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Read the latest news about missions at New City in the June newsletter.

His Kingdom Come Newsletter June 06.pdf

Pastor Macklann Basse visited Burkina Faso in January of 2006. There is a team of folks who are involved in developing and deepening partnerships in Burkina Faso. Click on the link to see portions of his trip journal and photographs: macklanns journal.pdf

From Kate Horrigan’s Aug. 2005 Burkina Faso Letter–

“Burkina Faso is the third-poorest country in the world. It is listed  as the country most unfriendly to mothers and children in the world.  However, it is pretty stable politically, Christianity is accepted, and the people are overwhelmingly gracious and welcoming.

Burkina Faso is a French-speaking country for all official business and in its education system. Only 20 per cent of the population attends school and is literate. Most people speak tribal languages.  The one spoken in Yako is called More (pronounced “moray”). Most  people live in mud brick or concrete block courtyards with small mud  brick huts roofed with thatch. They cook an extremely limited and nutritionally poor diet over open fires. Most men have three wives and many children. Most courtyards have no sanitary facilities.

Eighty per cent of the population is Muslim/animist. The 15-20 per cent who are Christian are mostly Catholic. The Sheltering Wings Orphanage, however, is closely working with an indigenous Protestant church there. The pastor, Etienne Salou, is Ruth Cox’s most versatile contact, a close friend, and is deeply involved in the work of the  mission there. Most of the orphanage staff are members of the church.

The country is the size of Colorado, located in West Africa just above the Cote D’Ivoire. It has a population of 13 million. Twenty per cent of children die before they are five. AIDS is rampant, of course, and is wiping out large numbers of the adult population.  There is effectively no medical care in the outlying areas, including Yako. A local hospital is staffed with one doctor and nurses (many of whom have 2 years of high school nursing training) — to serve a region of 20,000 people.”

Les Ailes de Refuge — Sheltering Wings

The story of the Yako orphanage in Burkina Faso

In a small part of the African savannah is a country the size of Colorado that is home to 13 million people.

It is a land where rain comes for only three months a year. Green things spring up, water runs freely, and it is beautiful. The men and boys work feverishly to grow the corn, millet, and the beans we call black-eyed peas, that must feed their families for the next year. They also grow some tomatoes, squash, peanuts, okra and cabbage.

All work is done by hand. In this Muslim/Animist culture, the people believe that the land will be cursed if animals or machines are used to grow food. The women collect leaves from certain plants and dry them to be used in sauces. They also collect seeds and other plant parts that are used as seasoning in food the rest of the year.

The night is full of mosquitoes, and malaria stalks the land. Some days and nights are cool, down to 75 degrees at night, and only 85 or 90 degrees in the daytime. People bring out their jackets and hats, and bundle their babies well. (more…)