year there is a little over 400 students. I am not sure with this new school year what the ratio of Christians attending the school is, but many years there are more non-Christians than Christians. Why would non-Christians come to this school- The answer is easy…. This school has a reputation of assisting students to walk away with a good education. Also, there are exams that are required to advance to the next grade level throughout their education. At this school the percentage of those who pass these required exams are higher than many of the other schools. So, a devout Mvslim will agree to their child being in a Bible class every day if being at this school will help produce a passing mark.

This is the administration building.

Seriously Connie, how do the two relate???- From the start, Chris and I have felt like God lead West Ridge to partner with the LAC, and this place is a rich oil field with so much potential . Here we are this white southern family that lives with black poverty stricken Africans. Physically, we stick out just like the hillbillies did in Beverly Hills. Yet, whereas the Hillbillies went to Beverly Hills after discovering oil, we have been brought here where the riches are seemingly yet to be fully realized; we have been placed on this land before the oil has really begun to come to the surface. We believe on this campus there is some deep rich life changing oil that has the potential to change the country and beyond and unlike the hillbillies our gain is much greater than monetary wealth. Jed struck oil when he was out looking for food for his family; I believe we will strike oil as we are out feeding His.

You see, when these children give their lives to Jesus, they are coming from all over Burkina as well as a few from other African countries. They have the opportunity to return home and be a direct source of light. There are already reported testimonies of life change that have affected entire families. At times there has also been abandonment for these students as well. Their salvation has the potential to come with a grave price. Back in April, a non believer asked me the question, “If what you call salvation would cause a person their family, friends, and possibly their life..Why would you be so cruel and put them in that position?” My response to her as tears streamed down my face was, “Everything in me agrees with how horrible their circumstances could be…. I cringe at the thought of the cost, but what I do know is this…It would be cruel and selfish for me/you/us not to tell and proclaim the truth with them because of the possible horrible things that could happen. For one day EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. My mind does not even want to grasp their possible circumstances, but my mind cannot handle that their knee being bowed could be upon their separation from God the Father and their entrance into the flaming confinement of an eternity in hell. I trust in God’s sovernty that losing a physical life and gaining life eternally in paradise with Him is well worth the trade off.” My friend did not respond.

This is the new LAC classroom being built.  This will facilitate students coming back here for their first year of High School.

I cannot explain the burden our family has for this school and the honor we feel to be so closely connected to them. We are very excited about the specific doors God has opened for us here…Please, Please, Please pray for us and that salvation be upon these children and their villiages.

-Last Saturday was our kick-off English movie night. Twice a month, we will have a movie night projected on a huge wall. We will stop the movie mid-way and the gospel will be shared.

-We will host the 50 plus staff members in a luncheon each quarter and share the gospel, encourage, and pray for the staff. Many of these teachers are Mvslim.

-I will be working in the admin office a couple hours a week, helping to learn and then teach a program that can help them be more efficient in the office.

-We are both working with students in a smaller setting helping the students with their English.

-We will be helping out in the classroom, having an opportunity to build relationships with the students.

-Once a month, we will have a sports day. This will be an opportunity to simply invest in these students in a non threatening way showing the love of Jesus.

We have spot-lighted the LAC and our specific ministry here and we really are asking for your help. We cannot do this without you. We need people who will pray for us on a regular basis. The spiritual warfare that takes place here is at times overwhelming. We need people praying. We also need your support financially. We have been so encouraged and blessed each month at God’s provision through His children because we cannot be here without your financial support. Please pray about supporting us financially. Lastly, we need to purchase a vehicle. This would be a tremendous help to our family and ministry and so we are asking God to bring the funds and show us the exact vehicle he would have for us. Please pray about God’s provision for us and giving towards our monthly support and or our vehicle fund.  The link below will take you directly to our giving page.  All donations are tax deductable.

