Prayerful Plans

Ryan wants everyone to kn0w that through prayer (his own & others) he has come to several decisions about his mission work this summer. In addition to choosing a departure date (July 10th) he will be working in the following areas for the next couple of weeks...

• He will spend much of Monday (June 30) visiting the Bible translation team that is working on providing the Word of God in the native language of the Dagara people.
• He will work in villages distributing eye glasses that he brought from the United States.
• He will continue working with one of the missionaries on a study of animism among the Dagara people (the belief that individual spirits inhabit natural objects).
• He will continue his language lessons and learning more about how to communicate with the people of that culture.

He is gaining back some of his strength and today was clearly his best day since the crisis began last weekend. He is thankful for all who have been praying for him and thankful for God blessing him in many, many ways.

Ryan's Dad

New Departure Date

Ryan met with the missionaries today and he will be leaving Berkina Faso on July 10th (assuming we can get all the flight arrangements made). Since he is easily fatigued and will not arrive in Paris until around midnight -- we are trying to arrange a stop-over in Paris so he can rest for 1-2 nights before flying to the U.S. He has several important mission tasks that he will be able to complete before leaving (e.g. meeting with Bible translators on Monday) so he feels good about fulfilling a few of his original objectives. Please continue to pray for his health and for God's guidance as he takes one day at a time.

Ryan's Dad

Discharged

Greetings fellow missionaries,

As you are all aware of by now I have been very sick the past couple of days; I can honestly say that this past Sunday was one of the worst days I have ever experienced and it is only by the grace of God that I got through it. I have been diagnosed with type 4 malaria, an amoeba similar to giardia, and a bacterial infection. I have been receiving iv treatment the past few days and I am feeling much better though I am still very weak. I was discharged this evening and if there are no problems will head back to Dano tommorow. I will continue treatment for the malaria, the parasites, and the infection for the next week or so and then (hopefully) I will be much better.

I am in a difficult position that I am requesting you to bathe in prayer. The malaria has left my body weak and my immune system down, this means that at best I will just be fatigued for the next 3-4 weeks and at worst I could have a relapse or catch a different virus/bacteria. The doctors at home are recommending I come home as soon as I am well enough to travel and the doctors here seem to think that I will be ok for a a few weeks if I choose to stay. What I want you to pray for is that I will do what God leads. I have received many opinions on what I should do and I have my own thoughts as to what I would like to do, however those come secondary to what God wants me to do. Please pray that God gives me wisdom in this situation as to when I should come home and that He leads me in whatever path is His will. I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers!


Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

ps. Don't be discouraged by this setback, God works in mysterious ways and I am confident that somehow this experience has contributed to His glory, even if I never know how.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfrot overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, becase we know that just as you share in our suffering, so also you share in our comfort."

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

3rd Diagnosis

Ryan was diagnosed with a bacterial infection in addition to the malaria and giardiasis previously diagnosed. They are trying to get his lab results sent to me so I can forward them to physicians here so we can better evaluate his condition. He definitely has improved with the treatment he is receiving but he is still quite sick.

Ryan's Dad

Malaria & Giardiasis

Ryan was diagnosed today with malaria and a parasite called giardiasis (GEE-are-DYE-uh-sis) which apparently are common illnesses in West Africa.  The missionary (Aaron) who is with Ryan said that he and his wife have both had both illnesses.  Aaron said that additional tests are being done to also determine if Ryan has a bacterial infection that would require continuing the antibiotics they are giving him.  The doctors want to keep him in the hospital one more night just to be on the safe side but medications for the illnesses would continue for a while longer.  Ryan sounds exhausted by the illnesses and the intense stress associated with the events of the past week.  I will continue to talk to him at least once daily until he is back on his feet.

