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.