[ click here for ] BurkinaBound Online Giving

There is a curve in Learning French... What I thought I said was really not what I said... YIKES!

Last Saturday night we kicked off the year with a movie. The kids started back the 1st of Oct so it has given them time to settle in and was a good break from studies. More than 200 students came and all stayed very interested to the end. We showed the movie Narnia. While Chris was setting everything up I explained to the students that Chris and I were here because of our great love for Jesus and our great love for them. All the students were quiet and Agabus was standing there with me and I noticed him looking at me weird. I paused and he got a little clarification from me... With my terrible accent, the word for love and death/to die sound very much the same. They seemed to all think I said we have a lot of death for Jesus and we have a lot of death for them and we wanted them to know the death of Jesus also. Though it was a very embarrassing moment for me, it was a great start as the kids and myself laughed. After being able to clarify, Agabus said that this was good because it broke down some walls right from the start. We invited all of them to be part of worship yesterday morning and they now know why our family is here. At the end, Agabus explained the symbolism of the movie. It was really a great night. Pray that God will stir the hearts of these students unto repentance and faith in Him.

The second thing is I have become very good friends with one of the students moms. Saturday was a day at the LAC for parents to come and visit. I have really been praying for her salvation. She is mvslim. Her son gave his life to Jesus here at the LAC a little over a year ago. Each time we are together, she has opened up more and more. Today, God opened the door for me to share the gospel with her. She is suffering and really feels like her life is hopeless. I told her she needed peace in her heart and life and that could only come from Jesus. I gave her a bible and asked her to read the book of John and on her own she promised. I do believe the day is coming that she will give her life to Jesus... please pray for her. Just pray for Philemon's mom. The funny thing about this story is that again before she left I really stressed that she needed al lot of peace in her life that could only come from Jesus.... with many tears her response was, I know!

Praise God He worked in spite of my very bad French because once again my accent did not serve me well.... (this is terrible and I feel so stupid and sorry mom for saying this word out loud) the word for peace and the word for fart sound very similar. Chris about fell over when I was so excited telling him in French what I said to her. His response was so Connie... you just told her that she needed a lot of fart in her life that can only come from Jesus. Please tell me you really did not say that.  ..... Seriously will not make those mistakes again... You better know I now have a better pronunciation of those 4 words!

Thank the Lord he works in spite of me!

We really are excited about what God is doing at the LAC!

I Love Number 32's Mom!!

In the past few months God has used the lives of others to make a major impact on my life.  I love to hear the life stories of others especially when one has allowed God to be the center point.  Over the next few weeks, I want to high light a few people that I think are hero's in the faith! 

If you live anywhere near North Paulding High School you have probably heard of number 32 on the Wolfpack football team. The name of this senior is Chris Conley. Last year before leaving for Burkina, my three boys fell in love with NPHS as well as cheering on their cousins Bo and Joel who are on this team. Our family has regular prayer time and I remember hearing my boys pray for their cousins and the name Chris Conley would find the way into our prayer time also.

I finally asked my sister about who this kid is. My boys would say that he is one of the players on the NPHS team and he is real good. They would also say, “And he’s a Christian too.” My sister began to explain that this kid started playing football in 9th grade. His mom desired that her children know and have God first in their lives above all other things. After that she desired that they be committed to their education. If those things were in check… then they could play sports.

I am all about peewee sports and even my own children have played baseball, basketball, and soccer. This is not in any way a judgment or a bash about young kids being in sports. This is simply something God used to touch my heart as I connected with hers in longing for our children to be rock solid in the Lord. I must admit that when my sister shared with me the testimony of this mother who had such great wisdom that she put what seemed to be a joy to her children on hold for the sake of what she knew held a much greater importance…. My thoughts were….”Lord, may I as well live with that kind of wisdom.” I already desire these things but never would I have made the concentrated point to hold off sports and other things so that my children have a foundation built solid on the Word of God and their relationship with Him. I must add that this could mean them never playing sports. I cannot choose Jesus for them- I can only love, live, and direct them in the way of truth and pray that they choose a life that is submitted and committed to the Lord.

