Back in Ouaga!

Friends & Family,

After 3 weeks in Burkina Faso we are almost done! We arrived back in Ouaga safely after only 3 ½ hours of travel. This was about half of the time we anticipated for our drive so that was a pleasant surprise. Dave arrived safely as well from Mahadaga with a local Burkinabe (Daniel) who accompanied him for the 9 hours of travel. Dave said it was a great experience!
Our week in Nindangou was a ton of fun and very productive. Not only did the pastors and their wives learn adding, subtracting, multiplication, and division but they also learned to record the tithes their churches received and the expenses they had to pay out. The pastors also came to us during the afternoon on Friday and thanked us again and told us that they really appreciated what we had taught and that it cleared up a lot of issues in the church as far as using the tithe money was concerned. They asked us if they built a house for us if we would stay. Bill Stragger told them our parents might miss us a bit so probably not.
Many of the members on our team also enjoyed playing soccer, driving a motorcycle, and riding a donkey. Some also participated in “choir practice” which involved singing, lots of clapping, and a little bit of dancing. The Burkinabe women enjoyed our efforts as we tried to keep up with them.
Everyone enjoyed taking a nice long warm shower once arriving back in Ouaga – for many the first warm one in 2 ½ weeks. We also appreciate that we no longer need a big bucket of water to flush the toilet, wash dishes, and take a shower.
This morning there were many different options for church – an international church, a catholic mass, and a SIM church so everyone headed in different directions. This afternoon we will be having our last lecture and we will also be writing some reports about our projects here.
Hope everyone is staying warm at home! We will be seeing you soon.

-Rebekah