I generally leave the writing to Jeff, thankful of his gifts and willingness to fill this role, but today I saw something that struck me enough that I felt compelled to share it with you, our friends and family in Canada.
As I was walking down a village street this morning I noticed two young boys about Asher`s size, up ahead of me, pulling a 2-wheeled donkey cart – now empty but surely soon to be filled or even over-filled. Not an unusual sight, but it got me reflecting on the world of differences between the privileges and opportunities born to some 6-year-olds like these bare-footed boys, who are more familiar with physical work than they are with school work, and those born to others like Asher. As I watched and pondered, one boy climbed onto the back of the cart, with his feet hanging off the end and started kicking his feet so that the back of the cart started rocking up and down. Immediately, his partner who was pulling at the front of the cart also hopped aboard, his feet hanging over the front, and the two boys began working together, each energetically pushing the cart forward with their feet when their end of the cart lowered, balancing the cart as if they were on a rolling teeter-totter. Of course, now my thoughts turned from feeling compassion for these boys, to being inspired by the strength of their spirit, contemplating how each of us has the choice to face our circumstances and work either grudgingly and filled with self-pity or joyfully and whole-heartedly, with the potential to encourage others to do the same. The boy at the back of the cart waved happily to me as his cart see-sawed away down the road. And it left me wondering, as has happened so many times before since we came to Burkina Faso, whether I, who have been sent to this country to serve and minister to the Burkinabe people, have not been the one most significantly touched and taught by these people and their abundant strengths and riches. - Tany
