journal from june 2004

TRIP 2 2004

Day 1 (Monday July 5th)

Day One in the Big Burkina house. Boy, it was good to be going back!
An eventful start with a very fresh journey to the airport in what felt like artic conditions in the back of George’s Randy Rover. The day was good value for money, with me getting up soon after 1.00am, an obscene hour following four poor quality hours of sleep on the night of the Euro 2004 final.

And the team – this year we had expanded to six from last years four. Joining Caz, Sylvain and myself was Dave, a good friend from Nottingham Uni days together with his wife Lucie, and n.z. Matt Watson joining me from Southampton. Unfortunately Bettie couldn’t be with us after what’s been a tough year for her.

So day one – not what we’d hoped for; instead of a straightforward connection from France to Burkina we had to wait a breathtaking 17 hours between flights at Marseille airport. I really wasn’t looking forward to this empty time, as to be honest, killing time at airports is not a favourite pastime. But as it happened, it turned out to be a real blessing, well for me anyway!

The weather at Marseille was nicely warm, probably late twenties and we found our very own paradise island! .... two normal looking trees, and even a palm tree amongst 15 metres of grass in-between two air airport terminals, a car park and a taxi rank! Very pleasant. We guarded our territory as only British holiday-makers know how and we managed to kill many an uninterrupted hour lounging about (except for an absurd bomb-scare which the police comically tried to deal with).

For me this was a very precious time, and I can honestly say it was a fun experience. Work had been pretty hectic leading up to the trip and with Glastonbury the previous weekend, and much prep needed for Burkina I’d found myself quite stressed and out of peace. In the days leading up to the trip I’d been asking God for ‘an upgrade’ ready for the time in Burkina … and I felt this time in Marseille was it!
That afternoon I had an amazing time connecting with God with some quality spontaneous moments, just what I needed.

So there was plenty of time to chill, relax and rest, plus catch up with Matt. Not bad for a first day at the airport all things considered.

Just looking forward to some much needed sleep now!
Please God!


Day 2 (Tuesday July 6th)

So eventually we landed in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina about 7am after a noisy night flight. Fortunately Matt and I had persuaded the lady at the Terminal desk to give us seats by the emergency exits which meant we had plenty of legroom, a real bonus as the rest of the seating was seriously cramped.
The airport was basic to say the least, and on landing we were crammed into a tiny room for about 30 mins where we had to fill out entry forms to the country (African airports seem to like their bureaucracy).
Then we had to wait a further 90 mins after a miss communication with our good friend David Zopula concerning our arrival time – which was probably my fault, oops. So eventually we were picked up by David’s youngest brother Amos in his work pick-up truck (part of the Napon empire).
So we drove to the Wycliffe complex, the same place we stayed at last year when we were in the capital. It was great to be back, and for me it felt less of a fresh experience but instead nicely familiar. It was really fantastic to see David again.

To me the capital seemed a bit more prosperous than last year – in terms of new buildings being completed, some new buses and the general atmosphere.

Not much to report for Day two. We spent most of the day chilling and sleeping in expectation of a hectic schedule ahead. We had a good lunch at the Wycliffe complex and later went out for food at a small restaurant down the road in the evening (where after a 90 min wait we eventually got to taste our first bony Burkina chicken in the dark!)
It was good to hang out with Clovis, David’s eldest son for the evening as well. He’d recently returned from his first term studying IT in Ghana, and the transformation with his English from last year was immense – and it also seemed to have given him a new confidence (and wardrobe!) He’s a really good lad like his brother Christophe.


Day 3 (Wednesday July 7th)

Again not much to report – Day three was mostly a day of faffing in Ouaga. Our main objective for the day was to get hold of some local currency – Central African Francs – easier said than done! Firstly we had to wait an hour for Sylvain to transfer some dollars and then the machine used by Caz’s card only gave out 5,000 francs instead of 200,000 – that was a loss of over £195!! Basically we put it down to spiritual attack – as how often does that happen?
We couldn’t complain immediately as the bank was then shut for an afternoon siesta, and then on re-opening we had to wait for the contents of the machine to be counted to confirm the error.
Fortunately following a good prayer session in the bank all the money was returned but it had killed off most of the day. A shame as that meant we didn’t have time to revisit Matthew and his wife Delphin who had been healed in a very major way when we visited last year.

However we still had time to visit the Napon palace to be greeted by Moises’ son Jonathan.
The Napon’s are potentially the richest Christian family in Burkina (possibly an exaggeration but that’s what it felt like to us). Moises, head of the house is a very influential Christian, leader of the Pentecostal denomination of churches for the country (of which David is deputy). He also heads up a Christian organisation called CREDO which employs over a hundred staff including a nutrition centre, and facility which gives out loans to new businesses. Jonathan entertained us with a few acoustic numbers from ‘his latest album’, though it was a shame that no one dared to buy a copy!
Moises was away in the States on business but it was good to see his wife again, Madeleine as she returned home from work.

A few days later we were intrigued to hear that Moises had acted upon a word I’d given him last year on our visit, that he was a writer and he had a lot of wisdom in his heart to get out and express. I really hope that was a right word, and not just something he wanted to hear (please, please Lord!) – as apparently he has enrolled on a writing course in America!

The night ended with a trip to a pleasant restaurant, again walking distance from where we were staying – this time indoors where we had a yummy fish meal.


Day 4 (Thursday July 8th)

After breakfast we packed up the beaten up Peugeot (I thought this had died last year but no it’s still going ‘strong’! Note the seriously cracked/ broken windscreen) and the 4x4 Mercedes bought buy Dave and Lucie last year (a sturdy vehicle – although now in old age, probably about 20-25 years old).

Joining us on the journey to David’s home town on Leo were also Clovis, Christophe (great to see the lad again) and David’s mechanic from Ouaga – as he didn’t trust the work that had just been done on the Mercedes. Little did we know this was just the beginning of a very eventful saga concerning our transport over the coming couple of weeks.
It all started in amusing fashion as the Peugeot left the entrance to the Wycliffe centre which we had been staying in, the exhaust literally dropped off! This was before we’d even started on our journey! So off we popped to David’s local garage which was around the corner to pop the wee exhaust back on!

It’s was about a 3-4 hour journey from the capital to David’s home town of Leo where we were to be staying for the next few nights. We broke the journey up once again with a return to Sabou to see our friends the crocodiles. We seemed pretty popular with the locals as about five or so crocodiles surfaced from the water following the shrieking cries from the dying chicken being used as bait. This time it was Matt’s turn to brave himself and sit on an unfortunate suspect.


Following the brief stop off to view the crocs and have a spot of lunch it was back into the cars as we were in a hurry to get to Leo as soon as we could, as we were expected to lead our first prophetic session at David’s church that evening – well that was the plan!
In a moment of madness for poor David, dropping the clutch on his 205 for a second time in succession to show-off some wheel-spin action - causing the car to judder in a pothole on the mud-track road, braking the driveshaft …. Ooops.
So there we were in the middle of nowhere – with the Peugeot now out of action, we had to leave Clovis, Christophe and this mystery mechanic from Ouaga (who thought he’d got himself two weeks holiday on tour with us!) in this random village to get the car repaired. Meanwhile the rest of us piled into the Mercedes with David as if nothing had happened and continued our adventure to Leo.

An hour and a half later, after many a bump and jolt on dirt tracks they call roads we arrived in Leo. Boy, it was good to be back and to me felt like arriving home. I was so happy to see Monique (David’s wife), Finney their youngest child who’s now a year old and Claudine the youngest daughter.
After dropping the limited luggage we did have at our new residence (the former missionaries pad – a very spacious and pleasant house), a brief change of our clothes and some food we were due to head off to the church for our first night of action. But the heavens opened and rain came down in what was a fairly heavy thunderstorm.

After Mark, David’s assistant pastor came to greet us at our new temporary home (making some spectacular grunts- African stylee) and a quiet bite to eat, we ventured down to church in the rain to see if anyone had come out to hear us. Apparently David had been publicising our visit on the local radio which naturally was quite scary to us.
So eventually we appear at the church about an hour late, with a lot less people there than we had expected, no more than 30 in total, and no electricity! We’d been informed that the locals don’t like to go out when the rain is heavy, as the roads quickly become flooded and not pleasant for travel.

This was the first of three planned evening sessions at Leo church where we would be speaking on the prophetic and praying for people. Our real heart was to see people released in this area, particularly after our visit last year when we had an amazing time in David’s home church speaking on this subject, and then afterwards praying for people late into the evening for another 4 hours!
Caz and I had spent quite a bit of time before the trip preparing for the sessions. The plan was to do a mixture of talks, a 'contemplative slot', praying individually for people and also seeing people encouraged to prophesy and pray over one another.

