January 31, 2008

Dear Family and Friends, January 31, 2008
My truck died on me this morning and so I am stranded in Ouaga for one more day. Mandatory rest, another nice, hot shower, more online time. . . well, things could be much worse, huh? I am very thankful that the problem occurred before leaving Ouaga and not halfway between here and Yako where no help would be available.

I just had some major repairs done to the truck last week. It seems that it is almost becoming a ‘fix or repair daily’ routine which is becoming expensive and tiresome. We’ll see. . . I need to return to Yako and check just how much we have spent on repairs in the last year or so to see if we need to seriously pray about buying a new vehicle or continue to try to make this one work. Please pray with me about this.

I’ve been trying to figure out how to insert photos into my blog. If anyone knows how to do this, would you please send me the instructions? I usually type my blog in MS-Word and then copy it into the blog website. I can insert pictures into the word document but then when I do the copy, the photos are left out.

We have received 2 more babies this past week. One of them is just a month old and the other is just one week old. Both boys are good size for Burkina newborns and I will try again to insert a picture of Hassane so that you can see him. He is just one month old and his mama died. With no one in the family to care for him, Social Action placed him with us until he is past the ‘infant needing formula’ stage and then he will integrate back into his family.

A church in St Louis, New City Fellowship, called me while I was recently home and asked whether we could use some cans of infant formula. It seems that there was a drug bust in St Louis and this stolen milk was found in the warehouse. Usually stolen goods like this are destroyed but one of the police officers spoke up and asked whether the church could have the milk. The story goes that the stolen milk was being sold to customers with food stamps and then the money redeemed from the food stamps was being sent to fund the Talaban. Instead, the milk has made its way to Africa where it is being used to feed orphan babies. Truly, what the enemy meant for evil, the Lord turned into a blessing for us and for our children.

Access to email is still not working for us in Yako. In talking with friends in Yako, although the access is slow, they are able to send and receive mail. So, now I am wondering if the problem may be something in my computer. I had some service done when I was home and also a new package of MicroSoft installed. . . but, I am clueless as to what the problem may be. Sigh! Again, if anyone has any ideas, please send me a note.

Well, must close for now and try to find some dinner.
Talk to you again soon.
Love you lots,
Ruth. . . Mom. . . Grandma