Ryan's Dad

Ryan Hospitalized

In my earlier posting -- I mentioned that the missionary (Aaron) did not plan on driving to Ouaga during the night because of the dangers but since Ryan was rapidly getting worse -- they decided to make the trip. We just got off the phone with Aaron and he said that Ryan has been hospitalized at Ouaga. The doctors are running tests to help determine the cause of his illness (e.g. malaria, parasites, etc.). However, he has already been hooked up to an IV and is receiving several kinds of medication. They will also be able to re-hydrate him since he has not been able to keep anything down for quite some time. There are many disciples of Jesus that have been offering up prayers for Ryan and we want you to know how much we appreciate these petitions to God. He has already blessed Ryan with safe passage to Ouaga and he appears to be receiving excellent medical care. We will update this blog again tomorrow after we get some additional information from Aaron.

Ryan's Dad

Urgent Prayers Needed

Ryan called home this afternoon (Sunday) to tell us that he is very sick. He became sick during the night alternating between vomiting and diahrrea. The GI upset has been so severe that he throws up whatever medication he takes to gain some relief. I talked to the missionary with whom Ryan is staying and he told me that there are three likely causes... (1) Virus - which typically will last 24 hours; (2) Bacteria - which can be treated with some medications; or (3) Parasites - which also can be treated with medications. It is a little after 5:00 p.m. their time and the missionary said that they cannot drive at night because the semi-trucks drive the roads without headlights. So... if he is not significantly better by morning they will leave at 5:00 a.m. to drive to Ouga (which is 3-4 hours away) where he will be able to receive medical services. Ryan asked that I update his blog so as many people as possible can pray for him.

-- Ryan's Dad

Update Via Dial Up

Fu Yanni Fellow Missionaries,

I hope all is well with you guys; sorry it has been so long since I have updated but I have been getting settled into my new home in Dano and getting onto the internet is quite a time consuming task, it takes about 30 minutes to load up the page where I can update! I believe that last time I updated I was in Ouaga and planning on leaving the next day; there were complications. The girl, Hilary, that we were picking up from the airport (who is staying for 9 months but is starting at the same time as me) actually had a seizure on the plane on the way to Burkina Faso. She was ok afterwards, in fact it is amazing how God works. The family she was traveling with was a family that has kids who have had seizures before and so they knew what to do, as if that wasn’t enough, as she was seizing and falling towards the ground guess who caught her? A doctor from Burkina Faso who was sitting next to an American woman who was fluent in French and was able to translate what the doctor was saying. Basically the best possible situation for her to have a seizure (if she had to have one overseas that is), isn’t God amazing? At any rate they got to Burkina Faso fine and Hilary was feeling alright; unfortunately none of their luggage made it to Burkina Faso. So the next day a group went on to Dano while Hilary, Chad, and myself stayed in Ouaga to wait on bags and so that Hilary could get some tests done to make sure that she is not going to have anymore seizures and the tests came back good. After all that we arrived in Dano Sunday afternoon just in time for team worship.
The heat here is pretty intense; during the day the temperature hovers at just over 100 while at night it gets down to a chilly 90. This is amplified by the fact that the humidity is comparable to Houston during the summer. Basically I sweat all the time except for when I am taking my 3 minute shower. The reason I can’t take longer showers is because water is low right now; what that means is that we take short showers, we don’t wash clothes in the washer, and we go by the old adage “if its yellow let it mellow if its brown flush it down.” I have definitely been going through culture shock as I try to get used to everything going on here. I am taking language lessons and I have already had my first big language oops; I meant to ask a fellow language learner how her children were and ended up asking how her breasts were…it was a pretty funny moment that we all got to laugh about, the first of many times I am going to be making a fool of myself learning language. All joking aside learning Dagara is very difficult but also fun; I have found it frustrating not being able to speak to people. I found a boy in Dano that I am going to be good friends with this summer, his name is Adriema (I think) and he speaks some English. Between French, English, and Dagara we may actually be able to have some conversations! His family is a family of devout Muslims and they are some of the sweetest people I have ever met. Mr. Barry (the head of the family) is always laughing and always wanting to talk and have tea, I love going down to his shop in town and just sitting around talking and laughing while we try to communicate. Mr. Barry is the Johnsons (one of the missionary families) night guard and they have known him since they first arrived in Dano and just recently he has agreed to sit down and read through Mark with Andy Johnson! Please pray that he is receptive and that his whole family can come to know Christ through this; it will likely be a difficult transition for them because the whole family is Muslim and he is not actually Dagara, he is from another tribe known as the Phillani tribe and so it may be difficult for him to find a church to go to. Please pray that God not only changes his heart but the hearts of his family and that God provides a good community that they can connect with. I hope this makes sense, I am trying my best to explain it. I will update you on how things go, the bible studies start tomorrow night. I love you guys and I will update again in a few days! I will also post some theological musings eventually, I have had plenty of down time to think and write; I look forward to sharing these thoughts with you all!