So once electricity had been restored, Caz started the first evening really well with an introduction to the prophetic, and then we broke into two groups to pray for anyone who wanted prayer (that is pretty much everyone!). This also seemed to go pretty smoothly, and after a long day of travelling it wasn’t too hard to get into the flow. The groups were Caz, with Dave and Lucie, and then myself and Matt with Sylvain translating. I thought we worked quite well as a team though not really necessarily that sharp with the words we were giving but still seemed okay.


Day 5 (Friday July 9th)

This was a day of relaxing in Leo, with more car problems - this time with the 4x4 and then lunch at David’s family home. Michelle our good friend (who heads up the orphanage came to visit) which was excellent – so exciting to see him and be reunited again.
In the afternoon we all as a group visited the Credo nutrition centre and kids camp which was taking place next door, accompanied with Monique and Patsy (or Pudsie or Pastie) our Canadian missionary neighbour.
It was good for Matt, Dave and Lucie to see for themselves the excellent work that goes on at this centre, where so many young children and babies are treated, and mothers educated in cooking and understanding the needs of a balanced diet.

Then it was back home to prepare for our second evening at the church talking on the prophetic - but once again just before we were to leave the sky went black and then the heavens opened. This time it was so heavy there were talks of cancelling the evening altogether – so David went off to the church to see if anyone had turned up whilst we romped around our lounge asking God for wisdom, and trying to discern what was going on! We all had a peace that it was right to continue (and were far from discouraged to hear that once again not as many people as planned had made the journey to the church!!)

I spoke at the second session on the nature of God, and then led a meditation. Both the talk and the meditation went okay but nothing spectacular. I was not too sure on people’s response to the meditation which I’d based on Graham Cooke’s book, ‘Nature of God’. Certainly a few people looked like they were really getting into it, and to me that was the most important thing. One of our aims of the three seminars was to break some mindsets and open the people up to some new ways/ techniques for exploring and meeting with God.


Day 6 (Saturday July 10th)

Again we had a gentle start to the day in Leo, with Mark – Monique’s oldest brother visiting us. He is a quiet, unassuming and yet extremely wise and authoritative man. He’s a very busy guy who is responsible for a bible translation centre as well as leading a church in Bourra, the next town from Leo. He used to do the job that David now does but handed over the role a number of years ago as he is now getting on a bit in years.

We sat in our very pleasant lounge for a couple of hours whilst David and Mark proceeded to tell us exciting and incredible stories about great displays of God’s power over the idol worship which is common place in the country – we were on the edge of our seats!
David told us a story of a village he had reached out to in Burkina a number of years back, where many people had got saved through their work – but they had come against a lot of opposition from one man who was against the Christians. He was an influential man in witchcraft/ demonic stuff – and he was a strong believer in what he saw as the most powerful god’s - the god’s of water, land and bush. He didn’t like the fact that another God had ‘turned up in his village’ coming against his work – and as a result did all he could to frustrate the work David was leading.
David didn’t realise at the time but for ten years this guy tried to kill him using the power of his gods – but couldn’t get close to him. Then one year it all turned on his head when this man’s child became ill and desperately needed to go to hospital. There was no hospital in this village, and the nearest place was Leo – and David was the only person this guy knew in Leo. So he laid down his pride and came to David for help, to ask for the money needed to take his son’s child to the hospital. David at first didn’t know what to do, but then decided it would be best to help him – and provided money for this child to go to hospital. The child then had to be taken to a larger hospital and unfortunately never survived. But through all this time, it was David who was the only one who showed help and care, and also attended the funeral … and through all this, this guy actually ended up giving his life to Jesus – it was only then that David found out that he had being trying to kill him for the past ten years!
He had finally realised that our God was bigger than the gods that he believed in.
So David made him go and publicly repent at the Leo church the next Sunday, and he gave up his idols to be burned.
When burning these idols, one of them turned into a toad, which then jumped out of the metal container which was on fire – and so David commanded it to go back into the fire! Then it transformed into a snake – and so David cursed it & broke its power, and again sent it back into the bucket.

Mark also shared some stories about the Ghana people whom we would be visiting later that day to hold the first of out two outreach meetings. This was to give us an idea of their backgrounds and what kind of things to expect. We heard stories of some of the traditional religions, and the extent of the power of the idols. For example when someone dies, lots of people tend to attend the funeral, and so the idol worshippers use this occasion to show off their apparent power and the power of their idols. They like to do this by putting a young child – who is randomly selected, into a pot and then beaten violently with a stick, like the women do to beat maize. Then they take her indoors – and shortly afterwards she is brought out perfectly well. Apparently it is an honour for your child to be selected for such a pummelling!
We also heard a story of how these people can make a maize turn from a seed to a fully grown plant in the matter of seconds! But they can only do this to one maize, and no more – to show off the power of their gods, rather than it be of any use to the people.
We also heard the story again of the man that had a fetish (an idol) which could make him become invisible and even be translated from one place to another! He fought in the war in Indonesia and through the power of fetish could be translated back to Burkina in an instant!
(our western minds were a bit sceptical of this!)

That evening we took the back-roads to a small village called Golov across the nearby border from Leo in Ghana on what can only be described as a comedy road or dirt-track. It was an incredibly shaky and bumpy journey – not great for Matt who had quite severe diarrhoea ‘issues’, and not surprisingly - we encountered more car problems – once again the exhaust falling off the poor Peugeot.
After a two hour journey which should have taken about an hour we arrived at the village in what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. It seemed incredibly poor but with pretty countryside all around – although this was hard to tell as by now it was getting dark.
We were shown into this poky and extremely stuffy room – with the pink sofas, where we were to be entertained by the dreadful Ghanean TV! We thought they were wanting to show off their material status whereas we were desperate for air, and were more interested in meeting some of the locals. From then on wherever we went, the pink sofa followed (could have been a reincarnation of Caz’s pink fluffy!). By now it seemed that everyone on the team were also struggling with ‘diarrhoea issues’, a somewhat scary thought considering the food we were about to face. Prepared by the locals in abundance – it was their best food, but also far from clean. Fortunately a scraggy dog and cat appeared – and I think they were particularly blessed by their food intake that evening!

We were given opportunity to lead an outreach in Golov through a connection that David had established in recent months. It was thought that the majority of the village would never have heard the gospel before – however a superintendent Christian policeman had been sent to the village from Accra to be responsible for the surrounding region. We got to meet the man – and quickly we realised why David had forewarned us about him- he was an alcoholic and quite a proud man – and keen to be a pastor!
His wife was great – and we felt particular sympathy for her – as we didn’t trust her husband one little bit! Unfortunately she had two beautiful young twins who were looking very poorly, and we were disgusted by the fact that this man of responsibility and the Christian representative in this village would rather invest his money in drink rather than his youngest daughters.

Before the meeting started we tried to pay a visit to the village chief but found out that he was away. However David was given some good news that due to his late father ‘s importance in the region, he may be entitled to some land in the village – which hopefully can be used as a plot for the first Christian church in Golov.

The meeting was totally amazing, a new experience for all of us. What an opportunity and privilege we had to share about Jesus to some people for their first time. We were naturally a little scared and apprehensive – this being new to us all. Some guys that had come along with us from Leo had set up a generator so that we had power. We had a light so we could be seen, a projector and screen to show the Jesus video and another cultural Christian film, and also a couple of microphones & speaker so we could be heard.
This drew out the people from the village to see what all the commotion was all about - with about 300-400 people there it seemed to us that most of the village had turned out.
The worship was excellent, led by the person chosen by David to be the pastor in village when the church is eventually planted and established.
Finally it was time for Matt to speak with David translating, and bring the ‘gospel message’. He was excellent – confident, passionate and very natural & down to earth. Matt spoke for about 15 minutes and then I got up and shared a few things as well for another 5-10 minutes. Matt had already prepared the way and done the hard part – and I felt surprisingly confident and spontaneous. Then David made a formal call for salvation with over a hundred people seeming to respond! Fantastic.
Us guys on the team then spent the next hour or so praying for many people that had come forward for healing or a touch from God. By now it was probably around 11pm and we were all totally exhausted. In praying for the people it was really nice to actually meet some of the people who had been listening to us! But I think we found it quite hard going because of our tiredness – and the extent of the poverty which was very sobering. A lot of mothers came forward with babies/ young children with swollen bellies suffering from malnutrition and probably worms.
Whilst we were praying David showed a French African film which showed a family getting saved from a very traditional African culture. It looked a little cheesy to us but it seemed to connect with many of the people – and for many perhaps the first time they had seen a TV or film. Throughout the film, David translated from French to Sisala – the local dialect.
Man that guy is such a giver – by that stage we’d long burnt out but he has such a heart for the lost that his energy never runs out.

