Thank you!

In the spirit of being thankful...

Every so often I will post different entries like this to thank you for certain donations gifts to the ministry here :) I'll also include these in my email updates- sorry for the repetition!

I am SO grateful for the generosity of all of you...

Today, thank you to KMart in Manistee for their donations of Children's Tylenol and Ibuprofen, as well as cloth diapers for the babies!

Me with our nurse Bea and the new meds for the clinic

The babies and toddlers with their NEW diapers- bright white if only for a few hours :)

Thank you!

A servant for Him,
~Liz

I am thankful for…

~Running water
~Electricity- fans!
~Water filters
~Clean and healthy food
~Good access to medical care and the money to treat illnesses
~Mosquito nets
~Technology for communication
~The love and support of family and friends
~Prayer
~God who holds me up when I do not have the strength to stand

In the past few weeks I've realized how grateful I am for all of these things, as well as many little things. When it gets tough I try to thank God for all of the little things that I don't necessarily think about in normal daily life at home. How lucky I feel when I realize how much I have. Simply the fact that when I have a stomach problem, I can afford $1.50 worth of medicines that many people here cannot. Or that when I feel feverish or am just tired of the heat, I can turn on my fan and lay on a BED to cool down. And when I am able to talk to family and friends on Thanksgiving and while I'm in the city, I realize how wonderful this technology is (especially considering missionaries even 10 years ago could not do this). And when I'm tired and wish I could talk to my family and Dave and friends, I realize how precious my support system at home is.

But I also realize how awesome GOD is and how amazing that even when I don't have that same support system here in Burkina Faso, thousands of miles away from home, I still have God's love and support. How awesome that even when I am alone, I am never alone.

Happy Thanksgiving!

A servant for Him,
~Liz

Chicken dinner

So this morning (Friday) I was literally ready to learn how to kill a chicken- ok, no, a rooster. It wasn’t for survival needs because I was starving, but for the need of SILENCE.

This rooster friend of mine decided that with the Muslim call to prayer at 4:15/4:30 this morning, he would alert us of the fact that it was morning. Only, it WASN’T morning. And he decided that the ideal place to announce this would be under my window. Did I mention that he sounded very sickly and had a sort of two-tone call that rattles the bones?

I was ready to march downstairs to either learn the art of killing dinner, or having a little chat with this bird.

“Now, is it really that you are this confused about what time of day it is and your duties to wake us at SUN-UP, or is it that you just want to annoy the white visitors who stare at you funny as you walk down the street or when you interrupt their French lessons with your crowing in the middle of the day?”

Needless to say, the morning doves decided to join in right after the rooster’s 45 minute wake-up call, the Muslim “Sabbath” is on Fridays so the call to prayer seemed much louder and longer, and I got a very SHORT night of sleep thanks to my blind and sick rooster neighbor.

A servant for Him,
~Liz

Christmas Gifts!

Another quick detail-

Sheltering Wings sells a few different items here to raise money to help with the various costs of running the orphanage. Ruth has hired two young women to weave for the orphanage. They were in the child sponsorship program through the orphanage and did not have the opportunity to go to school- Ruth picked them specifically to give them a trade so they would not end up on the streets or in poverty. There is also another woman who comes in to weave for us and someone else who makes who makes soap.


So here at the orphanage we sell soap and little sacs to put it in (but the sacs are great for other uses as well), and placemats too. The soap is $1 and the sacs are $1 as well (so obviously for the two, $2). The placemats are $2 each as well. (Postage costs will need to be added to each order).



I attached a couple pictures- they make great Christmas gifts! If you’re interested in buying any or even selling them for the orphanage, I’m going to ask you email my parents at tomrichert.richert44@gmail.com – my mom will compile a list for me and send it all at once to save on postage. Please include specifics of what you are ordering- type of item, number, etc. We can’t really honor color choices at this time because we take whatever we can get sewn fastest, but the soap can either be scented or non-scented (the scented is just a light floral smell).

The issue is that we’re trying to figure out if there is even an interest for this because the postage will cost quite a bit. We’d have to plan on a fairly large order to make it worth it for all of you! If you can let my parents know by NOV. 29 we can get the order out to the States hopefully in time for Christmas. Again though, if there isn't enough interest, it probably wouldn't be worth it to send a little order- sooo don't plan on this for your only Christmas gift until we confirm :)

Another great opportunity is Sheltering Wings’ online Christmas catalogue. See http://www.shelteringwings-gifts.org/index.htm . This is a fun gift to give in someone’s name or even as a family in place of a Christmas gift.



Thank you for your interest!

A servant for Him,
~Liz

Changes...

Wow, I can hardly believe that it has already been two weeks since I left Ouaga for the orphanage. A lot has happened in the two weeks, but I’ll try to keep this entry at least sort of short :).

It was tough to leave Ouaga after starting to adjust to life in Africa there. Yako is definitely a lot different too. It is much more rural, Ruth (woman who runs the orphanage) is the only American at the orphanage, there’s no internet, LOTS of bugs (I kill TONS every day- no mercy), etc. etc… I had a few days of adjusting, and as I unpacked my bags and moved in, the reality of the upcoming year definitely set in.

There was another girl, Hillary, here for the first week as well (from the States, but living in Burkina with family for the year), so that was great to have someone else to spend time with. Ruth is great as well- definitely an incredible woman. She started the orphanage from nothing, began the whole organization of Sheltering Wings, and has made (with God’s help of course) the orphanage what it is today, eight years later.

So Hillary and I spent most of the first week playing with the babies and toddlers as I attempted to remember all of their names! We actually ventured to Ouaga on Thursday last week to bring Hillary back to her family and for Ruth and I to attend SIAO- a huge arts festival with booths from all over West Africa. It only happens once every two years, so Ruth and I thought it was something I needed to see! Definitely an experience, and I’m really glad we made it.

