Our contact in Burkina Faso, Nebié Badiou, is currently in Orlando, Florida. While there, he is doing an intensive English course sponsored by CRU (Campus Crusade) for many of their International Leaders.

Since Nebié was in the United States (much easier to get to than West Africa), we felt that it was essential to connect with him. Tom first met Nebié during a Story Development trip to Burkina Faso in 2015. Since that time, they have become good friends and have shared, what Nebié calls, a “mutual mentoring” relationship ever since. 

Tom made the drive to Orlando. He was able to sit with Nebié for a meal and a long conversation. One of the critical topics was the ongoing work of Clear and Simple Media in Burkina Faso. Nebié continues to represent CSM in Burkina Faso and shared several ideas about all the possibilities that CSM has in this part of the world. 

Under Nebié’s guidance, we launched the French Vérité Simple this past August. Many people continue to visit the site and access the material there. Nebié also emphasized how thankful he is that the Travel Guide to the Bible is now available in French. His concern was that, so far, the only access they have is in the form of an ebook. The next project, in Nebié’s opinion, is to find a capable printer in West Africa to make print copies available. Nebié is also the President of the Baptist Association of Burkina Faso. He has already spoken to many of the leaders in those churches. They said that if they had printed copies, they would use the books in their churches. His own plan is to spend a year going through the book with his church people. “Once other francophone churches in West Africa see the books, I know they will want them too.”

But perhaps the most ambitious of Nebié’s ideas was the one he shared just before Tom left. He asked that we create an online Bible Course to cover all of the content in the Travel Guide. After we have finished that course, we would also create a similar set of lessons that would cover the content of the “little book,” our evangelical catechism, Simple Truths for the New Believer. That way, Nebié said, “a student could answer questions about the Travel Guide online, and when they finish, they will receive a certificate. I know that many, many people would use a course like that all over francophone West Africa.”