I am sure that Christina Conley over the years was talked about for not allowing her children to play sports. I bet her children possibly asked her more than one time why she felt this way or even assured their mom that they were ready before 9th grade.

Her first son has graduated and is in Tennessee on a track scholarship. Chris will graduate early and is heading to UGA on a full scholarship. WOW! She also has a daughter that is excelling in track as well.

I know that faithfulness does not always bring a reward such as this on this side of eternity; however, I know that faithfulness and surrender does indeed bring blessing and honor to God and the reward will come. Christina Conley, you are a courageous woman and example of a mother who loves truth and the Heavenly Father more than the temporary happiness of your children. I love to see your strength in the Lord and I love to see how God is blessing the lives of your children. I also love that Chris has become a huge role model in our family. My boys see the God factor in Chris’s success. Know he is prayed for and looked to as a hero by us all the way over here in Burkina Faso. Go Dawgs!

P.S. To make sure I had my facts straight, I emailed Christina and allowed her to read this blog entry before I posted it. I am going to paste just some of the words in her response…. It only goes to more affirm the woman of God that she is and that she is living a life committed to him!

Response from Christina: I know the compassion of our Savior and how He knows the mess of human flesh that I was before I came to know Him as Savior and then miraculously, blood covered mess that I still am as I grow daily by His grace.

I love reading the wisdom of Catherine Marshall and Elizabeth Elliot, and I believe it was Catherine Marshall who when asked if she would talk about being a mother likened her acceptance of such an invitation at that point to someone negotiating a trip across a stream on horseback and yielding midstream to discuss how it's done well before the completion of the journey. I believe myself to be midstream with much more ground to traverse long before being the subject of one of your blogs.

Our Lord is so incredibly awesome in the LOVE that He has shown all of us, particularly me. If I could share anything with someone right now, it would not be about me, it would be that we truly cannot be separated from God's love and that He (GOD) is incredibly merciful and will forgive us our sins if we call upon His name. I am proof of that.

My HUGE Surprise

Have you ever felt so much gratitude for someone that you did not even know how to express yourself?? As many of you know, an amazing family made it possible for me to return to America to surprise my family. I did not spend one dime for my ticket and the sweet time I had going home was a gift that I will remember for the rest of my life.

To the family who did this for me… Thank you and may you be forever blessed by your graciousness!

I arrived in Atlanta and had asked my brother to pick me up from the airport.  He did an amazing job keeping a secret!  Thank you Tod!

My first surprise was when I walked into his home and was able to surprise my sister-n-law. She did as I expected- her mouth dropped open and then her hands flew up over her mouth. It was then great to receive a huge hug.

She was the camera... We did not get a picture together :(

From there we headed to the school where my nephew Robby had a football game. He was on the field but so was his older brother Bo. I stood at the fence and looked at Bo straight in the face. I normally do not wear sun glasses and was wearing them so this did throw him off a little; however, the stare and him trying to figure out how someone could look so much like his aunt was so funny. It became hilarious when he began walking backwards biting on his fingernail just looking at me… then it clicked… it is my Aunt Connie!

I had been waiting for the moment to throw my arms around my mom. I knew she would be at the ballgame so I started a few rows behind where she would be sitting with the hope that she would see me when she walked up… no luck there. I then walked down and sat 2 rows in front of her thinking she would catch a glimpse of me…. No luck there either. My sister-n-law was down at the fence taking pictures. We all wave as she takes a picture. I then turn and look at my mom and smile and she smiles back…. Again no luck there either.

 

My laughter is now a bit uncontrollable. My nephew and I both are cracking up but with such anticipation for her to see me. Well, a little help from my brother and this was her first couple moments after she saw me…….

It was everything and more that I wanted it to be. I cannot express the joy that filled my heart hugging my mom and just being in her presence.

