Dearest Friends,
Big Faith
We met a wonderful man and his wife today who have 80 children living with them. They rescued many of these children from the streets. It is a custom here among the village Moslems to give their child to a Moslem man called a marabou. There is no easy way to say this. The marabou acts as the children’s pimp, forcing them to beg on the street and to give him all the money.
So that they look more needy, he will often starve them. Beatings with fists and whips are not unusual things. Our friend told us that he visited one of these marabous and saw that he lives in a very fine home. He also saw a room about the size of a large pick-up truck where 12 to 15 boys slept. These children would never know the comfort of a bed as they are doing well to get a cardboard box to sleep on.
The man we worked with today visits the parents and promises to educate their children. They receive no education if they are with a marabou. Once he has legal guardianship, he can rescue the children and raise them to love Jesus.
Today, I smiled as I watched the children. They were mesmerized by the program. So many called on Jesus, putting their trust in God the Father who will never disappoint them. Hold these little ones in your prayers. Do not forget how they suffer. See them as Jesus sees them….little ones worth dying for.
Joy!
Our other two shows today gave me great joy as we heard so many, many children praying out loud! Both shows were at private Christian schools, but "private" does not mean the same thing it means in America. These children pay $30 to $60 a year to go to school. A public school classroom will have 120 kids in a classroom with one teacher. A "private" school like the ones we visited today are much better. They have 60 to 70 kids in a classroom with one teacher.
At both places, the children loved the program. I cherish their laughter and smiles. We finished these shows absolutely soaked, but so happy. Burkina Faso is a hard place to live and a harder place to be a child. Keep Praying.
In Jesus,
Linda for Seth, Paige, and Heather