Eventually after what seems eternity we make it back into the cars and head for home for a much needed sleep.


Day 7 (Sunday July 11th)

Straight after breakfast we were driven to church where Matt would be speaking. Once again the rain had been heavy, and what with the kids camp also still taking place church was quite quiet with probably 80-100 people present (you would normally expect 250-300 people). Matt still recovering from his diarrhoea spoke on getting out of the boat. He was brilliant and really well received. You could tell David was digging it, it was very funny as he got very passionate with his translating.

After church there was yet more rain – then we all went to Patsy’s for lunch where she served up some quality pizzas. We had a nice time with her which wasn’t too much hard work! (compared with the last years experience with Dorothy in the same house). She clearly was quite lonely – and I think we all felt a lot of admiration for the choices she’s made in her life to live out there on a permanent basis.

In the afternoon I accompanied Christophe to town’s football stadium which he conveniently has a key to get into. In the far corner of the ground was a basketball court though not in the best condition. This is where Christophe goes most afternoons to hang out with his Leo mates. I was also particularly surprised to see a herd of cows grazing at other end of the stadium!
Then we quickly returned for dinner before the final prophesy session in Leo which was led by Caz. She spoke well on our identity in Christ, although good she was noticeably struggling from her diarrhoea.
The main intention of the sessions had been to see the local people themselves understand our heart and attempt to step out in the prophetic themselves. So to end the session, we got people to break into groups and pray/ prophesy over one another which seemed to go really well.
David also asked if people wanted individual prayer – we’d not been expecting this and had kind of already settled in our hearts that the evening was over. So it seemed an extra effort that night to pray for the people that had responded for individual prayer (about 25 or so), I think also because we were still physically shattered from the events of the previous days (and some of us struggling health-wise).
Matt had stayed at home to rest and so as we split into two groups to pray – my group was just myself with Sylvain translating – and so I found it quite draining having to get inspiration for each person. I think it was the same for the other group as well – but we persevered and eventually finished. All in all – the three sessions had been a huge success. God had been really with us and hopefully all the people who had come along were blessed by it.


Day 8 (Monday July 12th)

Car probs this time clutch. Clovis sent to Ouaga to get new clutch & returns late Mon night.
Stay in Leo extra day
Chill day, chance for some sun bathing
Go for wander around town & have drink with Matt & Sylvain – and meet one of Christophe’s mates
Have glorious meal with Zopoula family and give presents
Pascaline held off her return to Ghana on Saturday to be extra few days with us & be able to help out with cooking
Have great time connecting with family, looking at family photos, laughing and praying
Present gifts then get walked home


Day 9 (Tuesday July 12th)

Chill in morning.
Pascaline heads off to Ghana
Hang with Sebastian, Monique & Claudine.
Some more sunbathing
New clutch fixed, so we get driven in Mercedes & Michelle’s Renault to Bourra with Christophe.
Lunch at orphanage, then shown around. Have good pray for Michelle.
Then off to Ghana for outreach number 2, a place called Wiro.
More car problems on the way.
This is second outreach to be held there.
Marc is already there leading some of the home Bourra troops in worship (about 20 Christians)
About 15 people of converted locals present from previous outreach.
Very different atmosphere from other Ghana outreach.
Felt much harder & we felt much more tired!
About 150-200 people turned out
Didn’t feel such a poor village to previous one.
Started late after lot technical difficulties with lights & then video, meant we as a team got a bit frustrated
Worship is excellent – especially drumming
Eventually start preaching. Lucie & Caz speak well but doesn’t quite resonate with people in same way as prev outreach.
Not as good response - about 15 people respond – which means a good foundation has been extablished with now 30 people in the village at least showing strong interest.
After film its about 12.30am! We are shattered!

Road to and from the village from Burkina is amazing! Nothing more than a bridleway/ public footpath – definitely not a real road!


Day 10 (Wednesday July 12th)

1st night in Bourra. Not the most pleasant accomadation.
Car problems – water pump seal/ gasket gone – fixed by cardboard & Nescafe!
Goto Hamele – lunch with Pastor Nicole and wife, Jan.
Place seems lighter spiritually than last year.
Now approx 100 people in church
Have good pray for them, then off to Kietu, a relatively new church which we visited last year & had promised we would speak at when we returned this year
About 40-50 people there.
Matt W being the love doctor preached well on his favourite subject of love!
Had good time praying for people and leaders including Samuel’s brother.
Then back to Bourra for the night to chill, and early to bed about 10pm


Day 12 (Thursday July 13th)

Set out for Diebougou mid morn with Jean-Noel, Claudine & Christophe.
Get there in time for lunch, stay in nice accommodation (apart from the gun!)
Accompanied by Pastor Kambire – wild grey hair & bit of a strange guy
Met Pastor Issac – nice guy who is superintendent for 10 churches in area.
Meet Pastor ‘papa’ Philippe – who has now ‘retired’ although still actively involved! A coold dude who was one of 1st Christians in area.
Visit blind centre led by Joseph – old friend of David’s from Bible training days. Another cool dude!
David not happy with food at lunch time!
I feel physically exhausted & sick – probably attack. It highlights the importance of us praying together as team each morning.
We have a good pray, then meal with Kambire, then off to church for prophetic eve.
Approx 40 people there.
Caz speaks – goes well, then I lead a prayer time & share a little.
Pray for people who want to be released in prophetic.
Then pray for others with the leaders.
Have to share double bed with Matt! Bad night sleep for all (air conditioning turned off in early hours as deemed to noisy for some!).


Day 13 (Friday July 14th)

Journey to Bobo & nice accommodation again.
I’m excited to be reunited with Samuel.
Feels like final leg of ‘tour’.
We helped preparing the ‘harvesters’ for their outreach.
Meet at plot of new church building, in temporary building alongside. Foundations are in place for new building & the toilets (which I have paid for with my £200!!!)
Need about £12000 in total, so far have about £2000.
I talked on nature of God & Caz briefly on the love of God. Goes quite smoothly.
I think all of us on the team are feeling tired & struggling for energy …. from all we’ve been doing on the trip & giving out.
Get much needed good nights sleep.


Day 14 (Saturday July 15th)

Up early.
We are due to speak from 8am – 12pm but conveniently late again, we turn up at 9.30am!
Sylvain shares on ‘Year of Favour’ from Luke – same as what I was to read from Isaiah!
Matt shares a testimony of courage & grace.
Caz share a brief encouragement then I talk for about 30 mins.
Then break into two prayer teams including pastors & leaders of outreach & pray for Harvesters.
2 people in our groups prayed in tongues for 1st time which was cool.
Have good time in our Bobo accom with David sharing about his time in England living off very little, and Sylvain’s friendship


Day 15 (Sunday July 16th)

I get another bad night’s sleep.
Up early to prepare my talk for church. We get there about 9.45am which aint bad for us!
Long meeting as it went on till about 1pm!
Worship is cool. Got pulled up for some circle dancing!
We try out our new Fango J. Lo song!
Then I speak for ages talking to the church on 2 Chron 20 which I’ve felt God put on my heart for Bobo during the trip. Felt like it went alright.
Light meal, then I popped back to our base for some sunbathing.
Evening we went for meal with leaders of church


Day 16 (Monday July 17th)

Say goodbye to Samuel and family
Drive to Ouaga
Meet Zopoulas


Day 17 (Tueday July 18th)

Film David for DVD being put together by Matt Watson
Go shopping in Ouaga town
Final posh meal in nice part of time.
Fly home early hours of Wednesday after waiting an eternity at Ouaga airport.

journal from june 2003

TRIP 1 2003

Day 3 (26/06/03)

Much to write about since our arrival.
So here goes!
This is and will be the most amazing experience.
Bring it on.

