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A Little Something Extra (For Africa)

April 19, 2012 in Burkina Faso, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

Each of our three locations at West Ridge Church are getting the opportunity to meet John and Betty Arnold right now. They are our next missionaries to Burkina Faso in West Africa. Like all of us their story and calling are unique and provide inspiration to others. They began their tour at our Cartersville location on April 15th, will be sharing at East on April 22nd, and hanging out at West on April 29th.

God has allowed them to raise almost all the funds they need for personal support, but they have a few other things that we wanted to invite everyone to help out with.

John and Betty will be setting up a house and new team center in Burkina Faso so that all of us can take turns going to see them and be a part of transforming this country. They have registered for several household goods that will help them be more successful, and all of you be more successful, when you go to West Africa. They have registered at Target and Walmart on their gift registries. You can go look at what they have registered for by clicking on the links below.

Click here for Target and here for Wal-mart

As you might imagine Wal-mart, Target, and Home Depot haven’t exactly made it to Burkina yet. It’s really important we help them get as many of these things as possible before they leave. We need these items by May 6th so that they can be put into a shipping container headed out over the Atlantic.

If you live in Paulding County they have also registered at Home Depot in Hiram. That list is not available on the internet, but they can pull it for you in the store. If you are a man or woman who loves tools go have a look and purchase something. Then when you come to Burkina you can use your tool to help build a church, school, repair a well, or help in some other way.

If you are planning to bring things back to a location of West Ridge contact the Missions office or drop things off on Sundays between now and May 6th.

You can follow John and Betty’s journey at engageburkina.com/blog and at facebook.com/engageburkina

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Taste and See

October 26, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso, Global Outreach, Partnership, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

One of my most fun privileges is to help direct our efforts in Burkina Faso through our non-profit, Engage Burkina. Every year I get to visit this West African country at least once, meet with leaders, and find out how we can best serve their efforts to spread the gospel.

Since 2008 we have had the opportunity to fund and initiate the digging or drilling of 74 wells. That has allowed us to provide water to somewhere in the neighborhood of 50,000. This effort is happening from a growing network of individuals and churches from around the country.

Each year the two Burkinabe Pastors who oversee the digging of wells in the bush (where we are employing locals to do the work) send us back a detailed report of the cost for each well in each village, report to us what challenges they have encountered, and report the benefits of the wells.

Our most recent report had a comment on it that I thought was just good, clean fun. They reported that some villages are tasting things they have never tasted before. Presumably because they are growing things they have not been able to grow. Wow! I live in a country where I can have anything I want from just about anywhere, and they are experiencing new taste!

In Psalm 34:8 the writer says, ”Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed are those who take refuge in him.” These people are literally being able to taste and see that God cares about them and that he can be trusted.

We are going to continue to take water to the people of Burkina Faso. This time of year we are waiting for the water table to lessen so that we can be sure the wells are dug deep enough when we begin the process again in January. Of course, that makes this a great time to gather new commitments for the next season of activity. If you want to learn more about the work in Burkina or sponsor a well you can donate online by going to engageburkina.com/store

 

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

 

Water and Hope

May 26, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso with 0 Comments

I was thrilled this week to get a bunch of pictures from Chris Feilds showing some of our current work in Burkina Faso. If you don’t know I help direct a non-profit that funds efforts in one of the poorest countries in the world. Burkina Faso is a small, land-locked country in West Africa, where one of the biggest needs is water.

I have been able to visit Burkina several times since our first vision trip in 2007. We have set up a partnership with the Christian and Missionary Alliance to piggy back on some of their infrastructure, add to that, and contribute to the work that is being done. A big part of that work is in providing water wells to villages that need it. Every well is being looked over by an African Pastor.

The last couple of years I have been able to visit and get reports on our previous work and set priorities going forward. Let me just say working in West Africa is not easy. There was a big learning curve for me, and the biggest learning has been ‘Stay Flexible’. However, we want to make sure stuff is getting done. These pictures show things being carried forward. I just got them this week. They are of new and current work in progress. None of the picts show any at full completion.

