We leave for Burkina Faso, West Africa in 126 Days. That is 126 days slammed full of traveling and preparation until we board the plane that Friday night at 8:15 PM. We will be leaving for two years! In those two years we will attend language school full time. It is very important to us to learn the language. Learning the language gives us a direct communication to the people and shows them that we truly care. I am looking forward to speaking another language!
Some of you may wonder what the last four months look like for a missionary family preparing to leave for Africa! Keep in mind that every country is so different! What we do for Burkina Faso might sound crazy to someone headed to South Africa or Kenya! Here is a little sneak peak into what we are doing to prepare ourselves to start a new life in Burkina Faso.
Keeping Focused
Psalm 1:2-3 says, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”
Personally, it sounds so refreshing to be a tree planted by rivers of water. I imagine a slight breeze blowing through a lush meadow filled with wildflowers. Surrounding the perimeter of the meadow is a lazy brook that trickles along. Overshadowing the brook and the meadow is a beautiful Weeping Willow hanging her branches down to the meadow floor. Sounds like serenity right?
Now I want you to come with me to our current situation. We are four month away from moving halfway around the planet! We have minimal number of days to pack. There are many things to take care of on a never ending to-do list! We are living from place to place as we visit the last of our churches. There is no calm breeze, sweet meadow, or beautiful wildflowers here. Sometimes it can feel more like a train with no breaks heading down a steep cliff! But yet there is still an unexplainable joy, excitement, and peace that we have as we prepare for the days ahead.
How do we stay we so excited with so much happening around us? We have to KEEP FOCUSED. It is so crucially important that we stay in God’s word day and night! The only place of peace that is available in the whirlwind of packing is in God’s word. He gives us what we need to enjoy every moment! We love traveling, we love checking things off the to-do list, and we love getting closer to Burkina Faso! God has taught me through my husband that there can be joy in everything!
The number one, most practical way we can prepare ourselves for life on the mission field is to keep close to God at all times. This applies to any missionary field!
Organization
I thrive off of seeing everything on paper! I learn the best when something is written out for me. In order to keep all that we have organized, we keep a detailed list. We also keep a list of goals to accomplish along the way! Each goal has a specific timeframe it must be accomplished by. A few of our goals are:
- Packing organized bags and tubs with detailed labels (Nov-Jan)
- Moving our house into a storage unit (Nov)
- Finalizing details with the Container shipment (Dec)
- Packing the Container (Jan)
Remember when I said not every country is the same? There are many African countries that have all you need. Burkina Faso does not have everything we need and what it does have can be expensive! Shipping a Container will save us money and headaches! There are several missionaries that have gone to Burkina Faso before us and have lived there for many years. They are extremely helpful and give us all the advice we need to make the move! Isn’t God so good?
HELP!
We travel so much I wonder how we will accomplish everything! God has shown me something very sweet over these past few weeks. He has given us all the help we need to get everything done on time! We have missionaries on the field answering every small question we have. We have family members and church members here ready to help in any way they can! God created the body of believers for a reason. He has given us a support system that will aid in our arrival to the mission field. It is God’s plan that believers would be there for one another. I can say with absolute certainty that God’s plan works!
Challenge
I challenge you to spend as much time as possible in God’s word, planted by his river of water. Grow in Him every day! It is so crucial that every believer makes Christ and His Word their MAIN focus! I also encourage you to help a believer this week. Find someone you know needs encouragement or help. Let God use you to be there for them! Building up the body of Christ is something we can do all the time. This will make us stronger and more affective as we get the Gospel around the world!
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