“Paradise”

          Wow are we ever glad to be back in the US and we’re more overwhelmed than ever at what we’re experiencing. Though we’ve dreamed of being back home for some time, this great country is so blessed that actually being back in it is always more than we expect. That being the case, our reporting on our last month in Burkina has kind of been squeezed out by real Christmas shopping for the first time in years (Tammy and I even stood in line in the freezing cold at 4:00am on Black Friday to get a special deal at a Target store), eating at clean and fancy restaurants like Taco Bell and McDonald’s, spending time with family, and watching an actual live football game here and there. Paradise!
          Tammy and I don’t have our own cell phone yet, but did finally find a way to contact our churches in Burkina this morning and were assured that things are going well at both Tinsouka and Babo.
          Our last month in Burkina was a very eventful one. Pastor Matt Keller, our former sending pastor and the current BBFI Field Representative to Burkina Faso, came to visit the field during our final week (November 10th-18th). During that week, he visited the works of each BBFI missionary and helped us to put the finishing touches on our two currents works.
          On the Thursday morning after Pastor Keller’s arrival we made our final journey to Babo where late that night, about 9:30pm, we ordained Salif as the pastor and Benoit as the Children’s pastor of Baptiste Wênnaam Sebre Wêndoogo de Babo (Bible Baptist Church of Babo). Because that week was right in the middle of harvest time we expected not more than a handful of people to attend the service, but the building was jamb packed and people stood outside along the walls of the building looking in the windows. Though the crowd, which included many curious visitors, was a little noisy, the service went well and the leadership of the church at Babo was officially established with the blessing of a Stateside representative in the person of Brother Keller.
           Satisfaction that the job was done was not all we brought back from Babo, however. When we arrived back in Ouagadougou on Friday evening Brother Keller got an opportunity to see Missionary Cooley with Typhoid fever live and in color. My temperature went from normal to 104 in less than an hour. Fearing that I might be forbidden to get on the plane to come home with Typhoid, we made a trip to the hospital to try to “nip it in the bud” and, by the grace of God, we were able to ordain Roger as the pastor of Baptiste Viim Paalga Wêndoogo (New Life Baptist Church) the following Sunday Typhoid and all.
           Praise the Lord, the churches at Tinsouka and Babo are “on their own”. Your prayers for them will now be more important than ever.
          Sorry to change gears so fast, but I don’t want to finish this report without having thanked you all for your generosity again this Christmas. As I’ve already mentioned, Tammy and I are really Christmas shopping for the first time in years. The experience of standing in line with maybe 1,000 other people in front of Target at 4:00am was a new one for Tammy and me and, were we not American/Africans (I think?) suffering from a 100 degree temperature change, we would have enjoyed it immensely. No we didn’t get everything we had sacrificed our sleep for, but it was not a complete loss.
          Being here still seems a little unreal, almost too good to be true, but we’re going to do everything we can this time to soak it all up before getting back to work. Thank you again for the role you have played in getting the churches at Tinsouka and Babo to the place they are now at, and please don’t forget them now that they will no longer be the primary focus of our ministry.

Partners,
John & Tammy Cooley