Tag Archives: Burkina Faso
The other end of the shoebox
Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by Kenny.
I’d like to ask you to pray for my friends Joel and Heidi Hayslip. They are full time missionaries to Burkina Faso, West Africa. My wife and I have been supporting them for 6-7 years. They’re doing amazing work in one of the most unreached regions in the world. For years they raised money to provide a Christmas-like experience, giving thousands of kids their very first Christmas present while telling them about Jesus for the very first time. It was a small operation that saw thousands of men, women and children come to know Jesus in this mostly muslim nation.
Fortunately though, they’ve recently partnered with Operation Christmas Child of Samaritan’s Purse. Here’s the beauty of how this works. Samaritan’s Purse over the years has sent tens of thousands of gifts to kids in Burkina Faso without a strong presentation of the gospel (I think they would include written materials in the shoeboxes). However, my friends have developed half a dozen or so teams that can give crystal clear presentations of the gospel… specifically directed to children.
So, beginning this week, the Hayslips and their teams will be presenting the gospel message hundreds of times before tens of thousands of people. For thousands, this will be the first time they’ve heard a clear presentation of who Jesus is and what he did. So, please add the Hayslips and their teams and their efforts to your prayer lists for the next few weeks.
What I love most about all of this is that I know that many of you reading this post probably have been involved with Operation Christmas Child. You, your churches and volunteers/families lovingly send shoeboxes off to those in need, but rarely do you see what happens at the other end of the shoebox. The grateful hands that receive it… many who receive the gift of the gospel as well. When the outreaches are over, I’ll try to post an update with photos so you can see for yourself what great things were done!
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Pray for significant outreach happening now
Posted on 25. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.
Over the years you have probably seen my posts about my friends who serve the people in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Their names are Joel and Heidi Hayslip and Burknia Faso is one of the poorest countries in all of Africa. However, the door is wide open for ministry, and the Hayslips are doing some very strategic work. Burkina Faso is a predominantly Muslim state, but the government is very open to ministry team coming in. As a result, Joel and Heidi are equipping churches by raising up and training children’s pastors to reach the children of the remote villages. Reaching adult Muslims is a nearly impossible task, yet the children are so open to Jesus and as a result, thousands of children, their parents and often tribal leaders are coming to faith because of the work being doing with the children.
So, Joel and Heidi have been in Burkina Faso for about 7 years, but just recently they’ve connected with Operation Christmas Child (Samaritans Purse). You may have participated with them, they distribute the shoe boxes to children in need. Well, in Burkina Faso the focus has primarily been on distribution of tens of thousands of these boxes. Joel and Heidi have been instrumental the last two years in working with Operation Christmas Child by setting up actual outreach programs around the distributions and training the volunteers in ways to minister to the kids and families during the distributions. It’s very exciting.
So, as you’re reading this, outreaches have already begun. In the next 8 days, 21 volunteers (African local who Joel and Heidi trained) will do 63 outreaches that will impact over 20,000 kids. They’ve been working very hard to be ready for this and the potential is absolutely amazing. This week, please be in prayer for Joel and Heidi, the teams working so hard and the kids who will get shoe boxes. Pray that they experience the love of Christ in an amazing and life-changing way. Click here to read more about what they’re doing.
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My friends son doesn’t suck any more!
Posted on 17. May, 2009 by Kenny.
If you read my blog with any regularity, you’ve heard me mention my good friends Joel and Heidi Hayslip, missionaries to Burkina Faso. They’re awesome and they’ve got an incredible family. Well, their oldest son, Jakob, officially stopped sucking. Yes, you heard that right, he doesn’t suck any more.
You’re curious, aren’t you? Click here to read the story.
Really, this is a story of creative parenting. Celebrate the vicories, no matter how big or small and do it creatively to leave a lasting impact. Click here to see the certificate.
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Josh Kornberg and Give a Kid a Christmas 2008
Posted on 17. Dec, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay, this post is really about a simple video you’ve gotta see. It’s a powerful audio and visual demonstration of lives being changed in Africa. So, take five minutes and watch the video, you’ll be glad you did.
Now this video is a little of my “worlds colliding.” You’ve seen me post quite a few times about my friends Joel and Heidi who serve as missionaries in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Well, this summer my intern, Josh Kornberg (you an call him Korndog) met Joel and Heidi and decided to go to Africa to participate in Give a Kid a Christmas. You may have seen me write about Josh, or more notable, Karl Bastion, as he made a HUGE deal out of the Korndog at Kidology U as described in this post. Yeah, that’s a lot of connected people. But, what’s really important is the video. Good stuff is happening in West Africa!
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YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!
Posted on 16. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
I hope this got your attention. As someone who loves seeing kids come to Christ, I get very excited about this. I imagine you would too. So, please read the paragraph below and click on the links. All of this will only take 3-4 minutes and you’ll get a glimpse of something very powerful happening in the lives of kids… just a few thousand miles away.
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Burkina Faso Recruiting Video… take 489
Posted on 21. Apr, 2007 by Kenny.
Joel and Heidi are very close friends of mine and are changing the lives of thousands in Burkina Faso, but these guys are crazy. Watch them attempt to film a recruiting video to come to Africa and work with them!
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Children’s ministry making an impact in the African bush!
Posted on 13. Apr, 2007 by Kenny.
The Villages of Ziga
The tiny bike path we followed seemed to wind on forever, especially since the landscape didn’t vary. The rocky, sandy terrain, and especially the small knobby bushes were pretty hard on my little pickup’s tires and I worried since I had 400 presents in the back weighing me down. But we finally began to see kids pointing toward us calling out “nassara, nassara!” (white person) and we knew we were close. [...]
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