Finally in Sindou!

Greetings from Burkina Faso!

I finally arrived in Sindou, the town that I will be living in, on Thursday afternoon. The nine hour drive there gave me a chance to see some of the amazing African landscape and many people. During our travels we met an older woman named Ruth who has been a missionary for most of her life. She set up and has been operating an orphanage for several years and is now thinking about starting a medical clinic.

The two missionaries I am with are named Ken and Anita Hoch. There is a missionary family called the Gordons that a little over an hour away that I will be spending a few days a week with out on their farm.

On my first day in Sindou, Ken took me around the town to meet some of the people they knew well. The name that the local people will know me as is Yakuba, the Jula form of Jacob, because it is easier for them to say and remember. As I am learning the language, I will have several tasks to complete each day as I walk through the town, so meeting these people gives me a good language route to practice my Jula. One of the people I met was a young muslim man named YaYa who will come to the house most mornings and tutor me in speaking Jula.

The people of Sindou live in extreme poverty but are extremely welcoming and generous.

Already we have had lost bags, power outages, water cut, and car trouble but it has been and blast and wonderful adventure!

I ask you to pray for Ruth and the two interns with her, Ashley and Emily, as they continue the awesome work that God has called them to.
I also ask you to pray for YaYa as he teaches me Jula and will likely become a very close friend.

God bless!