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

Burkina Faso & Redefining Missions

Fellow Missionaries I have arrived

I am sitting in a guest house in the capitol of Burkina Faso while the missionaries go and pick up a car that Chad and I dropped off this morning for a check up. This morning I had the interesting experience of taking a taxi around Ouaga and I would just like to say that traffic here is scary. Chad insists that there ARE rules of the road but I'm doubtful. I constantly think we are going to hit someone on a bike or another car but luckily Chad has not been hit or hit anyone...however in the taxi this morning we did get rear ended by another taxi. It wasn't a huge deal, in fact they both got out of the car and looked at the damage then they both drove off. Nonetheless, it was a bit unnerving. We had lunch with a geologist friend of Chad's in order to check out the possibility of a new drilling technique for wells.

Getting into the country was not as difficult as I'd expected but the customs agent did open one of my suitcases, unfortunately it was the one that had a taped box of eyeglasses that the missionaries asked me to bring. He asked me to open it and so I ended up having to rip the box open; then he asked if I was a doctor (because I was carrrying so many eyeglasses) and I explained that I was a missionary. After that he let me go, Chad explained that the people of Burkina are very greatful for missionaries who come to help, so that was a kind of cool experience.

I wanted take some time not to just give you a rundown of events but also to share some of the thoughts I have been contemplating as I read and journal. After my experience in Paris I want to challenge what I would call the "average" idea of missions. I believe that France needs missionaries, there is a lot of work that could be done there if we had the workers, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37)." Unfortunately missions has been so often associated with going to third world countries and providing humanitarian type aid that other areas have been neglected. It is not only the materially poor that we are called to serve but also the spiritually poor. Mother Theresa once said that New York City was the poorest place she had ever been, now obviously she was not referring to the economic status of the average person but instead to the spiritual state of the average person.

I am not saying that we should stop sending missionaries to third world countries (obviously since I am in one right now) but I do want to challenge the idea that missions is only really mission work if it involves working with the poor. Support missionaries all over, the world needs missionaries in all cultures, men and women who love God and will unabashedly share Christ with those who are starving. I could go on but if you've read this far chances are you are tired of reading, I'll include a bit more on this in my next post. Until then keep praying for God to move in powerful ways through us. I love you all and I will post again as soon as I can.

