Oh Glory!

Today, Pastor Iousef, the pastor of the national church in Sector 30 gave the morning devotional at Tabitha House.  It was a very powerful devotional.  At the end he asked if there were any women that wanted to accept Jesus into their hearts.  Five women came to the front of the room – some with joyful faces, and some with determined faces because they know the resistance they will face from husbands and families.  It was an incredible moment!  Today, five women that might not have heard the Good News if Tabitha House didn’t exist are now a child in God’s family.   As I sat and watched, I kept thinking about us being in this tiny spot in the world called Burkina Faso that most people don’t even know about, but God does. He is with us and He is smiling! 

Rocking Horses

It’s hard to imagine a child in the U.S. that doesn’t have a toy and doesn’t know how to play.  In Burkina Faso it is rare for a child to have a toy, and if you hand them one, they don’t know what to do with it. 

When we opened the play area for the children of the women who attend Tabitha House, we had several small soccer balls, a plastic toy train, some wooden shakers, a couple of wooden puzzles, some Play Dough and two crudely made banjos. The soccer balls were of the most interest until these arrived:

Through the generosity of donors, and the incredible craftsmanship of John Arnold and his apprentice, Joanna Gregg, two of these rocking horses were presented at Tabitha House several weeks ago.  The pictures do not do them justice in terms of their quality.  When John delivered the rocking horses, all of the women came out to see them.  Trying to decide who was most excited – the moms or the children – was hard to tell.  The moms couldn’t wait to put their children on the rocking horse and give it a try.  Most of them, adults and children, had never seen anything like this, and they love it!   There is never a moment when the rocking horses are out that there isn’t a child on it.  Many times, we have to go out to referee turns.  Not only are the horses fun but they help to teach the idea of sharing.  Fortunately when I’m out there trying to direct the kids, there is a little girl that is probably 5 years old that is my self-appointed helper.  She is so sweet, and very motherly.  She’ll  watch me for a minute to see what I’m trying to do and the next thing I know she’s got the little ones lined up and waiting their turn for the rocking horses.   When the day ends, the children bring them inside to make sure they are protected for the next time.  No one asked them to do that – they just realize how special they are.  You know those times when words can’t express the feeling?  – This is one of them.  There aren’t words to thank John, JoAnna and the others that helped for making these for the children.  

When I drive into the area where Tabitha House is located, there is usually a bunch of children waiting, yelling “white woman!”  They all want to shut the door for me, carry anything I’ve brought, and do the secret “Tabitha House” handshake.  It’s a simple high-five, low five, fist pound and hand explosion and then a big hug.  I don’t know how many times in a day I do that with them, over and over!  It amazes me that such a simple thing gives them so much happiness.  What I’ve also realized is that they like to make designs in the dust on my car.  There are little hand prints and drawings all over it when I leave.  If you are a clean-freak that doesn’t allow your children to touch the windows of your car – this is not the place for you!  

One of the women has three month old twins.  Lately, she hands me one of them to take care of.  The women know I love to hold the babies and be grandma-Dee Dee.  It makes me very happy that they finally feel comfortable enough to do that and realize that I am there to be one of them.

If you have a moment, we have several prayer requests: We have a woman whose husband just died of Aids, and she is HIV positive.  She was provided the money for initial testing on Monday and then we’ll find out what treatment is prescribed and go from there.  She didn’t have food, so that was also provided; In Burkina Faso, parents have to pay for their children to go to school.  We have about ten children that are not in school due to lack of funds; When we have prayer time for the women that are sick or have sickness in their family, it is usually half of the group that we are praying for.  During this time of the year, many of the children have bad colds, coughs and respiratory problems; And finally, we are in the process of researching micro-loans for sewing machines.  Betty Arnold gave us a fantastic idea – bring in a tailor to teach two or three women on Tuesdays and Thursdays when Tabitha House is closed.  When the women are properly trained, advance them a micro-loan of a new sewing machine.  As they begin to sell the items they sew, they repay the loan which in turn finances the next woman to have a sewing machine.  As you can see, there are many things to pray for.  Thank you for thinking of us.

 

Beauty and Dignity

It’s impossible to imagine the bleakness of Sector 30 – the area where Tabitha Center is located.  The houses are made of the same sand and dirt as the ground and they fade into one drab color.  The poverty is overwhelming, so there is nothing apart from the basic items that help them survive from day to day to add color.  In our devotion today we were talking about I Peter 3, and the importance of inward beauty.  We spent most of the morning talking about what that meant while we made paper flowers as a reminder of that inward beauty.  It took the women almost 3 hours to make their flower.  These women use their hands for pounding grain, washing clothes, building fires, and making food.  Most do not know how to use scissors, write their name, or draw.  The flowers were made of eight squares of red and pink paper that we folded into petals.  It was not easy for them, but they had a blast working at it!   Here’s the finished product:

Today was an affirmation in the importance of dignity.  I started bringing bread with me because I know that not every woman and child had something to eat that morning.  In a situation like Tabitha House where the women are so poor, they are usually treated as children who must wait until someone of authority comes and puts something in their hands.  I feel that is demeaning– they are grown women and should be treated as such no matter their status in life.  Monday was the first time I brought in bread.  I broke it into pieces and invited them to come up anytime during the morning when they were ready for some.  At first no one moved, just sat with puzzled faces.  Finally one woman went to the table to get her piece.  After that all the women rushed to the bread.  This reaction is why many feel they have to hand items out, but if you’ve always been treated as children it’s hard not to react like that.  Today was the second day.  Instead of all rushing up at once, they took their time and picked up a piece whenever they were ready for it.  My hope is to always treat them with dignity and love, and today proved that they will rise to that when given the opportunity.

As I was driving out of Tabitha House, one of the women stopped me on the road and handed me a letter to read.  Since she does not know how to read or write, she had a friend write it for her.  She regularly attends Tabitha House and is a very quiet and withdrawn woman, always siting in the back away from the other women.   When she gave birth to her baby about three months ago she had complications and had to have surgery, which forced her to quit her job.  Her husband has been in Fada for about 6 months now (probably went there to find work) and has not sent her any money.  Her neighbor has been giving her what little she can to eat.  The letter was a request for help.  As I watched her I could tell that asking for money was embarrassing and something she didn’t want to do. I gave her a hug and a kiss in hopes that she wouldn’t feel bad and then gave her the money I had left in my wallet – 8,000 cfa which equates to about $4.00 but a small fortune for her, and asked if we could give her a ride home.  She wanted to go to the main road where there are stands of food and merchandise so that she could buy food.  That is where we dropped her off.  Looking back at her I kept thinking:  Can you imagine being left alone in such a destitute place with no money to buy food?  This is a very hard country.

Burkina Faso is alive with soccer!  They made it to the semi-finals and will play Ghana this evening.  Our neighbors set up a TV in the road so that friends can come together and watch the game.  The TV is small, so they all have to scrunch in to see the screen.  They started partying around 10 a.m. and who knows when it will end tonight!  When Burkina Faso scores, you can hear the roar of cheering all over the city.  It’s nice to have something to cheer about!