Back from Karengasso-Vige

Our entire team returned from the village yesterday. Everyone is safe and healthy! We had some changes that occured and we had to consistantly be fluid with each day. We had two missionaries that joined us for the week in the village of Karengasso-Vige. Jay Shafto and Bart Gibbs. They were great for translation in evangelism groups. We also had many of the college students from the churches in Bobo that joined with us. Our team grew by about 14 people including them! The ladies stayed in the church building that was in the same compound as the pastors house.
The guys stayed in a house that was a short treck through the village. Our house was equiped with an indoor shower area (keep in mind there was no electricity and no running water) and an outdoor squatty potty. We would draw water from a well near the church and then bring it over to the house to take bucket baths by flashlights. We had a few rooms that were off the main hall. One was usable but the other smelled strongly of urine. Most of us set up in the main hall and shared mosquito nets. Our beds were made simply of thin foam matresses on top of a straw mat. The mosquito nets hung low enough to "discourage" bugs from entering. Looking up at the recently abandoned wasp nests, random cockroaches, ants, crickets, and multiple other bugs, that was an encouraging sleep aid. From the look of the decrepit ceiling and walls this brick building had to be several years old. Regardless of the conditions we all slept rather well the entire week!
Pastor Daoda had been working in this village for about 5 years. He seemed a little discouraged and after spending a week there we all had an understanding of why. The people living in Karengasso-Vige are under Satan's tight grip. Not only are many of them staunch muslims, but they are also committed to various types of animism. Voodoo "protection" rings were worn by practically everyone. What is interesting is that the voodoo side of things is much more hidden here than in Benin.Monday, our first day of evangelism, we saw the extreme sides of the spiritual battle in this small village. The first stop we had 4 people accept Christ! The next 3 we ran into opposition. The common answer to our presentation of the Gospel was, "I can't leave my lifelong Muslim faith to follow Christ, maybe my kids can, but not me." Many others wanted to accept Christ but were too afraid of the pursecution and social impact that it would have. The older generation is quite litterally enslaved to their Muslim roots.
The spiritual battle was quite evident as well. Almost like clockwork, anytime we would move to a time of decision with any group of people, there would be some major disturbance. Either children fighting, or a person completely interupting us and changing the subject. But God was also at work! He brought many from darkness to light on this trip! Our plan right now is to stay in Bobo until Monday morning. We head to Ouagadougou and will be there until we fly out on Tuesday night. Our day in Belgium will start with a train ride to Brugge (One of the oldest towns in Belgium) and then Victoria and I will split off for our vacation. The trip is nearing the end, but our ministry is not done. Please continue to pray that God will use us in powerful ways. We still try to make opportunities for evangelism everywhere we go. The team is doing great! Thank you so much for your prayers and see you in a week!