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

Burkina Faso & Redefining Missions

Fellow Missionaries I have arrived

I am sitting in a guest house in the capitol of Burkina Faso while the missionaries go and pick up a car that Chad and I dropped off this morning for a check up. This morning I had the interesting experience of taking a taxi around Ouaga and I would just like to say that traffic here is scary. Chad insists that there ARE rules of the road but I'm doubtful. I constantly think we are going to hit someone on a bike or another car but luckily Chad has not been hit or hit anyone...however in the taxi this morning we did get rear ended by another taxi. It wasn't a huge deal, in fact they both got out of the car and looked at the damage then they both drove off. Nonetheless, it was a bit unnerving. We had lunch with a geologist friend of Chad's in order to check out the possibility of a new drilling technique for wells.
Getting into the country was not as difficult as I'd expected but the customs agent did open one of my suitcases, unfortunately it was the one that had a taped box of eyeglasses that the missionaries asked me to bring. He asked me to open it and so I ended up having to rip the box open; then he asked if I was a doctor (because I was carrrying so many eyeglasses) and I explained that I was a missionary. After that he let me go, Chad explained that the people of Burkina are very greatful for missionaries who come to help, so that was a kind of cool experience.
I wanted take some time not to just give you a rundown of events but also to share some of the thoughts I have been contemplating as I read and journal. After my experience in Paris I want to challenge what I would call the "average" idea of missions. I believe that France needs missionaries, there is a lot of work that could be done there if we had the workers, "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matthew 9:37)." Unfortunately missions has been so often associated with going to third world countries and providing humanitarian type aid that other areas have been neglected. It is not only the materially poor that we are called to serve but also the spiritually poor. Mother Theresa once said that New York City was the poorest place she had ever been, now obviously she was not referring to the economic status of the average person but instead to the spiritual state of the average person.
I am not saying that we should stop sending missionaries to third world countries (obviously since I am in one right now) but I do want to challenge the idea that missions is only really mission work if it involves working with the poor. Support missionaries all over, the world needs missionaries in all cultures, men and women who love God and will unabashedly share Christ with those who are starving. I could go on but if you've read this far chances are you are tired of reading, I'll include a bit more on this in my next post. Until then keep praying for God to move in powerful ways through us. I love you all and I will post again as soon as I can.

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

Update

Bonjour fellow missionaries!

I hope all is well with all of you. Just to put it out there, I realize I posted the same post twice but in my defense the internet here did not show that it had been posted. Things are going well here, French is coming along but it is not so easy. I am learning a lot about French culture and history. We had bible study on Tuesday night and in the discussion groups we had both French and English which was great because I was able to contribute to the discussion. One thing that has been difficult is that Yann and Rita (the missionaries) have asked us to go out into public and strike up conversations with people on the street, in the metro, in cafes, wherever we can in order to build relationships with them and possibly invite them to church events later on. So far I have met a couple from Atlanta, 4 college students from the states who are studying here, and a woman who I met while I was swing dancing. I got her email and I am going to stay in contact with her and possibly even send her a Swing Cats t-shirt.
Christina may be coming to a church picnic this Saturday which would be awesome! She is a lot of fun and I hope to get know her better! Another thing that we have been doing is eating at the same cafe every day so that we can build relationships with the employees and the owner of the cafe. Hopefully we will be able to build friendships and possibly minister to these people before the summer is out. Pray that the church picnic is a success and that we pick up French quickly, I plan on continuing French in the fall so at the very least this is laying a good foundation for that. This time next week I'll be in Burkina, please pray for a peace that passes understanding for me as anxiety builds and that God will prepare my heart as well as the hearts of the missionaries and the Dagara people I'll be working with. Thank you all and I'll update again soon! Au Revoir!

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

ps. My email is wildcat_disciple@yahoo.com if you want to drop me an email!

My First Weekend

Bonjour fellow missionaries!