Robby who is on the field was pretty quick. We all yell at him and wave and he waves turns around and then does that fast speed rip his head back around as we notice that it has clicked that I am there.

I did not get a picture with him that night, but here he is.

Next is Joel, another nephew. I again am sitting in front to him. I look at him several times and every time I look directly at him, he turns to talk to someone else. When it finally clicked, he busted down and threw his whole body in my lap…. Again laughter and tears flowed.

I know we look like Ken and Barbie.

Half time has come and we move on to the concession stand where my brother-n-law and 2 nieces are working. I wait in line for some time and they have now all looked at me and not noticed. A little girl asked me if I wanted something and when I asked if the cheese or pepperoni pizza was better the 2 girls busted out the door and more tears began to flow. It was amazing!

From there we do everything we can to keep my older sister at Five Guys where she is ordering dinner. Poor girl, she has now been to the counter three different times to order and all she wants to do is get home. I make it there just in time and when I walk in… her words from the start… “SHUT UP!” And yes once again, tears come.

We did not have a camera to capture the surprise, but here is my big sister whom I adore!

I think one of the saddest yet sweetest moment was when Jonah her son walks in and though he is glad to see me, his heart is so sad that his BFF my son Silas in not there with me.

 

I am sure that this is what my nephew Jonah felt until he realized that Silas was not with me.

We head back to the house and I decide to just bust in the room where my little sister and niece are… the niece I have not yet met. She was much the same as my older sister…”SHUT UP!” And yes, the tears flow. I then have the greatest joy in meeting my new niece and sitting in the presence of my baby sister and my family.

Susie- Why in the world do we not have a picture together where you can see our faces???

Lastly, my brother-n-law Eric walks through the door and by that time it is just laughter. Can I even begin to relive and tell you the joy and excitement that filled my heart that day! I LOVE my family!

I think this in and of itself is a sweet story, but the best part of this story is how down to each detail, God gave this to me as a gift. It was so detailed that I honestly feared that I was coming home because something bad was going to happen that I needed to be there for. The Father knew that I needed a time of rest, that I needed to spend some long overdue time with my family. I had prayed months back about going home this particular week because I knew that school was out and so many of my family members work in the school system. I just cannot express just how special I felt cradled in the arms of God through his presence and this gift. Others were gracious and God so blessed.

Gabriella's Big News!!!

I totally get why the Word tells us to have faith like children…

Gabriella is naturally expressive and very passionate about things. She has been passionate about Jesus and the truth of who He is honestly since she could talk. She has wanted to ask Jesus into her life for some time now. I kept putting this off just due to her being so young and wanting to make sure that she understood. Chris and I have both had conversations with her and she knows and believes the truth, but again we have just waited – well due to our lack of faith because she is 4. Well, yesterday she was done with me putting her off until she, daddy, and I could talk once again….this is her salvation story!

“Mommy, I know that you are having your Bible time and I am not allowed to talk to you, right?” That’s right Gabriella. “Well, I have a reeeeaaaalllly important question.” What is it Gabs? “When do I get to have my Bible time?” We will do that tonight. “Well, I want to talk about becoming a Christian really bad. I do not want to wait for Daddy.” Ok let mom finish my Bible time and we will talk about it. “Well mom, I am just going to ask Jesus in my heart right now.” Ok so the girl is ready and this time I am not going to stop the spirit of God from moving in her life… I put my Bible study down and asked….Gab, tell me why you want to ask Jesus in your heart and be a Christian so bad? “Jesus died on the cross for my sins. Sin is my bad choices and I do not like to make bad choices. He was on the cross and he died. His mom was Mary and she was so sad and she cried. Mom, no one even gave Him medicine at all. His Father who is in heaven just breathed like this (she put her hands to her mouth and blew) and brought Him back to life. No one even helped Him it was only His Father. Really? Wow Gab.. Where is Jesus now if He came back to life? “He is in heaven with His Father but they are the same God too.” What about us? I thought that someone was going to stay here and help us? “That is the other God, but He is the same too… like the other 2 Gods.” Gab, why do you want to ask Jesus into your life? “Mommy, because I want to be with God really bad and I do not want to make bad choices anymore.”

