I warned you....

Picture overload!! 

Day 4, Saturday, January 9th

We started the day out shopping at the Artisan Market.  Here you can find local African merchandise all handmade.  Many of the booths/shops you could watch them as they made the items.  Missionary Ken has made many good friends here and it was such a joy to meet all of them and watch all the interaction.  

This is David, he is a sweet 13 yr old boy that the missionaries are caring for.  He lives at his home with his family but has quite a story.  I will have to share it sometime.  =) He enjoyed hanging out with all of us. He spoke nor understood English but he definitely understood the power of laughter, a smile and a good hug.  Him and RD got along really well.  

Artisan Market. This place was beautiful.  Colorful clothing, scarves, leathers everything. The building itself was beautiful with the arches.  

This gentleman is burning a design onto leather. He first draws the design in pencil and then goes over it with the tool used.  RD bought a beautiful map of Burkina Faso. On my last post of our trip, I will post our pictures of the items we purchased. 

After the market, we had some time to rest before we headed out to one of the villages.  The youth were have a service and it was a very special celebration.  We were excited to be a part. 

The young people danced and sang outside under a large shade tree.  Prior to the event, they had all purchased the same fabric and had clothes made.  no one was alike except for the design of the fabric. They all looked so amazing!

It is hard to leave where there are sweet faces like this.  While some of them have nothing, they still have a peace about them.  There faces, bodies and clothing are covered in dust but their smiles shine bright.  There is a twinkle in each eye.  

Day 5, Sunday, January 10th. Pastor Israel's church for Sunday Service

This was such an amazing day!  There was so much anticipation in the air for this service.  

This is Pastor Israel's beautiful daughter.  She is a miracle baby and the princess of Burkina.  =) She was so sweet.  

We had to show them what a selfie was!! The people were great and we had a wonderful service! God is so good!!

Stay tuned for more! We have a few more days to go with some pretty awesome stories! 


NEW LIFE NEWS

So I haven't forgotten about New Life UPC in all of this.  They are the most incredible people in the world.  While we were gone, we knew the church was in tremendous hands.  We knew they were praying for us and supporting us every step of the way.  God is doing some amazing things are the church.  We are averaging around 50 people every Sunday.  Our theme for 2016 is "The Next Level."  We had astounding growth in 2015 but we are ready to go beyond that. Do more things for the kingdom, interact in our community more and grow stronger together.  We love each and every saint at NL and pray over them daily.