I hope you are all well and that your weekends were relaxing. A lot has happened since I last posted and most of it has been stressful, in fact I have had a pretty stressed time this past week but things are getting calmer and I'm starting to get in a rhythm here. As I mentioned before the couple I am staying with (Florence and Laurence) do not speak much English, this has led to many both funny and frustrating conversations such as trying to tell them I watched Spongebob in French that morning while I ate breakfast (took about 15 minutes and was pretty funny). We've had our share of miscommunications as well as laughs but in the end it's been educational. Another problem I have encountered is not having a cell phone and trying to meet up with people in central Paris, not very easy because the Paris streets are always crowded. Transportation has been an issue because while the metro system is very good and easy to get around in, buying the right tickets/passes is not. At any rate I am good to travel anywhere within Paris for the next week, after this week I'm not sure but I'm trying to take it one step at a time. The biggest stressor that I have had to deal with has been jet lag. On Wednesday I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, Thursday 6:30, and Friday 7:30. It was a real blessing on Saturday when I actually woke up to the alarm. I have been rather sleep deprived but that portion of the trip is over and I am glad to see it behind me.
This past weekend was a real blessing because a friend from Germany named Julie who I met through a foreign exchange program in the U.S. came to visit. We had a great time catching up and got to go see a few touristy things together with some people from the church. Through Julie we met one of her friends, Christina, who lives in Paris as a nanny. This is great because Christina does not attend church anywhere so we are hoping to invite her to a few church events and get her connected to the church here in Paris.
Church was an interesting experience this past Sunday. I found out that chewing gum is kind of impolite (oops) and that singing in French is hard even when you can read the words. I also managed to spill communion wine on myself in front of the whole church which was pretty embarrassing, not exactly the first impression I wanted to make! During the service (which was entirely in French) I journaled and studied on my own, hopefully I will know enough French next Sunday to understand a few words.
Please pray for me as this week starts and as we start to take our French classes. I know that it will be difficult but I think I am ready for it, it can't be any harder than Koine Greek. Also pray that God continues to prepare my heart for Burkina Faso; I am leaving one week from Thursday and I know that the culture shock is going to be massive. At least I won't have to deal with jet lag since I have already dealt with it here. Au revoir!

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan

The First Weekend

Bonjour fellow missionaries!

I hope you are all well and that your weekends were relaxing. A lot has happened since I last posted and most of it has been stressful, in fact I have had a pretty stressed time this past week but things are getting calmer and I'm starting to get in a rhythm here. As I mentioned before the couple I am staying with (Florence and Laurence) do not speak much English, this has led to many both funny and frustrating conversations such as trying to tell them I watched Spongebob in French that morning while I ate breakfast (took about 15 minutes and was pretty funny). We've had our share of miscommunications as well as laughs but in the end it's been educational. Another problem I have encountered is not having a cell phone and trying to meet up with people in central Paris, not very easy because the Paris streets are always crowded. Transportation has been an issue because while the metro system is very good and easy to get around in, buying the right tickets/passes is not. At any rate I am good to travel anywhere within Paris for the next week, after this week I'm not sure but I'm trying to take it one step at a time. The biggest stressor that I have had to deal with has been jet lag. On Wednesday I woke up at 3:30 in the morning, Thursday 6:30, and Friday 7:30. It was a real blessing on Saturday when I actually woke up to the alarm. I have been rather sleep deprived but that portion of the trip is over and I am glad to see it behind me.
This past weekend was a real blessing because a friend from Germany named Julie who I met through a foreign exchange program in the U.S. came to visit. We had a great time catching up and got to go see a few touristy things together with some people from the church. Through Julie we met one of her friends, Christina, who lives in Paris as a nanny. This is great because Christina does not attend church anywhere so we are hoping to invite her to a few church events and get her connected to the church here in Paris.
Church was an interesting experience this past Sunday. I found out that chewing gum is kind of impolite (oops) and that singing in French is hard even when you can read the words. I also managed to spill communion wine on myself in front of the whole church which was pretty embarrassing, not exactly the first impression I wanted to make! During the service (which was entirely in French) I journaled and studied on my own, hopefully I will know enough French next Sunday to understand a few words.
Please pray for me as this week starts and as we start to take our French classes. I know that it will be difficult but I think I am ready for it, it can't be any harder than Koine Greek. Also pray that God continues to prepare my heart for Burkina Faso; I am leaving one week from Thursday and I know that the culture shock is going to be massive. At least I won't have to deal with jet lag since I have already dealt with it here. Au revoir!

Your fellow missionary,
Ryan