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Running
on Fumes E-mail: raysford@fcol.com
Dear Michelle,
As a mother, you know what it means to want to protect your children! Well, my son, David, is a missionary in Africa. God looks out for him and miraculously intervenes so that I can only say, "Thank you, Jesus". I am attaching a letter David sent me previously about a trip into the bush of Africa. What a Saviour!! I think you will agree that he and the other missionaries were blessed by God and when my children are blessed, I am truly blessed. Hope you have a wonderful Easter with your children.
Frances * * *
We (Justin, Kevin, Cory and myself) left out of Ouaga Sunday afternoon, just after church. We drove about 2 hours and arrived in a small village called Louda. After a nice visit with the village chief (who claims to be 80 years old) and a half dozen other men, we walked around some and took some video of their dyeing pits (now unused) as well as some general shots of the village. We took our leave, drove another hour or so and set up camp.
Getting up the next morning, we had breakfast and a short devotion. We committed the day to God and set out. Because of the rain and the condition of the roads, we left the truck on the side of the road and rode off on the motorcycles, not knowing if the truck and motorcycle trailer would be there later or not. We rode for about an hour until we arrived in Koatla and began our visit with the folks there. We took some good video with men and boys hoeing the fields, as well as some video footage of almost all of the men and boys gathered up on the hill where their dyeing pits are located.
We talked with them about the need for a house for a missionary to live there among them. The men of the village chose three possible locations for a new house. After taking a walk around the whole village and looking at the three locations, we finally decided on a perfect spot right "smack-dab" in the middle of the village of Koatla. There are several dozens houses already there situated on what would be the edge of a circle about 300 yards in diameter and the new house will be located "exactly" in the center of the circle. We praise God that the Marense people of Koatla were excited about the new missionary (Jasmine). They were also willing to build the house for her. Pray for Jasmine as she makes preparations to come; we expect her to arrive around the end of October.
We left Koatla and returned back to find the truck still there. In fact, there were about 6 young boys out tending the flocks of sheep and cows who had come to drink from the small "pond" next to where we had set the tents up at. We had lunch and put the motorcycles on the trailer for the next leg of the trip.
20 miles down the road, we came to the village of Tougouri, where Paul will be living. We set up camp at his house and after taking the motorcycles back off the trailer, we headed out for the village of Naadi some 5 miles away. After traversing some rather treacherous terrain, we finally arrived in Naadi to find the folks there happy to see us. In fact, the ladies dressed up in their finest clothes for Kevin to shoot the video. We all had the opportunity to share with the people a few short words of thanks and testimony and then we returned back to Tougouri.
Just as we were pulling up to the house, after riding on the motorcycles basically all day, one of them decided to breakdown. The chain popped off the rear sprocket. Every tool we had was still in the truck, not with us. But the breakdown was only 20 feet from where the truck was parked. If that would have happened out in the woods, that would have been a problem, but by the grace of God, it wasn't a problem at all.
After supper and clean-up, we laid down for bed. About an hour later, (because of circumstances, we were sleeping in the tents/outside) the sky got really dark and we started to see some lightning in the distance. Cory and I figured that in less than 2 hours we would be soaking wet from the rain. We got up and arranged stuff so it wouldn't get quite as wet and crawled back in bed waiting for the inevitable. I was thinking to myself, "if it rains, tomorrow will be a really difficult day riding in the deep mud and possibly flooded roads" But God knew that already and the rain was diverted to some other area... it did NOT rain!
The next morning, we got up, had another devotion honoring God and took off. We drove about 30 miles, again parking the truck and trailer and taking off on the motorcycles. We visited the villages of Bagade and Nintenga and began the drive out of the woods about mid-day for the main road. About half-way there, my motorcycle "ran out" of gas and I had to switch to the reserve tank, which has a very, very little amount of fuel in it. We stopped, had lunch and then continued on. The village of Watino was on the way to the big road, so we stopped there to say hello.
As we were leaving that village, my bike totally died... no fuel left. Remembering the stories of how God is capable of multiplying things, I tilted the bike to the side, letting all of the fuel drain into the carburetor and tore off for the road. After a short while, I'm thinking, "surely I'm on fumes by now" when what should we come across but a little tiny stand in the middle of the woods with a young man selling gasoline in small 1/2 gallon wine bottles. No kidding. God at work again. We scraped up enough money to pay him for the gas, and did I mention that he had a small butane gas powered refrigerator which had "cool" cokes for sale?
We visited one more village, Sankala, and returned to Ouaga. Not wanting to drive in the dark, we were a bit concerned about the little daylight left. Would you believe we were just pulling into the outskirts of Ouagadougou as the sun fell!
All in all, the four of us saw the Almighty God work in an amazing way. We are excited about the opportunities ahead of us this summer as we revisit these villages. Because we have seen God-sized things happening, our continued prayer is that we would be faithful in following Him where He leads. Thank you all for your prayers! We are assured of your faithful support.
David
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