Today we visited amongst many other places a family out in the suburbs of Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso in what seemed to be a very typical and average house. Very basic and simple. The husband being a retired pastor who had recently stopped with bad health (sinusitis) and there was a rather dry, stale atmosphere in the house when we entered.
After we been offered tap eater in these silver metallic beakers, which none of us were wanting to taste in fear of infection, and a fairly long, drawn out empty conversation in French, on the verge of leaving we asked if we could pray for him (Matthew) and his wife (Delphin).
The atmosphere immediately changed, and it was like a fresh breath of the Spirit of God had been ignited into his bones. We prayed for about ten minutes, for his health, for the family and then Caz followed by me proceeded to prophesy. It was stuff regarding being re-envisioned, a new passion and fire, a new desire, a new joy and purpose in life.
He had looked really discouraged when we entered the house. He revealed later that he had become quite lonely and was missing his church work and responsibilities. He had not felt settled in Ouagadougou, in that he had lived in other towns as a pastor and enjoyed his work. But now he didn't feel like the younger people in Ouaga were as interested or passionate about God, more distracted by the lure of western material influences.
So our words were a real confirmation of what he had recently been asking God for and so he seemed really lifted in spirit.

The best news was the testimony from his wife, Delphin. She seemed to be a lovely lady, who spoke no English or French. She had been bound or hindered by some discomfort. After we had prayed for Matthew she revealed that as soon as we started praying she felt a pain that had been in her body since 1972 begin to move down her body to her leg and then foot (in the same way the pain had arrived).
Matthew told us the background. Back in 1973, Delphin had been in much pain and discomfort, and she had gone to hospital for tests but they couldn't find anything wrong with her and so they sent her home.
Matthew said that this was to be a blessing from God, as later that evening; Delphin was in so much pain she lost consciousness and actually was on the threshold of dying. She saw a path that was so narrow that no one could humanly get through it. And as she was about to go up to what she thought was heaven, she heard a voice saying, 'But what is going to happen to the children?'
At this time Matthew had been praying intensely to God, saying that he wouldn't be able to look after the children on his own and needed his wife back! Then she returned back to her body!

There was now such a great excitement in the house. Both husband and wife were lifted and encouraged as we had prayed for them. There was such a transformation in the atmosphere.

We then prayed for Delphin that the pain that had moved to her foot would dissipate and leave and be gone for good.
It was a great meeting.
We asked if we could take a photo of them, so Delphin rushed to quickly change into her best outfit!

Later that day we also spent some time with Pastor Moises (Moses) Napon and his wife, Madeleine. He was a man of stature, influence and wisdom. He was a wealthy man and they lived in real luxury compared with the average Burkinabe. He was old friends of David's, in fact they go back a long way. He's also the director of CREDO a Christian church organisation which has many charities associated to it like Tear Fund. CREDO are also responsible for the nutrition centre outside David's home town on Leo where his wife Monique works.
Pastor Napon is a world respected leader and frequently travels from country to country to raise funds and speak in churches. Again it was good to pray for him, and I had a word for him that he was like Solomon, a man of wisdom and influence. And I spoke over him that he was a writer and had some writing to do to convey & get out some of the wisdom in his heart (... don't know if it was right or not -> but he seemed to like us!)

It is really exciting as I feel being out in Africa is really a fantastic opportunity for us to practice and develop our prophetic gifts. It is amazing for me personally as 6 months ago I would never have dared, and so it has been such a blessing to be stepping out in faith and getting totally stretched!
I had felt in my heart in the couple of weeks leading to the trip that it would be right to perhaps step out and lead some teaching based on the Prophesy school course running at church led by Graham Cooke and Chris Larkin. This was following a Wednesday afternoon prophetic session with the students where we were using photographs and pictures as stimulus for prophetic words over each other.


Day 4 (27/06/03)

There was a sudden almighty burst of hail on Day 2 whilst we were wandering the city centre of Ouaga for the first time. The largest hail I have ever witnessed - with hailstones at times as large as golf balls - and locals still cycling in the roads oblivious (or maybe just used to it)!
There was the visit to the lake with around 100 crocodiles on our journey to Leo from Ouaga. It seemed an African tradition to sit on the things, much to our amazement and disbelief. So for 1000 francs we had an opportunity to do likewise. Summoned by a soon to be dead (and eaten as our lunch!) Guinea Foul, two crocs quickly surfaced from the water and came slowly onto the river bank. Within a few seconds there is good old David with that full-on Zopoula smile sitting on the thing’s back stroking it and beckoning us to join!
It was actually really good fun and after a brief moment of fear, was not as scary or daunting as I would have thought. Is this some myth that the Australians have provoked that crocs are dangerous? Or were these ones just plastic radio-controlled imitations!

Then there is the testimony of our transport to Leo. Pastor David, bless his little cotton socks is one of the humblest, kindest and nicest guys I have ever met. He, like Pastor Napon has incredible influence and a leader of many churches (somewhere around 200 churches). But unlike Pastor Napon he lives in very humble surroundings and there is absolutely no spirit of arrogance, wealth or pride in him (not that Moises was like that!). So David was driving us around in his little Peugeot 205, a complete banger – it made mine look brand new – it was lethal especially around the pot-holed roads of Ouagadougou. Flip the drivers are maniacs amongst the bikes and scooters which are as numerous as flies.
Anyway this Peugeot is on its last legs; it stalls at most traffic lights, only has a working 2nd and 3rd gear, and has an interesting white smoke coming out of its exhaust. Plus with our combined weight (including bless her – the mighty Becks) it was starting to creek and groan even more.
It all ends on the eve of our departure to Leo with the starter motor giving way after one too many engine cut outs in the day. Then suddenly we find out that Pastor Napon has offered us use of one of his 4x4’s for our journey to Leo.
We had previously considered hiring but costs ranged from £25/day for something similar to the 205 banger to £70 for a 4x4.
So the offer of a 4x4 from Moises for only £15/day was a total blessing from him and God. In fact we did not realise how much a blessing until we made the journey to Leo, down the beaten-out, pot-holed dirt track at up to 110km/hr in our air conditioned Nissan Patrol. Praise God!

So some general thoughts on Africa and Burkina and me:
I am really loving my time here already. It is so special and precious. I really want to absorb and take in as much as ‘inhumanly’ possible. The people are wonderful, so pure, particularly in Leo where the corruption of the west has yet to penetrate.
We noticed such a change of atmosphere entering Leo yesterday compared with the capital Ouagadougou. A feeling of greater peace, more purity in the people, spiritually it seems lighter; that they are living in joy and life, yet within such poverty.

Even in western inflicted Ouagadougou where there is an abundance of icons like modern petrol stations, mobile phones and the hustle and bustle of the cars & bikes, the people still have a physical presence which is rarely found in England. There, in the midst of hundreds of beggars I never once felt threatened or in danger. There is a genuine safety - as it doesn’t appear in their nature to be angry, or to steal etc.
They are in their nature servants, beautiful servants.

David’s family have consistently and graciously served us throughout, providing us with two meals a day, generally served by Jacqueline and Charlotte, even when we haven’t been around!
Then there is the magic coke fairy!
Plus they do the washing up, even love to wash our clothes.
We have been so blessed.


Day 5 (28/06/03)

Today we visited the safari with Christophe and Charlotte, wonderfully driven by Michelle, a fantastic guy who heads up the orphanage in Buru (which we visit later in the week). The trip started with a sharp word from Caz regarding my judging behaviour towards Sylvain & rightly so.
The journey to the safari would have been an hour if we'd found the right road but ended up taking a fair bit longer. Good fun all the same!
The road became narrower and rougher until it seemed like an off-road adventure on a day out with Haydn. Many trees were lying along the trail of the vague road, probably knocked down by elephants, and so we had to leave the preferred path to avoid them. Once at the safari we found we had punctured the rear wheel, and so we had to wait a couple of hours whilst a couple of locals carefully & masterly repaired it using a fire and some interesting looking tools, all for a measly £2!
In that time we chilled under-cover whilst the local men of the village (clearly a Wild at Heart study group) ate their lunch.
Then we were ready to join the safari, on the look-out for elephants. We started well, only driving about a hundred yards before our first meeting. But the locals had joined us, it seemed like half the village, and with all of us there we managed to scare them off. They were about 200m away so we could only see their shadows in the distance. So off we hop back into our roadie on our trail for elephants rather amused that we were paying £5 each (a significant amount to your average African Burkinabe) for the pleasure when the locals had strolled the 100 yards from their lunch. After 30 minutes of driving down along the bumpy terrain we weren’t sure if we were being taken for a ride. I thought we were on a chase for wild geese! Because the track looked so consistently the same, we could have done 4 laps of the same route for all we had known.
But the good stuff comes to those who wait as Arthur well knows. And we were in for a real treat. The next half hour we were elephant spotting, chasing after herds of up to 10 and then being chased back to our own car. Quite a comical concept come to think of it. It was scary and exciting stuff. Most of them had youngsters and so we were no popular guests. SO it became a game of cat and mouse - we clearly being the mice, creeping up on them as close as we could get before being noticed - and then running back to the car. They were pretty irritated by us to be honest. On a couple of occasions we got as close as 15-20m from them. Thankfully we had three guides who had rifles to defend us in case of danger. But a great experience to see these beautiful creatures in the wild.

