Burkina Faso 2016

May 28th, 2016 9am

Brussels, Belgium

I’m a bit groggy at this point.  Still going strong.  You can tell the team is starting to get a little worn down, but spirits are still high.  We can’t wait to get to Burkina Faso to love on the people that God puts in our path.  At that point, since I was in charge of documenting the trip, I decided to shoot a quick update video for the folks back home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XenAXHyeSuI&list=PLRL4BwG2ivlG1tUhoCl_sNhKPBOUjP7Ej&index=1

It was a bit jarring going through the Brussels Airport. About 2 or 3 months prior to our trip, there was an ISIS terrorist attack at the Brussels Airport. So, as we traveled through the airport, we saw where they were rebuilding. Constant reminder that we live in a world where evil roams free seeking its next victim.

As we waited for our flight, we all thought it would be great to get real Belgian Waffles for breakfast, but there were no restaurants in the terminal that served them for breakfast.  Scott (one of our team leaders) did find a place that sold packaged Belgian Waffles like the ones in the picture below.

Soooo gooooood!

I had never had anything that tasted exactly like those. One thing I’ve learned is that you don’t put syrup on Belgian Waffles. Adding syrup to a waffle is American thing. I make Belgian Waffles at home and got a true Belgian Waffle recipe, so I kind of knew what to expect. But these didn’t taste like that either. The best way I can describe it is it being a cross between a waffle and a honey bun.  Everyone gobbled them up!

11:30am

Time to board our flight to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso!

By this point, we feel like seasoned professionals at flying.  Everyone settles into their seats and, yep, I start watching movies again.  I’m pretty tired, but like I said earlier, I don’t sleep well on planes.  Good thing there were a lot of movies to watch.  And, I must say, Brussels Airlines was a fantastic airline.  It seemed like the flight attendents didn’t stop serving the entire time we were in the air.  If memory serves me (which I wouldn’t doubt if I was hallucinating by this point), I think they served both lunch and dinner on this flight.  Great flight.  And uneventful….until….

3:30pm

Dusty’s internal monologue:  “Touchdown in Ouagadougou!  Why do I all of a sudden smell burning rubber?  Is that what Africa smells like?  Surely not.  Maybe someone’s just burning tires by the airport.  Wait…why are we stopped on the runway?  We, literally, landed and came to a complete stop.  Maybe we’re waiting on a terminal to open up.  Ummm…why are we being met by Fire and Rescue?  Should I be worried?  Wait…why is there a fireman going down the aisle in full firefighting uniform?”

Turns out, there was an issue on the plane.  Never really understood what it was, but we deplaned right there on the runway.  Welcome to Africa!  Once we got our luggage and got through customs, we were greeted by the in-country missionaries, Geoffrey & Suzanne Richter and Ashli Rousel.  They head up the Streams in Burkina Faso organization in Africa.  Side note:  I cannot speak highly enough about these people and this organization.  When I think of people that shine with the love of Christ, I think of these people.  We were honored to spend time with them and now call them friends.  If you can, I would HIGHLY recommend supporting this team financially as they have big plans on the horizon.

Once we left the airport, we stayed the night in the Mission House (local housing set up for missionaries) in Ouagadougou since our final destination in Burkina Faso was still another 4 hour drive away.  After being awake now for 36 hours, I was ready for sleep!