It was our second week in Africa. We traveled north to just a few miles short of the Sahara Desert to the small town of Kongoussi. Our visit in Burkina Faso had so far been very, very hot. But today we were possibly hotter than any other day.... and dusty. It was dirt road almost the whole way. Very fine dirt, that was billowing into a dust storm as we followed the over 20 year old Mercedes in front of us. It was being driven by a young traveling companion of ours named Jason. Our van was being driven by the other young man in our group, Ryan. The drive was supposed to be about two hours, but it took us almost three to finally reach our destination.

There were 10 of us in all who had been praying for over 6 months about this trip, eight ladies and two young men. We were joining our hosts in Ouagadougou who have been missionaries in this part of the world for almost 25 years. Today we were visiting a church where over 40 African ladies had gathered to hear from the "nasares" (More' for "white people".) Pastor Daniel and his wife, Elizabeth, who are native Burkinabae, had made the trip with us in the Mercedes. They had arranged our schedule which kept us very busy each day. We were quite the attraction. All of us are over 50 except the two young men and one gal who were under 30. They wanted to understand why we would travel such a long distance, at quite an expense and live in the same conditions they do on a daily basis. Two of us shared first for just a few minutes about how we had heard so much about their love for the Lord despite the harsh situations they encounter with weather, food, housing, and health. We shared about our home where we have plenty yet there are so many people on antidepressant medications. Most Americans are not happy like they are. Our senior pastor's wife, Vickie, also shared with the ladies, most of whom were new Christians, how to stay strong as they grow in the knowledge of the Lord. We were all dripping in sweat during the two hours we sat in their church. Their buildings are made of mud bricks and they do not have the luxury of air conditioning that we spoiled Americans are used to.

They gave us some bottled soda pop and wonderful bread and bid us farewell. They were so thankful for our visit. We hopped into our vehicles for the three hour trek home. This time I rode in the Mercedes with the van leading the way. We had the air conditioner running which we quickly learned was not good for the engine. We stalled several times. Then it happened, it stalled and would not start. The van in the lead could not see that we had stalled (due to the billowing dust) kept going. So, there we were, on the Kongoussi road, it looked like we were in the middle of nowhere, practically in the Sahara Desert. Cell phones do not work in this area. I was mentally counting the bottles of water, wondering how long they would last between the four of us. The other three, much more spiritual then me, started to pray. Miraculously the van noticed we were no longer following them and came back. Pastor Daniel insisted we leave him and Jason with his car and we would drive ahead and call for help. We waved goodbye and the other eleven of us piled into the eight passenger van and drove on. 45 minutes later we were on the side of the road with a flat tire! Again, I count the bottled water and mentally calculate how long it would last amongst the 11 of us. Of course, the others all prayed. And as usual in this part of the world, local people materialize seemingly out of nowhere and begin to help us. With the Lord's help Daniel managed to get his car started and happened upon us on the side of the Kongoussi road. Five hours later we arrived back in Ouagadougou and were able to share with our host Jerry Swanson how the Lord had protected us and brought us safely back to our headquarters.

This was just one day out of the almost 20 days we spent in Africa. We were truly blessed while there by the beautiful people we met and the pastors that hosted us at their churches. We had planned to be a blessing to them, but in retrospect, they were the true blessing!