Later in the day we were in for another treat (hmmmm) as we met our neighbour Doreteeee in amusing circumstances. Caz and Sylvain had endured a heated and loud argument. Climaxed by Sylvain steaming off on a 'prayer-walk' in pursuit of some fags. On his way back he got lost and got ensnared within the 'trap of Doreteee', that is her barb wire fence. So she kindly returns Sylvain to safety (her new toy-boy) with her ol faithful guard-dog 'Orphan', a short, stocky, overweight sausage dog. She is a real treat, an elderly lonely missionary from Canada - bless her cotton socks).


Day 6 (29/06/03)

Today is Sunday.
An action packed, entertaining and long and giving day.
I spoke in David’s home church in Leo on being ‘one’.
There were a couple of funny moments when Sylvain read from the wrong books (Galatians rather than Ephesians) not that anyone looked too bothered!

The afternoon was amazing and felt far more worthwhile. Caroline and I led a ‘prophetic workshop’.
Earlier in the afternoon, the heavens had opened and for about 3 hours the rain was torrential. And so the turnout was very low. It was to start at 4pm, and as usual we arrived in our traditional late style around 4:30pm to find there were only 5-6 people there.
Caz wanted to pull out but after consideration we decided it was right to honour the faithful ones for turning up, and that the Lord had brought the right people. These would have been made up of the usual crowd that all churches must have who literally turn up to every meeting come rain or shine!
So Caz shared for about 15-20 minutes, and I added a few other bits for another 5 minutes. It was spot on. It felt really natural, really free, really simple yet sound and wise. And as we kept speaking, more and more people were drifting in!
Then we decided to go round everyone in turn and prophesy for each one. Man this was a scary moment. We had the impression that we were being heralded as the ‘prophets from England’ – and so this was our time to get ‘into action’. When the reality of it was I had been to a handful of prophetic seminars at church and had only prophesied a small number of times (i.e. I was in reality a baby, yet we were being perceived as something greater). Caz’s words summed it perfectly “…. Ooops out of depth”!!!
So we proceed to start.
The first one was the hardest as I didn’t feel confident. Caz said something that looked well received by the guy. Then I ‘had a go’, it felt pretty vague but I went for it anyway. The guy had a Sheriff’s badge on his jacket and I felt it was right to say that he was going to be a watchman as a policeman keeps watch over the community.
Whether that was right or not – no ideas – but from then on it flowed – it flowed really well, and I was amazed at what came out of our mouths.
At times we were flowing in the zone, for other people it was harder and felt we were saying things more for the sake of it.
Flip it was so draining and consuming. Every time we thought we were drawing near to the end, another person would come in, then another, then another. The word was spreading that the workshop hadn’t been cancelled by the rain … people outside were hearing about us, a few even arrived from one of David’s sister churches in Leo.
Eventually after four entertaining but thoroughly gruelling hours we finished.
A job well done.
We may have been amateurs but that wasn’t important to them, and we had managed to even look convincing!

Also on the Sunday morning at the end of church we had opportunity to pray for the sick. I had mentioned it during the sermon part that we would be more than happy to pray for the sick, then when no one had come forward at the end of the meeting we all went outside for the traditional handshake of the locals. But then about five minutes later we were beckoned back inside as a gathering of sick people had come forward and ‘appeared’! We split into two groups, Caz and me & Sylvain and Becks.
It was going okay until we get to a young lady with what appeared to be a half dead baby. Ah it was terrible. We were informed that she was sick with a fever. To us it looked grim; her eyes were faint and rolling. But we persisted in prayer. Caz kept saying don’t look because the natural did not look good. So we tried our best to pray against our own fear and what our eyes were telling us in the visible and commanded life to come.
Within a few minutes the young girl stirs, and stretches her arms as if waking from a sleep. Still drowsy but a vast amount better than when we started praying.
To be honest I have no idea if we had shifted something, or if the girl was naturally waking up, and we had no knowledge of what the longer term outcome was, but it is very possible that we had been a help. To us it appeared at one time that the girl was on the point of stopping breathing. So praise God! And I really hope and pray that she made a full recover as a testimony of God’s goodness.
At the end of our prayers Caz felt it right for us to give the lady some money for the baby as she looked really fin and under-nourished, so I think I gave them the equivalent of about £5.


Day 7 (30/06/03)

Another amazing day once again. This day a trip with Christophe and David, about 20-30km into Ghana, to a village called Tumu, a journey of about 45 minutes from Leo. We stopped off on the way at the border, a somewhat strange experience as there was not a soul in site until another 1-2 km inside the border. So we got out of the car and took photos. It felt so bizarre and perhaps a little eerie too.
Once in Ghana it immediately felt like you had stepped into a different country. Because of the different roots, the culture was immediately different plus a different and much more vibrant economy meant there was ‘more green-ness’, better buildings through the greater prosperity.
Apparently the reason for the better quality of life in Ghana is due to the different ways the French and British people treated the local natives in the original colonial days. The British trained the natives and got them to do everything, and were just overseers of the work whereas the French led and did the work themselves, hence not passing on the skills.
The children seemed friendlier in the Ghana town of Tumu to David’s home town Leo, an equivalent sized village (not that the kids in Burkina were grumpy but there was definitely a different spirit to them). Here the kids had big smiles and a slightly ruder handshake – more like a slap!

We also saw the local scapegoat, later discovered to be found in every town whether in Ghana or Burkina, whom we impolitely named either Legion or Max (as in mad).
These characters all tended have a very dark skin of a particular tone, wearing similar dark ragged racing green clothing. Another common sign was a few missing teeth plus a certain demonic glare. I don’t know what it is exactly but we felt it was an indicator of the same type of demonic possession.
Anyway we felt really sorry for this particular guy in Tumu, as he seemed to be a real sweetie, especially when Becks offered him a lollypop, bless his cotton socks – he didn’t know what to do with it. And then it was so horrid when with his toothy grin he showed it to the mocking crowd of jeering locals and still not knowing what to do with it – they proceeded to slap and kick him.
I don’t know how these men get into such a place to take on this kind of possession but I know God loves them so much. And I do believe that if they would find sanity through Jesus then whole villages could be transformed by the testimonies like in the gospels. But most Christians probably wouldn’t go near them. My prayer is that God will raise up people who will have the ability or ministry even confidence to free these people. Caz reckoned that this fitted in with the words of Jesus that ‘this kind can only come out by prayer and fasting’, meaning diligence on the part of the believer that they wouldn’t be overcome by unbelief.

The main reason for our trip to Ghana was to meet Pastor Margaret and Pastor Seth (isn’t it funny that they all like to be called Pastor!) David has his connections as he has a real heart for reaching four particular tribes; the Sisalu, Nuni, Mori and another. Ghana contains a high proportion of unreached Sisalu’s (David’s descendant).
Margaret is a largish lady overflowing with joy, to the extent of appearing a bit mad (in a nice way).
She’s recently started a church in Tumu after feeling called to leave the drastically different (and western) capital city of Accra. We were shown inside a small church building which can hold 20-30 people. She also showed us her water making facilities (!) in which she hopes to make a living.
Pastor Seth was a cool but slightly religious guy, who has a heart and call for evangelism. His aim is to preach in the unreached villages via his motorbike (and shades) and if there is already a Christian church planted there, he moves straight onto the next.
I really liked this guy and felt a connection to him and the country, and so perhaps next year, if possible, would love to spend a week with him on his bike.
We got the opportunity to pry for Seth and his wife, and Margaret at the end of the day. Oh yeah and Margaret showed us the Jesus video translated into what must have been Sisalu.
Then what a treat in the afternoon, after lunch in a locals outside ‘café’ (thank God our stomachs survived the rice & cows heart ->> chewy!), a visit to the king of the Sisalu tribe – that is David’s tribe. He just happens to be Margaret’s dad! (And so that granted us the opportunity to speak with him). He is the 5th count, whatever that means, and his father had 50 wives! Yikes how many children would that produce – a mean machine! It was a real privilege to meet this man, and participate in some of the tribal customs that these African countries are steeped in. He is a Christian and spoke to us for about 15 minutes giving us his wisdom and nuggets on God. Not amazing stuff, but he seemed to like the sound of his voice and his position/ status somewhat. But there were some partial truths in what he was saying, although he wasn’t too positive about the place and role of a woman! That’s why it’s so cool to see what a statement his daughter Margaret is doing by leading a church.
As we leave the village we see the idol of the village, the central piece below the leader’s house, covered in concrete, and the chief’s drummer beats out a message for our departure “the strangers are now leaving” or something like that.