Water brings life. Water brings hope. African Pastors have told us, “You never know how many people will hear the gospel because of clean water. A government leader said, “People cannot hear the gospel without clean water.”

A special thanks on this year’s wells to lots of individuals who make this happen. Thanks to Summit Church in Kernersville, NC who have been selling t-shirts to dig wells. Also, Mike Pierce and his family and Clay Methodist Church, in South Bend, IN for putting such a big emphasis on impacting this country. To all the jittery coffee drinkers at West Ridge Church, and everyone who supports this effort from there, thanks a ton!

If you would like to contribute a small amount to this effort or sponsor an entire well, you can go to http://engageburkina/donate.

There’s lots more picts. Here are a few. ~Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stories from Burkina Faso

April 6, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

A couple months ago I got to share with our church some of the impact that we have been able to make in Burkina Faso, located in West Africa. Several other churches are taking lead roles in providing water and sharing the gospel among an unreached people group. Here’s just a short snippet directed to the folks at West Ridge.

For more information visit engageburkina.com.

 

Stories From Burkina Faso from West Ridge Church on Vimeo.

It’s In Your Pocket

March 30, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso, Global Outreach, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

I love the story of the Pastor who stood up in front of his congregation and said, “I have great news! We have all the money we need to pay off our building! The bad news is that it is in your pocket!”

I happen to believe that the ability to meet some significant needs around the globe is in the pocket of every one of us. Most of you can part with $10 or $20 and not even miss it because you don’t budget anyway. The ones that do budget can actually move things around and free up significant amounts.

I have one example of this from the students at West Ridge Church. A couple of years back High School Pastor James Griffin and Middle School Pastor challenged their students to raise enough money for a drilled well. A majority of these students do not have jobs, but parents were giving them an allowance or some extra money to go out and grab a bite to eat. On their own, students started giving up the extra trip to Taco Bell (Parents can be cheap) and started giving that money.

In just a few weeks the students had raised $5,000 not with car washes, or selling Krispy Kremes, but just with the money that was in their pocket.

The well from those students was put in a village called, Fing (feeng) just outside the church there. This village holds the main market among a people group called The Pugli. This makes this village a main destination for people from miles around. Before our students raised the majority needed for this well, this village had no significant water source. These are a people group that have never heard the name of Jesus. Now the church has a physical platform to tell people about ‘The Living Water’ that comes only from knowing Christ.

Being faced with the needs of Burkina it is very clear that myself or my church cannot meet all the needs of this country. So we’ve set up way where all of us can contribute just a little to play a part in meeting a larger need. Go here to visit our store at Engage Burkina where you can give in any amount, or join together with others and put in a well in a village. We can provide a name and pictures of the well in the months to come. You can always know that you have changed hundreds of lives, with just what is in your pocket.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

World Water Day!

March 22, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso with 0 Comments

Today is World Water Day! This day was started by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) 1993 to draw attention to the fact that one in eight people in the world do not have access to clean water.

In Burkina Faso last 1 in 3.4 children die before the age of 10. For this little country in West Africa, AIDS and Malaria are real problems, but even more so are malnutrition and water born illnesses. Since 2008 we have been working with Pastors and Community Leaders in this country to try and provide clean water to as many people as possible. We have been doing this with a combination of drilled wells and hand dug wells in the poorest, most remote areas of this beautiful land.

In honor of this day I wanted to show a little clip from a video team that we sponsored to be in Burkina Faso last April. My friend, Pete Brokopp gives you just a short taste of what we are trying to accomplish.

If you would like to donate to help bring clean water to people in need in a small amount, or sponsor a whole well visit our store at http://engageburkina.com/store

Physical Water, Spiritual Life from Engage Burkina on Vimeo.

