Observations from an African Dentist Chair

Okay, here are some observations from my first trip to an African dentist. First of all, I live in a city of over 1 million people...this wasn't any bush dental facility. It was probably the nicest office of any kind that I've been in here in Burkina: big screen T.V., nice chairs. It turned out the dentist was a woman. I had no problem with that. Here's when I got nervous:

I was given a mirror as if every thing they did must be justified and approved by the patient. Not a bad idea, but it slowed down the process quite a bit. I'm not great with watching medical procedures either, and when she showed me the massive hole she had drilled in my tooth and told me to look in the mirror, it was, well, disturbing. How does the tooth stay together if most of it is gone like that?

The second disconcerting part was the “we-don't-give-anaesthesia-until-we-see-you-need-it” part. Luckily, I wear my pain on my sleeve, and after a few leg twitches, which I may or may not have embellished, I was given anaesthesia, without the privilege of that first stuff they sometimes rub on your gums so you won't feel the needle. She stuck the needle in 4 different places around the tooth.

Well, I'm not complaining. All in all I was relieved that I found a dentist office recommended by other ex-pats in Ouagadougou that was close to what I was used to in Canada, and that all turned out well for now. In fact, I found it rather amusing that at one point she criticized some of the work I've had done in Canada.

July Newsletter

Here is a July update of what's been going on in Ouagadougou!

Click here to view the newsletter...

Young People Take Church Seriously in Burkina Faso

Our new worship space has a minor problem – it’s outside and it’s rainy season! On Sunday, it rained all morning and so after consulting with our pastor, we decided to have a family worship time. What we didn’t realize was that the students at the university residence and other students who did not live there were preparing an impromptu worship service. Sure, there was no preacher nor worship leader planned, but these young people, some of whom rode their bikes in the pouring rain to get to the worship space, held a worship service that they have been talking about all week.
“It was marvellous,” says Jérémie. “We were just a bunch of youth, but we did it all on our own.”

Othniel, who was called upon to preach on the spur of the moment, said he was disappointed at first because nothing came to him. He had no idea what to say. Then, he just decided to talk about what he has recently been interested in in the Bible – Nehemiah, a great model for a church leader and motivator. The rest of the group was amazed at how passionate Othniel was and how the Spirit really came through and spoke to them.

Kind of reminds you of the Early Church, doesn’t it? Or maybe Conrad Grebel at age 25 or so leading a group of Anabaptists in passionate, but underground worship? It is such a joy to be part of such a passionate group. How do we sometimes feel when we get up on Sunday morning? Are we excited about church? We sure felt sheepish when we saw the guys later that day – we are the only ones with a car in the church, and even we didn’t brave the elements to go.