The Baptist youth of Ouagadougou once again rallied their force to bring relief to those who were worst hit by the flood on Sept 1. After our first construction effort several sites still needed to be completed. We did not expect the same level of participation as our first outing, but were overwhelmed with both the number of participants (60+) and their hard work. With only two volunteer masons, the teams split up by task, with the masons finishing up two old sites while three teams dug foundations at three new sites. A sixth team went to the home of a young widow to make mud bricks. When we ran into a snag and had to repair one foundation, a third mason was hired from the neighborhood and within a few hours the foundations were dug and the work progressing. As one site was completed, that team joined forces with another team to accelerate the work on their site. By 4:30 three old foundations were completed, 1 foundation repaired, and 3 new foundations dug from scratch. In addition, the brickmakers made over 1100 bricks for the widow and 650 for Autone, who was both a mason and one of those being helped.
It is always encouraging to see believers helping and serving others. Still, it was especially touching to arrive where they were making bricks to see 8-10 children from the church joining in. Their feet and hands were caked with mud, but the smiles on their faces were priceless. Working side by side with their parents and deacons and older brothers and sisters in the Lord, they gave their strength and joy to their neighbors for the glory of God!
Thank you for your prayers and support of this effort, funded through personal gifts, the Lottie Moon offering, and Disaster Relief Funds. In John 13:1 we read, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he (Jesus) now showed them the full extent of his love.” Jesus then proceeds to wash the disciples’ feet. It is through this act of service that Jesus was able to show them the full extent of his love. Likewise, through these days of service to a suffering community, we have been able to show a different level of love to our neighbors; one that is more complete. It is a level of love that cannot be expressed or experienced in any other way but through sacrificially serving others, and it was a privilege to both express it and experience it together alongside so many.