We Don’t Have Water

March 16, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso, Global Outreach with 0 Comments

When it comes to finding a place to give during this Lent Season, you’ve got to know I’m going to give you a couple of ideas from Burkina Faso. The people in this West African country are truly the poorest of the poor. I was there a little over a month ago, and spent some time with some Pastor friends that oversee the wells that we have dug there. At one point in our conversation one of the Pastors got a bit choked up about the needs in his own village. This man has been overseeing the digging of more than 40 wells for us, and then got out some words that I wasn’t expecting:

We don’t have water.

Have you ever been without water? If a water main breaks near you home and your neighborhood goes without for a few hours it is really inconvenient isn’t it. You can’t wash your hands, wash clothes or dishes, take a bath, make coffee, mix up Kool-Aid for the kids, hose them off from playing outside, or flush the toilet. Ever gone a day, or two days? At this point, you are in a hotel aren’t you?  If you’ve ever had that happen for just a bit then you have had a glimpse of what the people in Burkina Faso deal with.

There are thousands of villages without water in this country. There are even neighborhoods in more significant towns and cities where it is not in adequate supply.

Whether you are participating in Lent or not, you can engage in giving to this need, and you don’t have to be able to afford a whole well. We have set up a store on a website called, Engage Burkina. There you can give in any amount, or sponsor a whole well. Your small group, office, Boy Scout troop, baseball team, or church can pick an amount and raise it over time so that less and less will be heard saying, ‘We don’t have water.’

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

 

Engage Burkina

February 15, 2011 in Burkina Faso with 0 Comments

Today, I want to put a website in front of you that I hope you will visit often, and consider how you might partner with us at http://www.engageburkina.com. This website will be a resource for churches, individual Christ-followers, and others who who want to be part of seeing God’s Kingdom come to Earth. I think it’s important you understand our reason for this. Below is how this came about. Please take a moment and read it. (Thanks to Phil Bowdle for bringing this website together, and Stephen Parris for the logo work. I highly recommend them!)

In 2007 a team from our church took our first vision trip to a small West African country called, Burkina Faso. I had always wanted to go to Africa, so for me, that trip was a dream come true. My expectations of what Africa would be like had been mostly set by watching movies. I had heard there was poverty and war and disease, but in truth I had never really paid attention. You certainly didn’t see any of that when you watched The Lion King.

On that first vision trip I learned that:

  • Burkina Faso has been listed as high as the 2nd poorest country in the world in the last five years.
  • One year in the last decade an estimated 1/2 million people died as a result of famine, and the swarm of locusts that followed.
  • One in 3.4 children die before the age of ten. AIDS and Malaria are contributing factors, but the two largest reasons are malnutrition and water born illnesses.
  • Less than a third of the population can read
  • Most importantly to me, a vast majority of this country has never heard of, or has no understanding of Jesus. A majority of the population is Muslim, and a majority of the rest are animist.

The last note is the most important. However, for me  as a follower of Jesus, it feels at best hypocritical to go into a country and just talk about Jesus without demonstrating the love and kindness and care that he demonstrated to people. The sound of a growling stomach makes the core message of Jesus more difficult to hear. One leader told us that ‘People cannot hear the gospel without water.” We want to play a part in meeting physical needs for these incredible people. Jesus came to serve and we come to serve as well.

The people and the land of Burkina Faso captured my heart, and now the hearts of many of my friends. Yes, we found harsh climate, unbelievable poverty, all in all a country with people full of need. I have also found beauty in the contentment, joy, community, land, and work ethic of the people there. This is a country with great leaders whose desire is to bring peace and wholeness to their own people spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Our hope is to come alongside these leaders and help them accomplish the goals and purposes that they set, building relationships along the way.

We will continue to add new pictures, videos, and stories that grab your attention until this country captures your heart as well. I have several new videos from a trip I just returned from.