That night we are invited to a meal in the church hall. I’m struck with a high temperature and symptoms of glandular fever so leave my food and long for an early night.
Only other thing to mention is the queen of queens, the delightful Monique – wife of David. She has such poise and stature as well as attitude when she walks, naturally commanding respect. She is the African epitome of coolness, and so it’s easy to see where Christophe gets his from.
There she is sitting for food, only 10 days after the birth of Fineus, with her legs wide open – leaning on the back of her chair.

Day 8 (1/07/03)

The start to the day was a bit manic as I have to give Becks and injection to help thin her blood, straight into her stomach. Yikes. Thank God we’d been stepping out so much already and so that made the task less daunting.

Today we went to visit Credo, part of the Napon empire! It is a food and nutrition centre, where children between the ages of six months to 3 years-ish come who are less than 70% below average weight (I think that is right???). They stay usually for a period of about 30 days where they are weighed, measured and treated. The main point of the centre, as well as building up the weight of the children, is to educate the mothers who also stay on-site during this period. They are taught the basics on a balanced diet, how to cook, and simple practices of hygiene. Many just don’t know or simply understand simply through ignorance, and so millions of kids die. In some villages as many as 50% of babies die in their first months.
We also saw a section where they are planting many trees, which hopefully will produce monkey nuts (could be marijuana for all they know!), as it is currently being encouraged by the Burkina government. David has personally bought a batch of 100 last year to try out of his farm plot but unfortunately none of them really came to anything. This is one of the many initiatives aimed at boosting the economy and providing a source of income to the locals.

That afternoon a couple of people came over to say thanks for what we had prophesied on the Sunday afternoon session (the lady whom we’d given money to, together with her husband). Plus Mark, the assistant pastor brought over a Christian who works as a Psychiatric doctor in Leo to be prayed for, as he had not been able to make the prophetic meeting on the Sunday. It was after this that the opportunity of repeat visits back to the country was discussed. This struck me as really exciting, i.e. that this was the start of something much bigger. I think I felt a witness in my spirit that this is a real opening of the things I’m called into. This really is so cool, as I’ve had dreams and desires for years, and this feels like a glimpse of the start of the reality releasing from the potential.
Talk is that next year would be even bigger, possibly with a full-on several days crusade with Seth in some unreached villages in Ghana. Quality! Stepping out and being stretched! Bring it on.
Feel like that word ‘and in the third year, so and reap’ is coming to fruition. Stuff is starting to happen. Praise God.
I would also be interested to spend some time with Seth as well, perhaps an extra week travelling with him on the back of his bike. Felt right; let’s see if the door gets opened.

The day ended with dinner at Dorothe’s. Really tasty spag bol with yummy garlic bread, home-made by her ‘slave’/ servant. She’s a lovely lady but with a few issues. We had a good eve but came away a bit narked as she really shouldn’t be out there living the life she does. I don’t wanna judge – but I hope she does bring something to the people. She lives in a palace compared with the villages. She drives a newish Shogun, and tours her church network every couple of years to raise the finance to support her. Must be 10’s of thousands of pounds.
Anyway we, with David and Monique had a pleasant evening, entertained by the video with various 80’s praise tapes & the karaoke Christian king of pop Michael W. Smith – who isn’t that bad (plus we were entertained as Caz spent about 20mins trying to find her favourite song on the video!).
Ah and there was a lovely homemade banana cream cake.


Day 9 (2/07/03)

It was following the evening meal outside our spooky cabin in Bourra that David gave some exciting feedback on some of the things we had been up to so far.
We heard about the lady whom we had given money to during the prophesy afternoon, who had returned with her husband a couple of days later to say thank you. Only now we discovered that they had had a very sick child who had become very ill. Between them that had no money, in fact only the equivalent of 17 pence. They were absolutely desperate and had prayed to God to provide them with the money to take their child to hospital so that it could get the necessary medication. They wanted to come to the prophetic afternoon but because of the thunderstorm decided not to come. Firstly people do not like travelling in the rain and secondly meetings are normally cancelled in such weather. Then when the weather subsided they thought it was too late to come but the lady chose to venture out on her own. She was one of the last people we ministered to. As she got to the entrance, she asked if she could get prayer from David, himself knowing the situation she was facing.
For us, we had no idea of her needs, and so we prophesied over her, and then at the end, Caz felt it was right that we gave her some money. So after we dived into our wallets and as discretely as possible placed a bundle of notes in this ladies hand, about £30-40’s worth. So without our knowledge, this lady left praising God, overwhelmed by His kindness. They immediately took their child to hospital, paid for the medicine and he/ she was well and playing outside the next day!

Also the first few pundits whom we spoke over during the prophesy afternoon were translated by David. However he felt he had to leave as the things being spoken over them were word for word confirmations of what they had prayed or asked for with David himself in recent months. And so David didn’t want them to think that he had been influencing us, i.e. Caz was being spot on!
And David also shared that the sermon word I gave on the Sunday morning at church concerning being one, and unity was a confirmation to him, as just that week he had been asked to speak at a conference this coming September and had chosen to talk on the subject of unity. Also he had just spoken on this subject at the previous pastors meeting.

This is really cool to hear such testimonies of God at work. This really releases faith to us, that we are being obedient and on the right lines. It also means the door will be open for us to come back next time, and people will be expectant to hear what we bring. Exciting stuff, and sobering as well.

Today we left Leo and have been travelling around many villages in the neighbouring districts. The day started by giving presents to David’s family and saying goodbye. A very sad occasion as it felt we had grown a close bond in such a short space of time. Then we had the blessing of seeing Margaret and Seth once again, who had paid a flying visit on their bike – a real God moment. I was really chuffed to see them again!
Then from Leo, with Christophe on board we set out on a new journey, and new adventure. First to see David’s Dad, then Michelle in Bourra (who I didn’t recognise at first … oops-adougou!), then we dropped our things off, and went straight to Hamele where we lunched and visited the church. Then a final visit of the day to Kietu to pray and look around before returning to Bourra for a night-time meal in the dark. It was an action packed sardine of a day.
So first trip of the day was to see, or at least attempt to find David’s dad. We had a look around the village where he lives, met some of his MANY relations and then started to head off. About a km down the road we discovered him, sitting on a bench entertaining a host of folk. Incredibly sprightly for a hundred year old! He has had six wives although only two are now still alive, including David’s mum who likes with David in Leo. He also has had 36 children, the youngest when he was 70 years old! He seemed to be a real laugh, and was particularly annoyed that we were not staying longer, an upset to the traditional culture.
Apparently he was the first Christian in the south of Burkina, and therefore a very important and influential man. The reason being, he was one of the few French speaking people in the south, and therefore able to hear and receive the message. So there is real heritage in David’s roots.

Next we drove through Bourra, dropped off our luggage, had a quick coke with Pastor Luke (who had met us in Ouaga at the airport on our first night), then hurried to Hamele where we were expected for lunch and a church visit.
We lunched with a guy called Pastor Nicola and his wife (this is where Sylvain’s diahrea problems first started). Nicola is a very close friend of David’s with a very similar vision, passion and goal; to see salvation come to four particular tribes around Burkina, Ghana and other neighbouring countries.
It was during lunch that David entertained us and captivated our attention with stories of fetishes. These are basically idols, and often worn around the neck. This was our first taste of the spiritual warfare that is very prominent in Burkina. Apparently these fetish’s have different powers or uses. For example there were ones which made you invisible, and were used in the war (2nd world war?), where one person could kill a thousand without being seen! How much of this is legend and truth is hard to comprehend to a western mindset. To us this sounded like something straight out of Lord of the Rings … so improbable, yet I’m sure there was some truth to it.
One time, David’s dad had fifty of them, each for different purposes such as fertility, life, even discernment. We were told of one of his wives who had secretly slept with another man – David’s dad being made aware through the fetish. Now allegedly, the dark power of the fetish is such that this lady had to own up, or the fetish would take her life. David’s dad gave her many opportunities to admit what happened. But each time she refused. David’s dad had to give her over to the power and control of the fetish; otherwise he himself would be under the curse. That he did, and she subsequently died mysteriously very soon after.
Apparently David’s dad has many stories to tell of the fetishes but he always holds back on a vital piece of information which he never relates, even to his sons. As he says it concerns matters close to the heart, and it is not advisable to share in case the person’s heart is not pure or able to contain the ‘cornerstone’ information.

