Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me;

Dear Beloved in Jesus Christ,

Receive our wholehearted greetings in His Mighty Name from Burkina Faso, West Africa. We are very grateful to the Lord for keeping us alive and giving us the opportunity to serve Him.

By God’s grace I, my family, and our church community are now doing well in spite of trials. His Name be praised. Thank you so much for your prayer and for your financial support that enable us to go forward in the ministry.

About Our Country

Burkina Faso, our country, is still at war against terrorists. In the North and in the East of the country, many schools have been closed and some were burned. In the East of the country, more than 214 churches were closed. Many people fled from their villages or from their farms, leaving everything. Travel through these places is risky. Because of the lack of food, it has become very expensive and now in this heat wave, there is also a lack of water. In the remaining villages and in the suburbs of the cities, there is fear and suffering. But even in that situation, the Lord is in control. Thank you for praying. Only God can provide the best solution.

About Our Family

The Lord’s Faithfulness: In November 2021, my wife’s older sister lost her husband in a village far away in the East of the country named Mahadaga. My wife got on a bus with her nephews to go there. During the trip for the funeral, in the middle of the bush, they came upon a long line of vehicles which had been stopped by terrorists. Fortunately, soldiers were around. They came from an unexpected way and spent five hours to fight the terrorists and to remove 5 land mines buried in the road. During that time, all the travelers stayed in their vehicles. God in His faithfulness protected them from stray bullets and landmines and other dangers. On their return, they had no problems. The Lord be praised.  It is why we say that, with the Lord, even in the shadow of the death we will fear no evil for He is with us.

Beside the Lord is with us, He healed us many times from malaria and protected us from covid. Where we are living, Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, the terrorists are not attacking, but we are really facing the consequences which are being made worse by covid. All things have become very expensive. In 2021, our monthly resources were used just for food, water, energy, schooling, and medicines to survive. We used our house rent money to pay for those things. The owner of the house has allowed us to suspend rent payments for a time. Therefore, we are indebted for house rent in 2021 for $1485 USD. Because of this situation, it‘ll be better for us have our own house to be free from making rent payments. But for this year, 2022, God has provided, and we have been renting our house since January 2022.

We, Thimote, my wife, Essita, our children, Phoebe, Eunice, Nathan, and P. Blessing, are now well by God’s help. Essita and I are going forward in the ministry. My wife is doing part-term training for kids’ and teenagers’ handiwork, and spiritual and cognitive lessons at two kids’ centers.

Phoebe, our first daughter, is in training to complete her bachelor’s degree dissertation in Developmental Communication. Eunice is doing University class 2 (sophomore year) in Hospital Services Management. Nathan is working for his high school diploma (senior year in high school). P. Blessing is doing Secondary school class 3 (junior year of high school).  We are looking for a motorbike to make our moving easier. Thank you for praying.

About the Ministry

In spite of trials, we are still serving the Lord and the ministry is surviving. In December 2020, our church removed our shed from a borrowed piece of land. Then, we held our church meetings under trees. Now we are meeting under a little shed on land owned by Noali’s family, a member of our community. We have that place to worship, and we thank God. But the space is too small for the growing ministry. And many people from different backgrounds are not comfortable to worship like that. We are praying for the Lord to provide for the church building. We even saw a place for $10, 000 USD.

In August, a member of our church, Mr. Yempani Noaly, went home to be with the Lord. He left a family and six of his children are members of our church along with their mother. Thank you for praying for the Lord to continue to comfort them and to be their Provider.

What We Are Doing

For this year 2022, our goal is to bear fruit that stays. We are training and preparing the church for this, and in May, by God’s help, we’ll start evangelism done by all the community.

We are still doing discipleship to have our little team become disciples who can make other disciples.  This year, we introduced the Bible studies by Discovery on Wednesdays at 7 PM. It will teach the disciple to read and study the Bible and to discover there Who God is, what man is like, and what men have to do according to the will of God. Besides that, we are teaching some to prepare them for baptism. Last October, we baptized 10 people at Zogona Bible Church, a town in Ouagadougou. I also celebrated a wedding there.

The Lord gave us the privilege to manage the translation of the Great Commission teaching 1rst Manual in the Gulimancema language and just now, we are doing the audio recording of the Old Testament in that same language. As you know, there are a lot of people that cannot read even in their own language, so this Bible audio recording will be a tool of salvation to many.

Our graduation on the Matter of Great Commission achievement studies was reprieved two times because of student money needs. We expect it to be done in June 2022. I need to achieve it and to be graduated. It may cost $600 USD. Please be praying. As there are many prayer requests, let’s make a list.

Prayer Points:

Thanksgiving:

Thank God for the survival of Burkina Faso despite terrorism and covid.

Thank God for His protection to our brethren in the villages.

Thank God for a provisory place of worship.

Thank God for the survival of our ministry.

Thank God for the achievement of our Great Commission Master’s degree studies.

 

Prayer Requests:

Pray for the return of peace and security in Burkina Faso.

Pray God to stop food crises caused by terrorism, Covid, and a poor rainy season.

Pray the Lord continues to comfort the Noali family.

Pray God to provide for our back rent $1485 USD.

Pray God to provide for our daughter, Eunice’s, university schooling, $400 USD.

Pray for the end of my master’s degree studies and the graduation money, $600 USD (June2022).

Pray God to provide for our own house.

Pray God to provide for the church building, $10,000 USD.

Pray God to provide for a motorbike.

 

The Lord Who called us is faithful and He will do it.

Brotherly Yours in Jesus Christ,

Pastor Thimote & Essita Dayamba

Baptist Bible Partnership Ministry

Emmanuel Church of Bendogo