Airline tickets, passports, and immunization records in hand, eight mission travelers representing St. Paul Lutheran Church are prepared to board an Air France flight to Paris and then on to Ouagadougou (pronounced waga-do-guo), Burkina Faso the evening of October 31st. Having been commissioned by Pastor Steve Schaeve at worship service on October 26th to carry the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Ouagadougou, the team is eager to get to their destination and fulfill that mission.

With only six weeks of planning time available numerous support people and the mission travelers themselves got busy collecting tools, clothing and various medical/personal hygiene supplies to be taken to the people of Ouagadougou. Being once a French colony, the language spoken by many of the people is primarily French. Therefore, the mission team will carry with them 500 copies of Luther’s Small Catechism in French to hand out to the people. The church that was founded by Pastor James May in a village just outside of the city of Ouagadougou has chosen the name of Concordia Lutheran Church. The mission team will also be taking 200 t-shirts with a printed logo and the name of Concordia Lutheran Church on the shirts that they will leave for the local church leaders to distribute to church members.

All that is left now is to pray for the travelers and their mission to share the love of Jesus. Plans are being made to provide regular updates of the trip via email and the St. Paul website. 

If you would like to be a part of this mission outreach through financial support of the travelers and the supplies being taken by the mission team, just send your support to the church office or put it in the offering plate during worship.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"