These fetish’s often cause stumbling blocks to people becoming Christians, as like Gollum or Bilbo they can prove very hard to give up because of the draw and weight they have on their lives. They entice and are like an anti-christ, desiring to be idolised and worshipped. People can easily become dependant on their supernatural power. Frequently people fail to give up their fetish’s when becoming Christians, signs of this often show up at a later date when ‘strange’ things start happening in the village or people react in a certain way.
David told us of a story in 1997 when Nicola started in the church in Hamele (of which has now grown to over 100 people). A new member had given over a fetish to Nicola, of what seemed a particularly powerful variety as it felt really oppressive. Nicola called on David for his help in destroying it as he felt he needed support because of the demonic power.
So they prayed and tried to destroy the thing but nothing would destroy it. They tried hammering it, they tried fire, and they tried petrol – everything possible. Eventually they managed to break it into pieces in a bucket, and both of them are witness to this – but it supernaturally reformed into a single piece. At this stage they realised what they were up against – a really powerful and oppressive fetish – so they prayed hard and stood on the word of God, and broke its power. Then they resumed attempts to destroy it, and eventually it went – in an extremely awful smell – far worse than anything David has ever experienced. And no remnants of the fetish were ever found – it had simply disappeared!

So after lunch we visited the church in Hamele and the rather Muslim village. Hamele is situated right on the border between Burkina Faso Ghana. It had not previously been evangelised prior to 1997 and had a very oppressive feel in parts, particularly in the Burkina village.
The church itself is located in an amazing spot, right on top of the hill – splitting the two countries as a real beacon of unity and to the Muslims. The atmosphere also was so much lighter and fresher at the top of the hill. Respect to Nicola for being willing to live out there.
We met some of the congregation who had been waiting for us since early morning, introduced by Nicola and then I shared a few words of encouragement – we were amazed by what a disciplined and fervent body they are, getting up at 4:30am to pray each day, with regular periods of prayer and fasting.

It must be an African tradition as the women always tend to sit separately to the men in the church. Here in Hamele there was only one girl to see us, so the poor lass had to sit on her own on the left-hand side. On leaving the church we walked through the village, very strongly Muslim and had a brief chat with the village chief who seemed open to us. We then walked back to Nicola’s house and had a good pray for him and his wife before venturing onwards again to another village, Kietu located between Hamele and Bourra. We didn’t arrive till around 6:30pm with a crowd of people awaiting us which we felt really embarrassed about when we found that they had been eagerly waiting for us since 7:00am! We were shown around a traditional village house, pitch black inside, purposefully as a form of defence in case of attack. A traditional hut structure from pre-Christian or Muslim days and hence full of strange objects acting as idols on the walls.
At the church we greeted the welcoming crowd who had shown such patience, and then prayed for them. They are such servants and show white people far too much honour and respect. We can learn so much from them and their attitude.
It was amazing how such a crowd had gathered on our arrival, many of whom wouldn’t have been Christians. On reflection, we would have loved to have spent more time there and had an opportunity to preach a gospel message as they seemed ripe and ready!
As it was we were late, and as usual behind schedule and due back in Bourra for dinner. What we didn’t realise was that the church in Kietu were also expecting us to stay for food and were very disappointed when David had to explain we were expected elsewhere.
The building where we stayed that night was the most basic of our travels, and exposed the ‘westerner’ in us.


Day 10 (3/07/03)

Another action packed morning in Bourra before the long journey to Bobo Diou Laso, the second city of Burkina and former capital around 1960. So we started off visiting the bible translation centre next to where we were staying headed up by Mark, Monique’s oldest brother and Luke. Currently the bible translation centre is experiencing opposition regarding finances as their American supporters have run out of money.
Then we visited a bible school led by Jean and Virginie. This was quite a hard and dry place but yet full of perseverance and consistency. Got the feeling that it lacked joy and hope, especially compared to the apparent life and purpose at the orphanage, yet it still seemed to be a good place. We prayed for the couple, and then visited the man-made dammed lake used for irrigation to the local villages. This has drastically improved the harvest in the area and the variety of crops that can be grown.
From there we popped in on the church in Bourra of about 200 people which Mark (Monique’s brother) leads.

The highlight of the day was visiting the orphanage lead by Michelle – the bloke who had been our guide at the safari earlier on in Leo. It was really tragic and hard hitting visiting such a broken place yet full of God’s life, joy and prosperity. Michelle has only been leading the work a number of months but is a wonderful man, full of compassion, tears, love and joy. His first few weeks were very sad and emotional and it took him some time to come to terms with the pains of death that are inevitable in such a place.
We heard of one hard story in that Michelle and David were giving blood in an attempt to save a child’s life, spending in the end over £200 in costs, and the child unfortunately didn’t survive. So sad, yet we all felt a real connection and love for Michelle – such a faithful man and so compassionate. It was a real pleasure for us to pray for him, and we all has some positive words for him which again brought him to tears (I was struck by the orange buildings – and the apparent fertile and beautiful land especially compared with the bible college and the words ‘the future is bright, the future is orange kept coming to mind).

Then we went back to pack the car and started the long drive to Bobo, about 4-5 hours in length. Man we needed the Nissan Patrol for those long distance bumpy drives! I actually didn’t mind the journeys as they were fairly pleasant with the air conditioning (on those rare occasions when the rear window wasn’t open letting in all the hot air from outside!), just about sufficient leg room, and this gave us the chance to recuperate.
Well having said that, the journeys were always scary. The roads are bumpy, yet many of the vehicles particularly lorries are totally unroadworthy, in fact lethal, but that doesn’t stop them being driven at alarming speeds – with little awareness or concern! Drivers of lorries who are tired stop their vehicles wherever they decide, commonly on sharp bends without even pulling off the road – and then they sleep underneath! What’s all that about? It’s quite an amusing site yet ridiculously dangerous to themselves and other traffic. It means that the road becomes one lane – and it’s a free for all, as the drivers seem to have no idea of giving way for oncoming traffic – which unfortunately means head on collisions are pretty common..
It was on the subsequent return journey to Ouaga that w saw the remains of a horrific accident involving a Patrol just like ours completely destroyed with a tanker and tractor heavily mangled. Moments like that shouldn’t be pondered on but puts into context the danger of such journeys.
You often see the carcasses of remains of vehicles by the side of the road as there is little in the way of emergency rescue. Then probably within days the scavengers gather to strip away anything and everything except the bare frame.
Then there were the lorries with the broken/ shaky chassis with absolutely no stiffness and wonky axles. Such a scary sight but all too common, that looked beyond the realm of possibility. Plus there is the regular sight of lorries overloaded with baggage or goods beyond belief, with stowaways in random and uncomfortable places. Like standing on the rear bumpers for 300km!

Before reaching Bobo we popped into Danu briefly to meet pastor Jeremiah and see his church. This is the village that Charlotte will live in shortly once she is married.

So Bobo Diou Laso – the second largest city. As we entered we were immediately impressed by its greater class, status and prestige compared with the capital Ouaga. But very quickly we discovered a less favourable side to the city. Now a Muslim stronghold, and with history as the former centre and capital of the country, there is a strong idolatry presence. We found it particularly oppressive from a spiritual perspective, and therefore much respect to those who have chosen to make this place their home to build and establish a Christian presence. We noticed a lot more attitude in the people. They are more aggressive, more demanding and have less joy and peace, noticeably so than Ouaga. The beggars were as numerous as Ouaga but more aggressive and persistent – sometimes uncomfortably so.
In the bank the cashiers were less polite and even rude. Such a contrast to the people in the villages. In this city we saw a lot more wealth but with that we also saw a lot more pride, selfishness and less peace. Such a shame.

Once we had arrived in Bobo we went out for a very nice meal at the Hotel Oasis which would become a regular haunt for us, with the you ‘up and coming’ Zach (‘Zachius’ or ‘Chris Smellie’!!) then returned to our very nice pad where we me the adventurous French cyclists who are trekking across four countries – about 4000km on a triple tandem. The little French girl on the team was really pure and friendly, and fortunately Caz got the opportunity to chat about Jesus on the Saturday eve.