Unfortunately though, I ended up getting sick at the end of the trip in Ouaga- making for a very uncomfortable hour and a half drive back to Yako. In the States, if we have a stomachache, fever, and/or bowel issues we assume it’s the flu. Here though, we pray it isn’t malaria. After a few days of the ickiness, Ruth started me on Cipro thinking it might be a parasite or something I had eaten. I’ve been careful with washing my fruits and veggies and drinking filtered water, but Ruth said that it’s really easy to get this kind of sickness- even from a loaf of bread. Eeesh… Sickness has a way of stealing your joy and making the homesickness feel even stronger- nothing like being in your own bed with family taking care of you…

God got me through though! I spent a lot of time reading, listening to worship music, and praying through it. I kept thinking of Paul from the Bible- in prison, being beaten and persecuted, and with a persisting sickness- and yet He continued to praise God.

I’m still finding my place here- there are so many different ministries and needs at the orphanage. I love spending time with the babies and am hoping to get involved in the other ministries soon as well. The French part has been pretty tough- I sometimes wonder why God didn’t send me to an English-speaking country :)…

Prayers needed for all of these things!

-That my health would continue to get better and that this would be the only sickness this year!!

-That I would continue to improve my French and that God would be able to use me despite this weakness

-For an adoption case that has come against some frustrating holdups, and the broken system here

-For the JOY of the Lord to continue to fill me and give me vision for what He will do in this next year

And prayers of PRAISE for some great blessings that have occured for the orphanage this week:

-One of our toddlers that will soon be adopted to Spain!

-A new car FINALLY coming in for the orphanage and the funds from supporters in the States will cover the costs (the truck Ruth drives is in awful shape)

-A number of other exciting projects in the works

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Happy birthday to Jewelz :) Happy Birthday to Mom (soon). And Happy Thanksgiving wishes to all if I don’t make it to the computer before then- enjoy your turkey and pumpkin pie!

A servant for Him,

~Liz

More pictures!

Walking back from church in my new African dress and two of the older girls-Therese and Barkwende

Toddler feeding time!

Joseph- these kids sure know how to pose for pictures :)

Me with Tinbnoma and Estelle

Leaving Ouaga!

I just received word that I will be leaving Ouaga to finally head to the Sheltering Wings Orphanage in Yako this Friday (10/31). Prayers for the travel and adjustment there will be greatly appreciated!! My time in Ouaga has been great, but I am excited to settle into my ministry at the orphanage and have a little more of a schedule and an idea of what I'll be doing for the coming year.

I don't know what sort of access I'll have while in Yako (slim to none I believe) so I may not get your emails or comments for a few weeks. I'll do my best to answer them when I do have access! Thanks so much for your love and support- until the next time in Ouaga, A Bientot!

A servant for Him,
~Liz

A day of firsts...

Today was definitely an interesting day... From the moment I arrived in Burkina and saw the traffic in Ouagadougou, I decided there was no way I wanted to drive, ride a bike, or drive a moto (moped/motorcycle). The motos and bikes pull out right in front of the cars; the cars drive all over the road; there really are no lines; the motos/bikes are supposed to stay on the right side of the lanes yet you often see them darting between cars; there are different traffic lights for cars and motos/bikes in some areas; and the list goes on....

The main street near SIM- NOT during rush hour

Well... today I had planned to go with a woman from the SIM office (a Burkinabe woman) to have some cloth tailored to make me a dress... Little did I know, the place to go was a distance away and as we walked out the SIM gate, she grabbed her moto and started it up. I just looked at her like, are you kidding? She told me to get on- needless to say, I was quite afraid. She assured me I'd be fine though, and off we went- me clinging to her waiste as though I would fall if I even loosened my grip. We made it safely to her house and then to the tailor's...

Then came my next "first." Once at the tailor's, we walked next door and the woman I was with filled a small dish she had brought with a local woman's food being sold on the street. We then got back on the moto and rode to her house (with the hot food hanging from a handle-bar. When we arrived I washed my hands in a bowl of water, and then we dug into the food with our hands. It was rice with some sort of sauce and a piece of fish on top. Wow! It was definitely interesting and quite an adventure to try to eat without spilling all over her floor (she said "pas de problem" though- no problem)... To drink, we had a sweet sort of milky drink made of millet (the main grain in Burkina), water, and sugar. Also interesting, but pretty good. My first real Burkinabe meal!

Finally, I returned safely to the SIM compound thinking my day was coming to a close and I would get a nice siesta in before dinner (the country literally rests from 12-3 every day). But no... Two friends on the compound go to the hospital here in Burkina each Monday to read Bible stories to some of the children. They asked if I wanted to go- which I really did!- and they informed me we would take bikes. Ahhhh! More nervewracking than the moto! So I hopped on an old bike (yes mom... I used a helmet. Actually here, barely anyone wears a helmet- it is a sort of status symbol if you can afford one... But SIM policy says we wear them!)... We made it safely after about a 15 minute ride, and I experienced the biggest hospital in Burkina. Wow it was sad... People everywhere, and supposidly today it was not that busy. We played a game with about six children who were well enough to leave their rooms, then talked about the creation story with them, colored pictures of it, and then walked them back to their rooms... It was so incredibly sad to see the children- many sick with Malaria and fairly treatable illnesses- in so much pain and sadness...

Teaching a song to some of the children in the hospital

I have attached a few pictures just to give you a taste- hopefully I'll take more soon!

Thanks to all for the birthday wishes yesterday! It was a great birthday and my new friends here also helped me to celebrate! Definitely a tough evening for homesickness, but a wonderful, HOT (107 degrees) day!!

A servant for Him,

~Liz

The road to SIM compound

The gate to SIM!

The door to my room