When our church in San Antonio heard about the struggles we were having with this transition, they did what churches have done for two thousand years.....they sent a brother to encourage us. Our modern day Barnabas came bearing gifts of encouragement from the church and our family in his suitcase, gifts of worship as he lifted the name of Jesus throughout our house, and the gift of his presence to see what we see and do what we do. With only three days together, we prayed the LORD would stretch the time, and He did! On the way to the airport last night, we marveled at all that had passed in such a short time.
From the airport on Monday night, we went straight to Emily's piano recital.
What? A piano recital, you say? She's only had four lessons, but her sweet teacher (also a missionary) put her name on the program, and it was so fun! We are incredibly thankful for new opportunities that have just opened up to us like this by moving into a big city.
Much of the visit was spent with our young Burkinabé friends.
On Tuesday the guys ran many errands capped off with a time of prayer at the former Cappuccino restaurant. Darkness does not have the final word!
We ate traditional Burkinabé food at our favorite African restaurant for lunch.
Watching the chickens out the restaurant's back window kept the baby entertained.
The great turkey hunt of 2016....Surprisingly, the guys were able to find turkeys in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday. However, for a scrawny, live bird, the price was $100. We decided to have chicken for Thanksgiving! Troy took this picture at the turkey location, where they apparently also butcher chickens, and I think it captures daily African life beautifully.
Naturally, we had to show Troy the ice cream shop that wasn't here when he visited in 2014. Even the baby enjoys a bit of Italian gelato....
On Wednesday we made a trip north and Troy was able see that mission site in person.
On Thursday, we packed up Christmas gifts for Troy to take back for our family and shared a Thanksgiving chicken dinner with two other missionary families and a handful of African friends. From there, it was sadly off to the airport.
Pictures seem disappointingly two dimensional when trying to share what the LORD was doing in the unseen realms. Philip said it best, "As overwhelmed as we were with troubles and challenges, we are now overwhelmed just as much with joy and encouragement."
Happy Friday!
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