Please visit http://www.engageburkina.com.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

Losing A 2 Year Old

February 8, 2011 in Africa, Burkina Faso, Global Outreach with 0 Comments

I just got back from a week in Burkina Faso in West Africa. God has opened up the door for West Ridge Church to engage there many other churches have been burdened for this country as well. More on that later this week.
Burkina is consistently accounted for in the top 5 poorest countries in the world. It has one of the highest illiteracy rates (if not the highest), and things like malaria, AIDS, deaths from malnutrition and water-born illnesses are part of every day, up close and personal, life.
There were a lot of good take aways on this trip. We have helped facilitate 55 wells in the last 2 years with the help of donors and church friends around the country. They take time in West Africa. Many are done, many are being used before they are done, the rest are being completely wrapped up this month and next. Then we will keep doing more.
Hundreds have put their faith in Jesus in villages full of people who had previously never heard ‘The name above all names’, and are worshipping in facilities that teams have helped build.
Muslim students and families are coming to faith in Christ at a school that we invest in. We have lots of plans and vision for expanding our goals in education. Lots of great things, but one moment I’ll never forget.
After an 8 hour meeting with African Pastors primarily discussing how to bring water to more people, one that I consider a good friend shared some heart breaking news. His name is Joseph. It is the Christian name he decided to take after becoming a Christ-follower. He is on the right in this picture. He shared with us that his 2 year old daughter had died of malaria in November. Her sickness began while he was away overseeing some of the wells that we are working on together. He recounted holding his daughter as she was dying. I wished he had told me at the beginning of the meeting. Every thought in my head stopped spinning, and were given a perspective that it is hard to put words to. I’ll never forget that moment of looking into the eyes of this friend who has lost his child. In two years we have brought water to around 40,000 people (conservatively) in this country, and there is still more to do than I’ll ever understand.

I have no illusions that the things that we are working on are going to totally solve the issues in this very poor country. However, the things that we are working on are impacting lives, and for some of them time is running out.
This is a country that needs our engagement. Those of us blessed with access to knowledge and resources back in the West need to ask God how we might use what He has put in our hands to bless a country that many would feel like is an insignificant, outsider in a Global community. The way I read the gospels says that those are the people we are supposed to go after with the kindness and love of God.

I want to challenge my friends at West Ridge to get involved. Come with us to see this country, and see how you might be used. We have some trips published here. If you are a leader at another church anywhere in the world, and want to find out more, you can use the contact form on this page, and we’ll start talking about it.

In the next few days and weeks, I will be rolling out some ways people everywhere can get involved without being there. I’m excited to see how things come together. Stay tuned.

Everyone Belongs,

Paul

My Water Buddies

January 13, 2011 in Burkina Faso, Global Outreach, Partnership, West Ridge Church with 0 Comments

I just finished combing over a 14 page report from the Bush Pastor who is responsible for the oversight of the wells that were dug in Burkina Faso in 2010. Several churches and individuals have given towards providing water in this country since 2008. We have had the privilege of partnering with people who have been ministering in this country for a long time, and are just hoping to add support and influence to what is already happening there.

I’ll be traveling to Burkina in the next few weeks to make our plans for 2011. The Pastor who wrote the report is named Joseph (on the left side of the picture). We work with him and his brother Michel (on the right). I have worked with other indigenous leaders and seen reports from indigenous leaders in other countries, but nothing with this level of detail. Every well from every village is detailed with things I would never have thought of.

Joseph also provided some commentary as to what the benefits are in a village when a well is provided.

I decided not to attempt to make this a long flowing blog post, but just left things in his words describing the benefits of a well (translated from French):

  • Conversations that lead people to Christ
  • Reconciled homes
  • Stopped women from having to travel so far
  • (I’ve summarized this one) Many women have had to go for water at night causing husbands to accuse them of adultery and to abuse them
  • Prevented the death of children.
  • Prevented many more children from becoming orphans
  • Prevented a great deal of sickness

This is how he signs off his report. Keep in mind he lives in a mud brick hut:
“A family rejected, completely abandoned, despised, chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ, the victory belongs to the Eternal God for those elected.”

In the weeks to come I plan on challenging others to help bring water to the people of this country from this site, and another we’ve been working on. I’ll tell you why water is so strategic, and how it is spreading the gospel of Jesus to people who have never heard it. Whether or not you believe in Jesus personally, you can probably agree that everyone deserves access to water.

Water Is Life,

Paul

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