The Interloper Among Them

I'm Elizabeth Barr, Messiah alumnus and SIM short-term missionary, and it's been my pleasure to be adopted by the West Shore team since they arrived in Burkina a couple weeks ago. I've spent the last four months working at the Handicap Center with Dale and Florence, doing administration for the center and helping to bridge the gap while the Walsh family was on furlough in the States.

We're in the Casablanca airport at the moment, waiting in line for a second (!) bag check to get on the plane to NYC. We left the SIM station at midnight local time last night. It's already been ten hours, and so far, we've made it to Casablanca. Progress comes in baby steps when one is traveling internationally, it seems. Our flight to JFK airport will be about eight hours, and then we'll part ways - the team to drive home to the West Shore, and me to fly to Charlotte, NC to debrief at SIMUSA before going home to Altoona, PA.

The team and I have been having a great time together, hanging out in Mahadaga and driving back to Ouagadougou together. We were able to spend yesterday out doing some shopping and spending too much money buying fantastic souvenirs at an artisan village and the Grand Marche. I was propsed to by an already-married Muslim man, and protested heartily that I was certainly not second-wife material. He laughed, fortunately, and then tried valiantly to sell me cloth. I didn't buy any.

It's been a terrific four months for me in Burkina. I'm preparing to come back for two years, to keep working at the center as a business manager and possibly teach some English and basic computer skills. If God blesses me richly, there is also an option for me to return to Burkina very (very) quickly and spend a year working with SIM Admin in Ouagadougou, filling in for the SIM treasurer, Malcolm Watts. His family will be taking a year-long furlough starting in December, and as of this moment, there isn't anyone to substitute for him. I've expressed a willingness to take over that position for the year, if I can manage to raise the money quickly enough. If not, I'll go back to Mahadaga, likely with the Johnson family when they return to Burkina after their furlough ends next July. I'd appreciate your prayers! The decision rests in God's hands at the moment, which is a simultaneously exhilarating and terrifying place to be :)

Well, the time has come to board the plane, so off we go. We're looking forward to seeing our friends and family and sleeping in our own beds. See you all soon!