It was Sunday. Our first day there. The sun came up as bright as possible and stayed that way all week – except for at night when hundreds of stars took its place.
A wall surrounds the missionaries’ house and the team center at the LAC (Lycee Alliance Christienne) where we stayed. The LAC is a school in Ouagadougou that has partnered with Engage Burkina and Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Walking outside of the wall and on our way to church I got my first glimpse of up-close life in Burkina.
There was no grass but some trees. Clothes hanging on the side of walls enclosing people’s homes – homes made of straw and clay and stone. And more orangish colored dirt covering the ground. Some people were laying on the ground under the trees. Others were walking to church, too.
The school cafeteria wasn’t very far away from where we slept. For now this is where the LAC has church. A church building is something that the missionaries and pastors are currently in prayer for God to provide.
I immediately noticed the women. And their clothes. They were beautiful. Colorful fabrics wrapped about their waist and elaborate head dressings covered their hair.
We couldn’t understand what the pastor spoke about that day. It was all in French and the distinct language of the tribe there. But through the music and the faces the message was clear.
This day a special group of women attended the service. A group of women from the Dorcas House, a Christian community for women who have been shunned by society for various reasons. They sang for us, and it was a sound I could have listened to for hours. A different sound.
Later I learned that these women walked a few miles to church. In the sun. In the heat. With temperatures in the 90’s. There and back. All to come and worship our Lord.
I couldn’t help but wonder how much I would endure to attend church. And then again, now all I have to do it open up my computer to hear the Word preached.
My first sense of guilt came over me.
How truly faithful am I seek God’s call to be in fellowship with other Believers, to hear his Word preached, and to praise him? Is my convenience more valuable to me than my God? How far would I walk to attend church?
The questions began that first day.
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