The request seemed ordinary enough: 200 French Scripture calendars for Burkina Faso. But the grantee’s next words revealed something far greater: ‘I should have ordered 1,000’.

Behind this modest order lies the work of 836 after-school Bible clubs in Ouagadougou, where children and teachers faithfully gather each week. In these clubs, the Word of God is taught, and young souls hear the Gospel proclaimed. The Scripture calendars serve a dual purpose: ‘Golden Thoughts’ editions anchor teachers each morning with a verse to guide their day, while ‘Words of Life’ calendars bearing photographs of God’s creation adorn bare classroom walls, bringing beauty and truth to spaces marked by poverty.

A land in crisis

‘The security situation is increasingly dangerous’, the grantee reported. ‘I cannot always travel out as before’.

Burkina Faso has descended into crisis as armed groups now control significant territories. Schools have closed across entire regions, and many have fled their homes. Yet the Lord has sustained this work: 836 clubs continue to meet, teachers continue to arrive, children continue to come, and the Scriptures continue to be displayed.

This ministry, recently recognised by the government, faces what appears to be an impossible situation. Roads become impassable and resources grow scarce, while access to outlying areas diminishes with each passing month. Yet as darkness spreads across the land, the need for God’s Word increases.

The Lord’s provision

We pray that, if it be the Lord’s will, the calendars will reach their destination safely. The clubs depend upon these calendars, as do the teachers who read the daily verses. The children need to see Scripture on their walls. As promised in Isaiah 55.11: ‘So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it’.

What began as an order for 200 calendars has revealed a far greater need. In a land where danger restricts movement and uncertainty clouds tomorrow, the unchanging truth of Scripture continues to go forth. Though the grantee cannot travel as before, God’s Word does travel.

A call to prayer

We commend this work to the prayers of God’s people. May the Lord preserve these 836 clubs and the teachers who labour faithfully in them. May He grant safety where danger abounds and sustain courage where fear would paralyse. Above all, may He be pleased to use His Word, displayed on these walls and taught in these rooms, to bring souls to saving faith in Jesus Christ.

For this is the true fruit we seek: not merely that calendars hang or clubs meet, but that sinners come to know the Saviour through the Scriptures they encounter. The harvest is great and the labourers are few in Burkina Faso. The dangers are real and the obstacles are many, but the power of God’s Word is greater still, and His purposes cannot be thwarted. To Him be the glory in the salvation of souls.