Needless to say, we got on our knees and my sweet baby girl prayed from the depths of her soul and gave her life to Jesus!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!

So I Have a Middle School-er!

Samuel is a super special kid. Two weeks ago, I had a total flash back of the day I delivered. Samuel was 2 weeks early, my labor and delivery was amazing, and here we had this sweet baby boy. Looking back I remember almost feeling like I was in a daze; yet, at the time I did not realize that really I was sick and fighting an infection. Within 45 minutes my sweet newborn baby was whisked away and taken to NICU to be evaluated. My sister who had been down this same road with her son noticed that he was grunting when he would breath.

Within 2 hours we were told that he was being admitted into the NICU and they were going to take some blood and see if they could determine if there was any infection. His breathing continued to get worse and it seemed that from that moment everything went downhill from there. In less than 24 hours I was told that I have a very sick baby and that he was in critical condition.

I had been to the doctor a couple days before my labor had begun because I thought that my fluid had been leaking. I knew in cases like these it is very dangerous because it is an open door for infection. They did a sonogram and said that my fluid level was ok so they were not concerned. Little did we know that during this time, my baby was getting very sick.

On day number 2 we were numb and not understanding what in the world was happening to us and to our baby. We were told that he had not been showing any signs of improvement and he actually had continued to decline. They had given him drugs to temporarily paralyze him because they needed his body at a complete state of rest. They felt his heart and lungs were working overtime and so they did not want any stimulation of his body at all. I was able to put one finger on him, but was not even to move my finger. The only emotion possible for me at that time was total dependence on God. It was because I believed in Him that I could get out of bed despite the intense pain that I was feeling.

We get to night 2 and we are told that our baby needed to be transported by ambulance to Egleston Children’s Hospital. We were told that there was a machine there called Ecmo. It is really used for a last resort procedure because it is very invasive. It is a heart and lung bypass. From what I understood at the time, they put a tube in the side of the neck and basically use this machine to work as your heart and lungs to give your heart and lungs time to rest and hopefully strengthen them. YUCK is right, but if it meant saving my baby’s life, we will take it.

The prepared him for the transport and my mom prepared to follow the ambulance and take Chris and I to the hospital. Of course my mom could not drive fast enough as the anxiety mounted in my entire body. We got there quite a bit after Samuel did and anxiously waited in the NICU waiting room for someone to come and give us an update…. This tall woman walks out. She has short hair and is wearing no make-up and really looks more like a man than a woman. Right off the bat, I was not feeling this great sense of compassion from her. She introduces herself and has us sit down. She sits in front of us with her legs spread and almost resting on her knees with her elbows, and begins to give us an update.

Samuel did not do very well during the transport. It was rough on his body, but we have him hooked up to the every machine imaginable, IV’s in place, etc and we have him stabilized for now. We will watch him through the night and make a decision about what is the next best step for him. She then looked me in the eye and said, “Your son can not get any more sick, or he WILL DIE!” My response, “What I am supposed to do with that information?”

She encouraged us to go home and get some rest and to call or come back early in the morning. I remember going home and falling apart and then crashing. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and found Chris calling radio stations asking if they would ask people to pray for our son. We could not ask too many to be standing in the gap for his life. We knew that it would only be the hand of God that saved our child.

We returned to the hospital the next morning to be greeted by an angel. We had a nurse that was assigned to watch Samuel 24/7. She was short with black hair and glasses and could not have been more gracious to me not only having a sick baby, but being a new mom as well. She had made him a name tag above his bed. It was one of those sweet babies that was made to look like a snail and had his name below it. Her words were, “Samuel can move as slow as a snail as long as he moves in the right direction.” She explained every machine and said that he was still very, very sick, but again stable.