Day 11 (4/07/03)

The day started brightly with Samuel joining David to our pad in Bobo. A super guy, who never fails to smile or lose his temper – an impossibility. Really friendly, a real servant and helper, and a great friend of David’s. He was to be a great guide to us for our days in Bobo.
Today was a busy but schedule free day, starting with a trip to town for a late breakfast opposite Hotel Oasis. We then rambled at our usual snail pace – to the bank, some small shops and then the market. Followed by a tour of the old city, a strange old place, very spiritual with cutting oppression and darkness. We had two tour guides who explained that the old part of the city had been left in tact just the way it was centuries ago much to the disgrace of the people in the know in Bobo who want it to become a modern city.
A tale is told that people came to try and destroy the old mosque which is at the entrance to this old village, and physically couldn’t. They claimed they were supernaturally prevented from doing anything. We didn’t know if this was true or not but certainly felt this area was the core and heart of the darkness that we had experienced on arriving in Bobo. People from the old city dating back to 1400AD don’t want to change or be modernised.

I really felt bad when by this revolting and dirty stream backing out onto many of the mud hut houses. My stomach was reeling and turning inside, the water poo brown, with people bathing and washing in it. We had to cross the stream across some large stones and it was hard work because of the grimness.
The locals believe the fish are sacred. If a woman wanted to have children she must go to the river to see the fish. Then once having given birth would have to take the child and present them to the fish, or they would be under the curse and die! Even today no one is aloud to touch the fish, or would have to face the chosen penalty of the chief.
A memorable moment was the little boy who took hold of Betty’s hand and wouldn’t let go. He kept hold for about 10-15 minutes, really sweet and cute lad, only about 2-3 years old.
We had a powerful time praying that evening prophesying that this young boy would become a man of light and influence to the old village.

After a meal back at our place cooked by Martine, we drove to Samuel’s house for the youth meeting, as late as ever. We were struck by how many flies and large insects there were in this part of the country. Apparently as Bobo is near water, there are a lot more bugs who tend to collect in droves around the lights and lampposts.
So we got to hear this confident young Nigerian, probably straight out of bible school talking on that infamous subject of the mark of the beast, as well as end times and wars. It was a complicated and unclear message and it seemed he was more interested in the sound of his own voice than the actual content. He probably had a real burden for the subject but he came across as pretty religious, and what he had to say seemed to be more of himself than God. At the end, David got up and tried to bring a piece of encouragement from the message …. That in the end times all are called, and will prophesy, and so we should be doing so in our prayer meetings.
Then we were introduced and asked if wanted to share anything, Sylvain got up and gave a brief welcome. I wasn’t sure if I should say something. My spirit felt agitated because of the word spoken, and so I felt a responsibility to say something.
So I got up and gave a brief message mixed in as a welcome, speaking on our hope, that we have Jesus on our side. I felt I had to say something as the message brought fear and seemed to magnify the power of the devil. To our dismay, the message seemed well received by the leaders.


Day 12 (5/07/03)

A truly amazing day.
Another day off for us, with David and Samuel as our tour guides as we travelled west as close as 40km from the Ivory Coast. Traffic was quiet as the Ivory Coast is currently in civil war.
First stop was Banfora, about an hour’s journey from Bobo and 5th largest city in Burkina. A comparatively prosperous area because of greater fertility in the land, partially as a result of investment from multi-national corporations.
After a drink in Banfora, where I brought some flimsy cheap shades we drove to a random lake where hippos can be found. Once again no tourists could be found, and so we had the lake to ourselves in what had become a beautiful and sunny day. We split into two fragile wooden boats bit like gondolas. Mine was with Sylvain and Samuel and it leaked fairly badly!
It was such a wonderful experience, even if we hadn’t spotted a hippo! The scenery was great and there was such a peace in the stillness of this quiet and isolated place. First thoughts of another wild goose chase were quickly proved wrong as we were entertained for about 15 minutes by a family of about 8 hippos. So huge and powerful, spraying water from their mouths/ nostrils 25 feet into the air. Unfortunately we only saw the tops of their heads as they emerged from the water every minute or so to inspect the strange guests who had joined them. A wonderful experience.

Then back to the car to venture inwards again, this time for another glorious sight, to see Les Cascades – a fantastic waterfall. The journey took in some delightful scenery. More hilly and certainly more prosperous than what we had previously seen. There was a greater variety of crops as a result of the fertiliser equipment and other facilities available.

The approach to Les Cascades was fabulous. A beautiful promenade of grand trees up to an open circle – ideal spot for a wedding (that was my random thought for the day!).
Then we climbed up the falls, incredibly slippery, particularly for Becks. The kind of path that would be shut in England for safety and replaced by an ugly man-made steel structure.
The views were awesome, and we could see for miles. There were so many bits to climb, cross and jump over. It was a real adventure, quite risky with big steps and huge drops crossing the water.
The waterfall also was well spectacular, so powerful and menacing, yet gracious and peaceful at the same time. This is the kind of place that I would love to visit frequently simply to hang out and chill with God. David and Samuel were like guides but almost encouraging us to take risks. It was great fun. I felt like a child playing with the Lord, like the poem written by Tessa at uni. You could really sense the smile of God showering down on us.

That evening on our return, we went out for a meal at our local Hotel Oasis, with the leaders of the Bobo church. We were quite tired and so it felt like hard work but nice all the same.
Samuel and his wife Martine are wonderful. Samuel like David is a real man of God. He has real authority in the Lord yet a beautiful love and joy that is so fresh and soothing, and a total servant. He really looked out for us. He is a gift of God and a wonderful bloke.


Day 13 (6/07/03)

Yup another cracking day.
Up early to prepare for church. I think we were all tired, as the trip was drawing to a close. For church we had all decided to share something, about 15 minutes each with Becks introducing us all. With our tiredness, it took us a while to wake up and get into the flow of the meeting. Our concentration was poor and so we were easily - well me anyway, distracted by anything entertaining or unconventional. The worship leader was a fantastic energetic young lady. We had a song from a trio led by Martine – which was painful to say the least (Caz does a great impersonation of Martine’s singing – together with wobbly eye). Then there was one of the truly funniest moments of my life, by the great – the unfortunately named ‘teachers pet’, ‘Chris Smellie’ or ‘winnet’ -> that is Zach, who ‘attempted’ to sing a Ron Kenoly song on his own with no accompaniment.
It was truly dreadful. Completely out of time, a style all to his own, yet the confidence and unawareness to go for it. We were fortunately sat at the back of the church on these comfy sofas, with my head buried in my lap – tears were streaming down my face, and it was agony not to noticeably laugh out loud. Caz similarly had to bite her hand to refrain from audibly laughing. Later this moment was referred directly to Zach’s face in person by David as ‘Wubbish’!!! tee hee!

So Sylvain spoke on the desires of your heart, Caz shared on the hope of glory in me, and then I shared. It felt quite good. Translated by correctly by David (bless the poor silver van). It seemed to be well received with lots of nodding, encouraged heads and smiling. I shared on three things.
Fulfilment; that they were the right people, in the right place at the right time. Not to be afraid but to step into their dreams, their promises for what they were expecting in Bobo.
Secondly to chill out, enjoy God, be still, take time out and enjoy hanging with Him. And finally for the people to be themselves, to be free.

Church ended with us praying for the sick and then the visitors being blessed by the church with a groovy, groovy song! Pastor Jeremiah was also there, whom we had met on our journey from Bourra to Bobo in Danu… yet another cool man of God.

As per usual we munched in Hotel Oasis with David and Zach then went back to our base to chill for the afternoon, our last in Bobo.
David, Samuel and Martine returned for a light tea, bearing gifts. Oh yes!
Such a kind gesture. I received a game called Waleh from David and some wooden elephants from Samuel and Martine.
That night no one got particularly good nights sleep, then we were up at 5:30am ready to leave at 6:30.
This must have been spiritual attack as David came down with a heavy cold which progresses to get worse as the day goes.


Day 14 (7/07/03)

Return to Ouaga and homeward bound.
A morning of driving, followed by lunch in Ouaga … and then we spend the rest of the afternoon searching for gifts and souvenirs – much of it looking for a non-fake Burkina Kappa football shirt for me which after much a searching we eventually get.
Then sadness as we go to the airport to fly home. We were given a lovely sending off, with David’s youngest brother turning up to see us off, along with the lovely Charlotte and her fiancée.
We ended by praying together in the car park – at this stage David’s cold had turned into a full blown bout of flu.
Then the hard bit of saying goodbyes – followed by jumping on the plane and making the flight home.
So that’s it.
What a time.
Job well done.

That’s it till next year!