News & Stories

The following is compiled from adapted excerpts of reports written by Kevin Oberg and Andrew Schaeffer, Alliance field workers who recently accompanied a short-term outreach team to Kenedougou, Burkina Faso’s westernmost province.

A youth group from the Moses Lake (Washington) C&MA Church has adopted the village of Samorogouan. For several years they’ve invested in this village through prayer, giving, and sending two short-term teams to minister.

During the group’s recent trip to Burkina, one of the activities on their itinerary was to visit the chief of the village of Djiguan, which is next to Samorogouan.  We—Kevin, Toby Hull (another Alliance worker), Andrew and his sons, and Abigail, an intern—accompanied them.

Upon arriving in Djiguan we were treated to a royal welcome—benches and chairs had been set out for all 28 people! (We learned that the chief had encouraged all villagers who weren’t in their fields to attend the meeting.) After the customary greetings began, the Moses Lake youth presented the chief with gifts—a shirt, a soccer ball, and a flashlight.

“We Were Living in the Dark”

We were absolutely amazed at his response. He thanked the team and then proceeded to tell us that the flashlight was a very appropriate gift.

“It’s as if we were living in a dark hut without any windows when, suddenly, someone opened the door and let the light shine in,” the chief explained.  He was referring to several months earlier when an evangelistic team of Alliance workers and pastors had spent a couple of nights in Djiguan. They had shown the Jesus film and announced the good news about His substitutionary death on the cross for our sins.

“Settle Here and Teach Us”

“This light helps us to see,” the chief continued. “We want it to remain in our village; so we offer you land in our village so you can settle here and teach us.”

After the meeting, we followed the village elders to a large property next to the main road and across the street from a little market—an ideal spot for a church and pastor’s house. As we began touring the land together, one of the Moses Lake team members, Nate, suddenly bent over with sharp abdominal pains.

Concerned that he might be suffering an attack of appendicitis, Andrew agreed to take Nate back to Ouagadougou (the country’s capital) for a medical consult to rule it out. We praise God that the illness wasn’t serious!

So what caused this excruciating pain? We can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t the enemy doing everything in his power to resist the entry of the Light of the World into Djiguan. Much collaborative work is taking place to push back the darkness in Djiguan and throughout the Kenedougou province. But the enemy yields his ground so reluctantly.

More Challenges

Many on the Moses Lake team shared that they were sensing God’s leading into ministry. Yet there were many setbacks on the trip—lost luggage at the beginning, the scary moment when Nate became ill, and then a delayed flight that caused the team to miss their flights in Paris and London and arrive home about 48 hours after they were supposed to.

Was this more work of the enemy, trying to discourage them? Our prayer is that through these trials, each team member has become stronger in his or her faith and drawn closer to God.

As we advance into the enemy’s camp, we are wielding the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Yet we are also desperate for your prayers for protection as we preach the good news and claim imprisoned souls for Christ’s Kingdom.

What You Can Do

Pray for safe travel, good health, and fruitful ministries for the many short-term teams visiting Burkina Faso this summer and other sites worldwide.

Give to Alliance Great Commission Ministries online. In doing so, you partner with Alliance workers like Andrew and Kevin, who are bringing the light of Christ to those whose communities have dwelled in darkness for centuries.

Learn More

• Check out exciting, short-term missions opportunities through The Alliance.
• Read When Darkness Pushes Back in alife magazine.
• Read Keep the Candle burning in alife magazine.
• Read how many Burkinabe are being wooed to Christ through the witness of joy-filled believers.