At that moment, I knew that the more I appreciated each person the better care they will give my son. I tried to respect every wish they had and not to be demanding of anything. Every time we would leave the room I thanked them, let them know that we appreciated them, and asked them to pray for our baby.

Well, he not only made it, but made it without Ecmo. I believe with all my soul that God touched his life and healed him physically. We signed all kinds of waivers as some of the treatment could have some very severe side effects. To this day, we thank God for touching his body and love that he is still with us today and healthy as can be! As much as I am trying to handle this whole middle school thing, I know God has a great purpose for his life and cannot wait to see how God will use him!

Courageous!!

This picture was taken rigft before they headed to the airport heading back to Atlanta!

Courageous is the first things that comes to my mind when I think about Joanna! We are putting out a major call for prayer and blessing for her. Joanna has been to Burkina several years in a row and we were blessed to have the opportunity to serve with her this past June. She has an amazing spirit, beautiful smile, heart for ministry, natural ability, and willingness to be lead by the Spirit of God. I LOVE being married, but I hate that I was so consumed with being married that I did not open myself up to being used by the Lord during my single years.

As you may be aware… I am not a home schooling mom. I so loathed the thought of home school that I told Chris while we were dating- yes pre-kids that if he wanted a wife that home schooled… it was not going to be me. For the record, I am a mom that supports home school 100%. I in fact, am jealous of the moms who do this and do it well. Seriously, each home school mom in my book has a hero metal to wear proudly.

Well, would it not be the case that God would have some type of home schooling in my future. Thanks Lord! In the past 6 months I have given up the right to not be a home school mom. Have not held back my feelings from the Lord, but have truly surrendered to walking in obedience even if that meant home school. During this time, the Lord made it very clear to Chris and I that we were to take this next year with Samuel and home school him. As the Lord revealed this to our hearts, we asked Samuel to be in on this process and asked the Lord to give Samuel a peace about this as well. …. He did!

We felt like God was asking us to take this time and invest in Samuel on so many more levels than schooling. He is a neat kid and is at the fresh I am starting middle time when so many things change. In thinking through what God wanted us to do over this next year, I really felt like God was asking me to do this home school part by myself. I really felt encouraged to look for someone that God would call to come and help us in this process. Well, I feel like we were blessed beyond what we could have imagined. After asking Joanna to just pray, I honestly was shocked when she responded. Not because she would not be obedient to God’s calling, but that God would give us greater than what we were praying for. We were asking for a teacher that would love our children and model Godly character. We are getting a teacher that is that and so much more.

Please pray for her. We are praying fishes and loaves as we know and have seen how God provides in times of need. We hate raising our support and we know the mindless energy that it takes . Our prayer is that Joanna will have every dime either given or committed as soon as possible. If her funds are there, she plans to come in January. Our prayer is that the months leading up to her arrival she will not have to focus on finances; rather, she will be able to prepare mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for this next chapter in her life.

Many people want to give financially but often feel like with their own financial plate, it is just not possible. Many have mentioned that they feel bad sending a $10.00 check because it seems so small and they feel embarrassed so it is easier not to give at all. PLEASE do not let that stop you. When 10 people give $10.00- that is $100.00. I am asking that you stop right now and prayerfully consider supporting Joanna. Take the money you would spend going out to dinner just one time this month and help her, help us, faithfully serve here in Burkina Faso.

To support Joanna financially: You can give a one-time donation or you can commit to a monthly donation. If you would like to do this, you can write a check to Engage Burkina with her name written in the memo line. You can send the check to Engage Burkina at 3522 Hiram Acworth Highway, Dallas, GA 30157. If you choose to make a monthly commitment, please include a note informing Engage Burkina that you would like to give a monthly donation and what that amount will be.